Opening mail that is addressed to someone else and the law.

I'm not a lawyer, but I thought it was illegal to open mail addressed to other people. Organisations do act on return to sender mail - I used to get piles everyday and now only get about a letter every 6 weeks. However, creditors may be less willing to accept it. Can you return to sender with a suggested alternative address for the actual recipient?

You shouldn't be opening it - is the long and short of it.

But.... I do open mail adressed to one particular lot who used to live here as I've had bailiffs round for them. I don't know who would prosecute you if they felt that way inclined though.

I also thought it was illegal to open someone else's mail. I have always done return to sender and the letters have stopped on all but one occasion, when we received a letter from a debt colllection agency addressed to 'The Occupier' and asking to call, reverse charges. I called, told them when we moved in, told them I didn't have a forwarding address for any previous occupants and that was the end of that.

I was always under the impression it was illegal. I used to get mail for 10 different people (ex rental property) and sent it all back as 'not known at this address, please return'. It took a good 6 months or more, but they stopped eventually.

You are suppose to return to sender. We had major problems when we moved in to out house. The previous owner had run up various bills, speeding fines and parking tickets. At first I used to return them, and nothing happend. Then I started opening the letters, and phoning. After awhile this didn't work and I would wait for the bailiffs to come. I would be polite show them my passport and mortgage statement and they would leave us alone. Took a while to filter down. tbh I'd let them come to your house, they cannot do anything or remove anything because its not your debt.

I really wanted to know if this was true so I've searched and found this from the Post Office Act 1953:

(1)If any [F1person not engaged in the business of the Post Office] wilfully and maliciously, with intent to injure any other person, either opens or causes to be opened any postal packet which ought to have been delivered to that other person, or does any act or thing whereby the due delivery of the packet to that other person is prevented or impeded, he shall be [F2liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both]

(2)Nothing in this section shall apply to a person who does any act to which this section applies where he is parent, or in the position of parent or guardian, of the person to whom the postal packet is addressed.

So it's only illegal if you're doing it "with intent to injure" i.e to steal someone else's mail, not if you're trying to help them, which in effect you are. I don't know if that's necessarily the correct interpretation but that's how it seems to me!

Thanks for your replies.

I have no forwarding address for this person. I have had countless letters from bailiffs warning me of impending visits from them. They were addressed to the occupier, which is why I first opened them. That is when they advised me to open all further mail.

I had tried returning to sender with covering letter stating no known address, but they were ignored. I am seriously thinking of taking some legal advice to stop them harrassing me. I know the law changed regarding bailiffs in recent years and what worries me is if they knock on my door when I am not here and my son answers and lets them in, or worse still they gain entry when I am not here.

Aha, and I just found this from the Postal Services Act 2000:

127. Section 84(1) provides for it to be an offence if persons intentionally delay or open postal packets without reasonable excuse. It amalgamates the content of offences previously included in the Post Office Act 1953.

128. Subsection (3) makes it an offence for a person, intending to act to a person's detriment and without reasonable excuse, to open a postal packet which he knows or suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him.

I think the key words are "without reasonable excuse", which I think you have.

Thank you for posting the information Badgermonkey, that is more or less how I understood it.

This has been going on for almost 6 years now, so it doesn't go away that easily.

Another problem is I am hoping to be moving in the next few months and I don't want to leave a mess for the new owners of the house.

Badgermonkey, thanks again.

Oh I can sympathise, I'm still receiving mail for previous occupants almost 6 years after moving here. Some are from Lloyds TSB, I used to return to sender but had so many I opened the letter and rang the number. I still get them though.

Annoyingly, the previous owner moved to Dubai but still uses this address to hire cars - so I've recently been getting loads of Eurocar letters. Even after ringing them, I'm still getting them.

Thankfully no bailiffs though!

I am expecting to come home one day and find all my belongings have been taken by the bailiffs, lol.

As it has been going on for almost 6 years now I expect I will soon stop receiving it, as I think 6 years with no contact between creditor and debtor is an end to the matter.

I open it unless I know the adressee, ie. Its a neighbour and they've just got the door number wrong.

Actually if it from debt collection agencies, just use it to make hanging baskets or necklaces....probably worth more recycled.

Usually, I send back mail, addressed to the previous occupants, to the sender. However there was one occasion where we recieved a letter addressed to someone else who we hadn't heard of before so I opened it. It turned out to be a bailiff's letter and I had to phone the company up to explain the situation. That's the only time I've opened someone else's letter. Now, I just send it straight back to the sender.

Can you contact the DVLA about this? Sounds like he's using his old driving license to hire cars. I believe it is a fineable offence to not update the DVLA when you move house/leave the country.

Illegal or not, I would open letters in your situation. I think that badgermonkey's posts show that the letter of the law is on your side anyway. It's seriously inconveniencing your life and I don't think you should worry about the privacy of someone who hasn't bothered to tell people of their change of address.

I opened one that came from HMRC addressed to the previous occupants here - well their company which was registered to this address - and just about died when I saw it was a red final demand VAT bill. I don't know what to do now, if I call HMRC they will know I opened the mail but similarly I don't want bailiffs coming round.

We get quite a lot of mail for them - mostly just circulars/magazines etc and I just chuck them in the recycling.

I'd reseal it, mark it as "not at this address since date" and return to sender.

I've opened other people's mail by accident, sometimes you can only see the address and not the name in the window. <shrug>

And WHS - I've opened other people's letters because it was that or worry about bailiffs because we'd got some serious debt colllecting agency stuff going on for previous residents.

In our old house we got to the point of opening the mail that was coming because after 4 years it was blatant that they were still using our address for new things and not bothering to tell people they owed that they'd moved.

Roobarb I'd phone HMRC. The only people that ever asked me why I'd opened it I just said you couldn't see the name through the window. Every other place was just pretty helpful and were grateful to be told they were wasting their time sending bills to us.

It's not pleasant to have the baliffs come round. We had it 4 times - 3 times they were very polite and helpful, but once they were rude, pushy and extremely loud and I found it quie intimidating as I was home alone with a tiny baby.

I open any mail which is addressed to my home which isn't the previous owners, or a neighbours.

Re debt collection letters I would open them, fax them a letter saying the person they are trying to contact is no longer at this adress and you do not have forwarding details. Say if they send further communcation you will report them to the relevant body for harrassment and if they visit your home you will be informing the police.

Why people feel they have some kind of obligation to help debt collectors I really don't know. There is absolutly nothing they can do to you and if they continue to send post report them.

We've lived in our house 2.5 years now and at first were inundated with mail for the last owner (most of which looked "official"). At first I just used to return it as "no longer at this address" but when the bailiffs started knocking at the door (at least once a week) I just gave them the previous owner's mobile no. This stopped most of the letters and visits but some of them still persisted and then I would open the letters and ring them to tell them he no longer lived there and give his contact no. Since then most of them have stopped and we only get one every six months or so which are easily dealt with in the same manner.