Receiving post from old tenants

VonLuck

I was wondering what the obligation is for house occupiers to return or send on incorrectly delivered post? There have been a number of different tenants in the house I'm renting/sharing and on occasion we receive post for people who used to live here.

Sometimes we have just written "no longer at this address" on them and stuck them in a post box, but have forgotten to send them the odd time. I have also stumbled across a stack of old letters that were never forwarded, and my housemate has admitted that he has thrown out some letters which looked to be marketing.

Is there a law that requires the house occupier to forward letters, or is the responsibility on the person who moved out to update their address? I just don't want to be held liable for an overdue bill or important document that they never received!

If the former tenant hasn’t bothered to update their correspondence address with a service provider/creditor, that’s their problem. Bin them.

garhjw

Dav010 wrote: »

If the former tenant hasn’t bothered to update their correspondence address with a service provider/creditor, that’s their problem. Bin them.

Totally agree. IT can happen in the first month or so after someone leaves but any longer than that and i just bin or return to sender.... up to former tenant to update their address

kala85

Or return to sender maybe

Mezzotint

Just write unknown at this address and cross off the address on the envelope.

Most companies eventually cop on that the person isn't there. Other than that there's nothing you can do.

Utility companies and banks often will react fairly rapidly to that as there's a risk of financial loss e.g. if someone's noted to be "gone away" credit card companies will usually block their card, which tends to get their attention rather rapidly.

Edgware

I find that they are great for starting the fire

Mic 1972

I throw out everything that is not for me or my tenants

L1011

Return to sender usually stops it coming back. Throwing it out doesn't.

Gumbo

I throw them back in the post box with a return to sender or no person person living here by that name wrote on the envelope.

Fann Linn

Just open them up read them and recycle!

Every single one has been shredded. There’s been hundreds over the years. Opened a few, loan demands, loan approvals, cervical checks, bank statements, voting cards, etc. If they wanted them they’d change their addresses.

Nevin Parsnipp

Did the decent thing for the first month in a new gaff....forwarded post for previous tenants to their new addy,

Not a word of thanks or appreciation from them....used everything that came in for them from 1st month onward as fire starting material....why would I put myself out for the lazy ..careless ...ungrateful kernts ?

VonLuck

Thanks for the replies, but I guess the root of my question is that am I liable if I don't do it? Like is it considered a criminal misdemeanour for destroying someone else's post?

Mic 1972

VonLuck wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, but I guess the root of my question is that am I liable if I don't do it? Like is it considered a criminal misdemeanour for destroying someone else's post?

nobody can prove you destroyed it, mail get stolen or misdelivered or lost all the time

Graham

53.— (1) A person commits an offence if he or she, without the agreement of the addressee and, in the case of a person who is a postal service provider or an employee or agent of a postal service provider, contrary to his or her duty, intentionally—

(a) delays, detains, interferes with or opens, a postal packet addressed to another person or does anything to prevent its delivery or authorises, suffers or permits another person (who is not the addressee) to do so,

Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011

TheChizler

VonLuck wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, but I guess the root of my question is that am I liable if I don't do it? Like is it considered a criminal misdemeanour for destroying someone else's post?

To actually answer your question, yes it's illegal.

I moved recently and updated all my addresses, as far as I knew. But KBC and a few others annoyingly insisted on sending the confirmation of address change to my old address which I was no longer at... The change for some reason also triggered them to print and send me and my partner all our statements for the last year, twice, to the old address. So it might not just be people not updating their addresses, it could be companies at it as well.