New Debit card sent to old address - person opened my mail..

[Ginger Cat]

My new debit card was cancelled by my bank because it had been sent to the wrong address and somebody opened my post and contacted the bank and said I did not live there.

 

I had told the bank my new address but their systems went wrong and sent it to the old address.

 

They are sending me a new one but in the meantime I can’t use my old debit card as they have cancelled that too.

 

Does anyone know if it’s legal to open someone’s post and contact the sender?

[dx100uk]

Yes.

 

Dx

[Ginger Cat]

I have just found out that is illegal under The Postal Services Act 2000.  It states that it is illegal to open someone’s post or delay it reaching it’s owner.

[dx100uk]

No its not!

If it goes to xx address

The legal owner of xx address is quite entitled to open mail

 

They infact did the right thing

Your card being stopped is a small inconvenience to having the ac drained

 

Dx

[Ginger Cat]

Why are you disputing this act.
Especially as the person knew how to get hold of me and let me know.

[dx100uk]

Disputing what?

 

You asked if it was legal..

 

The answer is yes..

 

Dx

[BankFodder]

Anyway, which bank is it?

[Ginger Cat]

The bank is Smile.

[Ginger Cat]

The Act you are disputing is The Postal Services Act 2000.

[dx100uk]

We'll up wrong tree you bark if you are after any kind of recompense for the situation you find yourself in.

 

Best idea is to complain to smile, inc written proof that they did have your correct address and seek compensation from them, if they made an error.

 

The recipient of your mail did nothing wrong by opening it.

 

Been there had the t-shirt..and yes it was the co-op too.

 

Got £150 out of them 8yrs ago.

 

Dx

[Manxman in exile]

So far as I'm aware, to commit a criminal offence someone needs to intercept the mail before it is delivered and/or they need to open it with dishonest intent etc.

 

If the bank addressed and sent it to the wrong address, and it was delivered to that address, then the person who lives there is entitled to open it and is not committing a criminal offence.

 

I open all mail that comes through my letter box and has my address on it.  If it's been sent to somebody I do not know, I'm even more eager to open it to see why somebody I do not know is using my address.  I then inform the sender of their error.

 

The last time this happened I took great delight in returning it to the firm of solicitors who had expected to find their client at my address for some reason.  (As it turned out they had got the house number wrong and their client had just moved into the house so I didn't know them.  I just hoped they hadn't accidentally conveyed my house to them...)

 

Complain to the bank - data protection; inconvenience; blah blah...

 

Get over it...

 

I think this is the bit you need to know (my bold and italics):  "A person commits an offence if, intending to act to a person’s detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him".  [Postal Services Act 2000, s.84(3)]

 

So as long as you have a "reasonable excuse", you are OK.  As far as I'm concerned, in these days of far reaching identity theft, if a bank is writing to somebody you do not know at your address, than you have every reasonable excuse to open it.

 

(Whether that 2000 Act is still the relevant one, I do not know - but I doubt the law has changed)

[45002]

Ginger Cat

 

Have a read of what  Royal Mail staff say on their forums

 

https://tinyurl.com/y6znaxym

 

Or ask yourself

 

https://tinyurl.com/y3pfyz7b

 

URLs take you to Royal mails public forums....

Edited August 1, 2020 by 45002
url

[fkofilee]

Also - what if you get a letter with just the address on it or get one with "The Occupier" that has multiple people who live there. That would also be against the law right? 

 

Nooo

 

[Ethel Street]

14 hours ago, Ginger Cat said:

I have just found out that is illegal under The Postal Services Act 2000.  It states that it is illegal to open someone’s post or delay it reaching it’s owner.

 

It's section 84 of the Postal Services Act 2000

 

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/26/section/84

 

s 84 (1) (a) says it's offence to open or delay  a letter "in transmission" . After the letter had been delivered to the address on the envelope it is no longer "in transmission", it has been delivered. Royal Mail delivers to the address not the person named on the envelope. So that section does not apply.

 

s 84 (3) says it's only an offence to open a letter incorrectly delivered to your house if you are opening it "intending to act to a person’s detriment and without reasonable excuse". ie to open it for a dishonest reason. So that section does not apply here either. It was opened with "reasonable excuse", to enable it to be returned to the sender, and it was acting to you benefit, not your detriment.

 

So as everyone else as advised you the person at your old address has done nothing wrong.

[Ginger Cat]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

 

The person who opened my post knows me and knew how to contact me if anything arrived in the post.   I believe what they did was to my detriment because now I am unable to use my card until another arrives at my new address.

 

Also, the bank are at fault because I informed them of the new address and they failed me and have admitted such.

[honeybee13]

Hi.

 

You've had quite a lot of advice on this thread already but don't seem to agree with it.

 

Can I ask what solution you would like please?

 

HB

[Ginger Cat]

Well, if someone’s post was inadvertently sent to my address and I knew them, I would contact them first.  I certainly would not open it. 
 

The bank are at fault for sending it to the old address and have admitted it.  I am not after any compensation from anybody.  An apology would be nice but nobody does that any more for fear of litigation.

 

 

[Manxman in exile]

19 hours ago, Ginger Cat said:

My new debit card was cancelled by my bank because it had been sent to the wrong address and somebody opened my post and contacted the bank and said I did not live there.

 

So that's what you first said in your original post.

 

Some how (and for what reason we cannot possibly imagine) you deliberately choose to omit from your original post the following relevant information:

 

1 hour ago, Ginger Cat said:

The person who opened my post knows me and knew how to contact me if anything arrived in the post.   I believe what they did was to my detriment because now I am unable to use my card until another arrives at my new address.

 

You appear to be a bit of a timewaster (and that's being generous...)

[Ethel Street]

2 hours ago, Ginger Cat said:

Well, if someone’s post was inadvertently sent to my address and I knew them, I would contact them first.  I certainly would not open it. 

 

What you might do and what the law requires you to do are not the same thing.

 

Just because the person living in your old house knew where you lived or could have found you doesn't mean they have to come and find you. They are entitled to do exactly what they did do. Open it and return it to the sender.

 

It's the bank's actions that have resulted in some inconvenience to you - some "detriment" if you like - not the actions of the person now living at your old address. I'm expect you'll get an apology from the bank if you complain (check the 'how to complain about us" section of their website) and maybe even a few quid as a 'goodwill gesture'. They'll no doubt point out that because of Covid-19 there has been some unavoidable reduction in their service levels.

 

Beyond that I can't see what else you could reasonably expect to happen.  It's not a major incident.

 

I hope your reissued card arrives soon.

[BazzaS]

Why not tell us what answer you want from your question, so we can just agree. That way we’ll do away with the inconvenience for you of being given answers you disagree with ........