witholding anothers post

[zingara]

We have recently moved house and are concerned that the person that has bought our previous house is witholding our mail. We have contacted some companies that we had expected to recieve mail from, who informed us that they had infact sent it to our previous address. We have had our mail re-directed but there was an interim period of a few weeks whilst the re-direction was set up. we were told by the buyers that they would inform us when any letters came which they have not and when asked they said nothing had arrived. Please tell me Are they within the law if they do not give us our mail or at least return to sender or post office? Thank you for reading this.

[dzug]

They are stealing your mail if they either keep it or throw it away. Stealing is theft and a crime.

[Buenchico]

Dzug's answer is correct as long as the word 'keep' is taken to mean that the new occupiers of your old address intend to permanently deprive you of it.

However, there is absolutely no obligation upon them to forward any mail or to return it to the Post Office or senders. They are perfectly within their rights to say that they will hand you the mail when you call at their house, at a time which is convenient to them. The fact that that might mean you being forced to make a lengthy round trip, possibly of several hundred miles, is completely irrelevant. There is also no obligation upon them to tell you that some of your mail has been delivered to their house unless, of course, you ask them.

If you've asked them whether they've got your mail and they don't reveal it, they may be guilty of theft. However, it's far more likely that the Post Office have screwed up on the redirection arrangements. (There's no reason why they should take several weeks to come into effect. a few days is usually sufficient). Even if the new occupiers really have consigned your mail to the bin (which is what I always do with mail for previous occupiers - but I have lived here for 15 years) you'd never be able to prove it unless the mail included 'signed for' items.

Chris

[Nether Edge]

See section 84 of Postal Services Act 2000.
It is a criminal offence for anyone - without reasonable excuse - tintentionally to delay or open a postal packet in course of transmission by post or, intending to act to someone else's detriment and without reasonable excuse, to open a postal packet which he knows (or reasonably suspects) has been incorrectly delivered to him.

[zingara]

Thank you for your replies. We have contacted the person by telephone and in person but they deny that any thing has arrived to them. They have suggested that the post office may have messed up but the post we were expecting was due before the re-direction date. Never mind, you live and learn. . I just wanted to know the legalities, not that I will take it any further, it's true, prooving it would be difficult, time consuming and very boring.