Insurance scam?

[siousxiesue]

Has anyone else had this or similar, or know what it means? Twice this week I've had post to my address, to a male obviously insuring vehicles, documents to sign and return are included. I am informing the companies but do I need to do anything else?

[EJTH]

Contact Royal Mail?

[Sue]

Presumably they can trace his correct address via the car registration number/s, so if you've informed the insurance company who sent it I'd have thought that was all you needed to do?

Unless you think it might be somebody living in your road and the minion at the insurance company typed in the wrong house number .... in which case I suppose you could try knocking on doors .....

[JulieP]

Not sure if this is the same thing, but a few years back got house insurance docs from M&S to my address and using my surname (as it appears in the phonebook) with a made up name for my first name - using my initial. I called M&S and cancelled it.

Later heard on the radio that online insurance companies offer vouchers or other incentives (hence M&S) if you arrange insurance with them. The insurance invoice comes to the address and they take the vouchers online.

[Lowlander]

How do you know it's insurance documents? Anything that arrives at our house not addressed to us gets returned, unopened, to sender.

If you're opening it, technically you're breaking the law. It could just be a mistake by someone buying insurance online and putting in the wrong house number...

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/consumer_w/consumer_post_e/consumer_problems_with_post_e/consumer_problems_with_post_delivery_e/youre_receiving_someone_elses_mail.htm

[kristen]

We had someone try to get a mobile phone delivered to our address - it happened when I was out and my daughter noticed it was the wrong name and gave it back to the delivery guy. However we got the person it was intended for coming over to our house several times over the following weeks - once stopping my daughter on the street and asking if we had the phone.

I was quite worried about this and phoned up the mobile phone company who reported it as fraud. However we then started to receive bills for this mobile - I initially returned them to the phone company but they kept coming. So I opened the letter and phoned the company to ask them to stop sending the bills and demands for payment. Which after a couple of calls they did.

However we then received a driving license application form for the same person that the mobile phone was addressed to. When I got this I was worried that someone was trying to commit fraud of some sort - so I reported both incidents on the non urgent police number 101

I know it seems a bit over the top but I found the whole incident worrying - If I recieve letters addressed to someone who has never lived at my address and they look like bills or applications forms etc - I would always open them as I would be concerned about fraud. It is a criminal offense to open mail addressed to someone else without a reasonable excuse (see below). But I felt I had a resonable excuse given my suspicions of fraud. BTW the police didn't seem at all bothered that I had opened the mail

as confirmed in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

It is an offence to open, destroy, hide or delay any post that is addressed to someone else.

Post cannot be opened if it is to the addressee's detriment and without reasonable excuse.

Reasonable excuse is not defined by the Act.

[JulieP]

Agree with you Kristen.

When we first moved here, I returned most mail to sender.

Luckily, I opened one letter (which had no return address) to be informed the baliffs were coming round to collect debts from a previous occupant. One call to the company prevented them from coming.

[Lowlander]

It's very unlikely that anyone will prosecute you for opening the mail. My point is that if you return mail unopened the company will (eventually in some cases) stop and investigate.

Secondly, for debt collectors, if you call and dispute it, that often just makes them think you're the person they're after, so the bailiffs will more likely be sent round. If you send the post back (which is all automated mailings) it will eventually stop.

I speak as someone who's worked in the industry. Save yourself the stress and just return it unopened

Kristen - your case is quite extreme and definately a case for the Police.