# Junk Mail: Addressed to "The Owner"



## Megan (13 Dec 2006)

I have received 2 letters from Hibernian Insurance with my morning post. They are offering House Insurance and are signed by the manager of the local office. The letters are addressed to "The Owner" and then my address but not my name. They are offering a free coffee set with every new home policy. I think these letters are the same as junk mail on my email account. Are there any laws out there to protect us from this junk mail.
I have yet to get to speak to the manager.
I have my house and car insured with Hibernian but not through this office but when it is due for renewal I will have to reconsider if I will do business with them again.
I had this posted in Insurance but now think it is a consumer issue.


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## ClubMan (13 Dec 2006)

*Re: Junk Mail*



Megan said:


> Are there any laws out there to protect us from this junk mail.



 (see "full" versus "edited" register)


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## Megan (13 Dec 2006)

*Re: Junk Mail*



ClubMan said:


> (see "full" versus "edited" register)


 
As I said in my post my name did not appear on the letters. They were addressed to "The Owner" and then my address.
If I had my name  removed for unsolicited I dont think that would have stop me from getting these letters.


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## ClubMan (13 Dec 2006)

*Re: Junk Mail*

I would have assumed that the _IDMA _would allow you to request the removal of your name *and address *from their lists?


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## DrMoriarty (13 Dec 2006)

*Re: Junk Mail*

How do you know they're for you?  

I'd write 'unknown at this address' on the envelope and throw it back in the post...


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## oldtimer (13 Dec 2006)

*Re: Junk Mail*

One cannot blame An Post for delivering this mail. They get quite a lot of mail addressed to ''The Owner'' or ''The Occupier''. If there is a specific address on it and the item is paid for, An Post must deliver such mail  -unless officially instructed otherwise by a recognised body.
I would not endorse it ''not known at this address.'' Better to be up front about it and mark it ''refused, return to sender.''


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## money man (13 Dec 2006)

*Re: Junk Mail*

Megan, Sorry to hear about this terrible event. Maybe you should ring the manager when your renewal comes up and ask him for  a quote for your house insurance which may be lower than your own. If it is not tell him not to send you any more letters. Then relax and try to get over this saga.


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## Megan (13 Dec 2006)

*Re: Junk Mail*



money man said:


> Megan, Sorry to hear about this terrible event. Maybe you should ring the manager when your renewal comes up and ask him for  a quote for your house insurance which may be lower than your own. If it is not tell him not to send you any more letters. Then relax and try to get over this saga.



Dont worry money man I am a very relaxed person and I wouldnt think of it as a saga. Just posted to see what people thought about this type of post. 
Why do you assume the manager is a man?. The manager is a woman.


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## Vanilla (14 Dec 2006)

*Re: Junk Mail*

Touche, Megan, LOL.


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## DrMoriarty (14 Dec 2006)

*Re: Junk Mail*

Ah, that explains the unsolicited communication, then!


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## ClubMan (14 Dec 2006)

*Re: Junk Mail*



money man said:


> Megan, Sorry to hear about this terrible event.


I presume you're being facetious?


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## money man (15 Dec 2006)

*Re: Junk Mail*

Sorry Megan. You sure cant catch a break. It was just a slip of the keyboard..ask them!!! ......relax


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## money man (15 Dec 2006)

*Re: Junk Mail*

Nice word Clubman.Yes i was. Going to try and drop it into conversation today at some point so someone might make the mistake of thinking im clever!!


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## ajapale (15 Dec 2006)

Im not sure there are any regulations concerning junk mail addressed to "The Owner" or "The Residents". An Post themselves address some TV licence demands to "the resident". There was a thread here a few weeks ago concerning a postman in England who advised all the people on his route that they could opt out of Royal Mail delivered junk mail. He was suspended. Link.

aj


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## RainyDay (17 Dec 2006)

If the junk mail includes a pre-paid envelope, try saving up a large pile of your own junk mail and send it back to them (just sellotape the pre-paid envelope onto your large pile, which will hopefully be too big to fit in the little envelope) with a note asking them to remove your address from their mailing list. They'll be hit with the postage costs of the returned items, which might encourage them not to mess with you next time round.


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## Z100 (17 Dec 2006)

*Re: Junk Mail*



money man said:


> .....someone might make the mistake of thinking im clever!!


 
I doubt they'd ever make that mistake.  

(If you only have 'smart' answers to offer the OP why bother getting involved?)


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## The_Banker (18 Dec 2006)

Why not just throw the offending paper in the bin. I get lots of junk mail, I throw it in the bin and I then get on with living my life.


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## ClubMan (18 Dec 2006)

Or, at least recycle it.


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## The_Banker (18 Dec 2006)

ClubMan said:


> Or, at least recycle it.


 
I should have said I throw it in my recycle bin. Either way, as tough and all as it is. Life goes on!


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## miak (18 Dec 2006)

I once had a temp job working in an insurance company and one of my many mind numbing jobs was to put different leaflets advertising home insurance or similar in to envelopes and post them out. When I enquired as to where they got all these names and addresses (my junk mail came complete with name) I was told that they were able to get the names and addresses of people who had recently secured planning permission and that they were entitled to do so under the Freedom of Information Act. 

These names were supplied to us from somewhere else, they were not sourced in the office and so anybody who called the office to ask that they no longer receive such mail were effectively wasting their time.


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## RainyDay (18 Dec 2006)

miak said:


> I once had a temp job working in an insurance company and one of my many mind numbing jobs was to put different leaflets advertising home insurance or similar in to envelopes and post them out. When I enquired as to where they got all these names and addresses (my junk mail came complete with name) I was told that they were able to get the names and addresses of people who had recently secured planning permission and that they were entitled to do so under the Freedom of Information Act.
> 
> These names were supplied to us from somewhere else, they were not sourced in the office and so anybody who called the office to ask that they no longer receive such mail were effectively wasting their time.



I'm pretty sure that such practices would be in breach of current data protection legislation.


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## whackin (19 Dec 2006)

It happens a lot though, I recently applied for planning and recieved unsolicited mail from Century homes and Cygnum.


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## miak (19 Dec 2006)

The firm that I worked for seemed pretty sure that they were entitled to do what they were doing and that they were operating by virtue of some loophole in data protection legislation. I'm not saying they were entitled to do so but certainly they were not secretive or discrete about sending these mail shots out.


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## daltonr (19 Dec 2006)

The names and addresses of people involved in planning permission cases are available on the Web for all the world to see. Therefore your name and address is in the public domain, and there are no data protection issues.

Anyone can pull the names and addresses off the website (you don't even need to register for an account).

One could question whether the planning authority has the right to publish the names and addresses on the Web, but I'm sure they do, isn't part of the planning process a requirement for the process to happen in public, through newpaper statements, and posted signs.

It would be an interesting case for someone to take, to try and have their name and address witheld from public notices about planning issues.

-Rd


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## santiago (22 Dec 2006)

The form for removing your name from the junkmail list explicitly says it can't do anything about stopping mail where there's no actual name ('the owner', 'the occupier' etc.) Also, the people whose names are being blocked are meant to sign the form.

Not being able to block the address is a real pain for me because I live in an ex-rental place and the million and one tenants before me seem to be on every mailing list in existence. Try blocking all those names!


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## ajapale (24 Mar 2010)

Mod Bump


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