Junk Mail - Contact the Sender

Contact the Sender

If you receive junk mail with a return address, write "Unsolicited mail, return to sender" on the envelope and put it back in the post unstamped. The sender will have to pay the postage and hopefully take you off their mailing list.

It does help the sender as they now know that you do not wish to receive mail from them and will save them on postage.

If you continue to receive unsolicited mail from a company you should contact them directly and ask them to 'stop using your personal data for marketing purposes'. Organisations are legally obliged to respect such a request.

It may be enough to simply phone the sender and ask them to have your details removed from their mailing list. However, the request is only legally binding if it is in writing.

It is possible to be removed from the mailing lists of free directory companies. Contact Yell on 0800 671444 and to be removed from the mailing list for the yellow pages directory.

If you do need to write to the sender, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has the following guidelines for writing a notice requesting a company to stop using your personal data for direct marketing purposes:

Make sure that your notice is dated.
Make sure that you give the organisation you are writing to your full name and address.
Give the organisation a reasonable date from which you want them to stop using your personal data. Usually a period of 28 days is considered to be reasonable.

An example letter taken from the www.stopjunkmail.org.uk is available to download.

Example Notice Letter (PDF - 42 KB)
Example Notice Letter (Word - 25 KB)

If the company ignores you request and continues to send mail after the 28 day period, you have a right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). They will need to see a copy of the notice you sent to the company/ organisation, as well as records of any communications you have taken place between you and the organisation in question. It would also be worthwhile keeping hold of any information you have received from them which you would consider junk mail after the 28 day period.

The ICO have a leaflet called 'The Data Protection Act - When and How to Complain' which you should read carefully before beginning complaint proceedings.

The complaint form is available on the ICO website. If you require further guidance please contact the Information Commissioner's Office helpline on 01625 545745.

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