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Where mail is addressed to “The Occupier”, or it is unaddressed and delivered by organisations or individuals other than the Royal Mail, you can write to the sender to indicate that you no longer wish to receive mailings from them. You can also email the sender where possible. An organisation that receives written indication that you wish to be removed from their mailing list is legally obliged to stop sending you marketing materials within a reasonable time. You can also write to companies that you already deal with, such as banks, credit card companies and utility providers, to request that they do not send you marketing materials for their other services. You should keep a record of the letter you send and the reply you receive from the organisation; and all other communications, recording the dates of all correspondence. This information will be helpful if you have any difficulty preventing an organisation from sending you direct marketing. Letter templates If you would like to write to a company to request to be taken off their mailing list, the following templates will help you compose your letter. Registering with the Mailing Preference Service (MPS) can reduce the amount of personally addressed direct mailings that you receive by up to 95%. Personally addressed mailings are those that have a named addressee – this can be yourself or a previous resident. It will not stop mail that has been sent from overseas, mail addressed to “The Occupier”, or unaddressed mail. You can expect to continue to receive mailings from companies with whom you have done business in the past. It can take up to four months for the MPS to have full effect, although you should notice a reduction of the mail during this period. Registering with the MPS is free of charge. To find out more or to register, you can:
Door to Door is the Royal Mail’s direct marketing service that delivers unaddressed mail, such as flyers, circulars and supermarket leaflets. Registering to opt out of this service will stop these items being delivered to your door within six weeks. Registering to opt out of this service will not stop mail that is addressed to “The Occupier”, as the Royal Mail is legally required to deliver this. Also, it is not possible for the Royal Mail to separate material such as information from Central and Local Government and other public bodies. Opting out from the Door to Door service stops all unaddressed items from being delivered by the Royal Mail. Around 75 per cent of unaddressed mail is delivered by distributors other than the Royal Mail and your opt out will not cover these items. Registering to opt out of the Royal Mail’s Door to Door service is free of charge. If opting out by telephone, householders should select option 1 for business customers. To find out more or to receive an opt out form, you can:
Letter template The following letter template will help you compose your letter requesting to opt out of the Royal Mail’s Door to Door service. The electoral register lists the name and address of everyone who has registered to vote. By law, your local authority has to make the electoral register available for anyone to look at. The law has recently changed so that you now have some choice about who can buy details of your name and address. Under the changes there are two versions of the register: the full version and the edited version. When you fill in your electoral registration form, you will be able to choose whether you want your details included in the edited register. The full register has the names and addresses of everyone registered to vote and is updated every month. Anyone can look at it, but copies can only be supplied for certain purposes, such as elections and law enforcement. Credit reference agencies are also allowed to use the full register, but only to check your name and address if you are applying for credit, and to help stop money laundering. Anyone who has a copy of the register will be committing a criminal offence if they unlawfully pass on information from it. You do not have a choice about your name and address being on this register. The edited register will be available for general sale and can be used for any purpose. You can choose not to be on it. It will be kept separate from the full register and updated every month. The edited register can be bought by any person, company or organisation and could be used for different purposes, such as checking your identity, and commercial activities including marketing. The person who fills in and signs the voter registration form must ask each person named on the form if they want their details to be included on the edited register and so available for anyone to buy. If you do not want your details to appear on the edited register you must tick the box on the voter registration form to be excluded. For further information visit www.electoralcommission.gov.uk Many companies you deal with including utility companies and banks offer online services. As well as the convenience of viewing your account and paying bills online, you can also request to stop receiving paper bills and statements. You may also receive a discount too. Contact your service providers for more information. Five easy waysFollow our five easy ways to reduce the amount of unwanted mail you receive and benefit the environment. 
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