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Seven things you can do to stop junk mail
A guide to stamping out junk mail
Stopping junk mail is not as easy as it should be, but it is possible to stamp out junk mail completely.
The bulk of unsolicited mailings you receive can be stopped by doing three simple things. To stop addressed junk mail, you can register with the free Mailing Preference Service (MPS). To stop unaddressed junk mail you should opt out of Royal Mail's 'door to door service' and get a 'no junk mail' sticker.
To further reduce junk mail there are various other things you can do. The seven things listed on this page will free you of all junk coming through the letterbox.
- Register with the Mailing Preference Service
- Opt out of the 'door-to-door service'
- Get a 'no junk mail' sticker
- Tick the box to say 'no' to further information
- Opt out of being on the edited register
- Return to sender
- Contact the sender
Register with the Mailing Preference Service
The Mailing Preference Service (MPS) is a free service that can remove your name from many direct mail lists. You can also use the service to register a previous occupants' name at your current address.
Although the MPS claims that your name will be removed from 95 per cent of direct mail lists, don't expect the amount of junk mail you receive to be reduced by the same percentage. Registering with the MPS will not stop unaddressed mail, mail addressed 'To the Occupier' and mailings from companies who you have - maybe without realising - given permission to send you advertisements.
You can register online, by e-mail, by phone or by pen and paper:
- www.mpsonline.org.uk
- mps@dma.org.uk
- 08457 034 599
- Mailing Preference Service
Freepost 29
LON 20771
LONDON W1E 0ZT
Please note that it will take up to four months before all addressed mail has stopped. However, you should see a reduction in the amount of addressed junk mail you receive during this period.
If you continue to receive addressed junk mail, you can complain directly to the MPS. They will investigate your complaint and contact the company sending the junk mail.
To complain, you can write to the MPS at the above address. Note that you will need to enclose the piece of junk mail you're complaining about (or a copy of it) as well as the envelope it came in. This will help the MPS identifying the source of the mailing.
More information about how to complaint can be found on the MPS website:
If complaining to the MPS does not resolve the issue, you should contact the company or organisation you received the junk mail from directly. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 companies are obliged to take your name of their mailing list if you ask them to do so. Information about how to go about this is below (see Contact the sender).
If contacting the sender also doesn't help, you could consider complaining to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). Information about this can also be found under Contact the sender.
And if you're feeling a bit dizzy after reading all this, feel free to contact us via our Report page. We can guide you through the whole process, or contact the junk mail offender on your behalf.
Opt out of the 'door-to-door service'
Royal Mail earns millions of pounds from delivering unaddressed advertisements and they're hoping to get permission to deliver a lot more junk in the near future. At the moment Royal Mail is not allowed to deliver more than three pieces of junk mail per household per week, but this is likely to change. Luckily, it is possible to opt out of receiving leaflets delivered by the postman. To do so, you have to contact Royal Mail directly and ask them for the 'stop door-to-door confirmation form':
- optout@royalmail.com
- Freepost RRBT-ZBXB-TTTS
Door-to-door opt-outs
Royal Mail
Kingsmead House
Oxpens Road
OXFORD
OX1 1RX
Royal Mail will try to persuade you not to opt out by telling you that if you do opt out, you may no longer receive important information from local and national Government. Our advice is to ignore this warning. It is unlikely that important information is ever sent using the door-to-door scheme, if only because more and more people are opting out. If local or national Government has something important to tell you, they will make sure that the information is widely available – door-to-door leaflets are just one of many ways in which local and national Government can communicate.
Once Royal Mail has received your form they will stop delivering unaddressed items within six weeks. If you want to speed up the process a bit, feel free to download the opt-out form from our website:
- Stop door to door confirmation form (PDF, 56Kb)
Finally, it is important to note that your opt-out will automatically expire after two year's time. Royal Mail will not send you a new opt-out form to remind you of this.
Get a 'no junk mail' sticker
Putting a 'no junk mail' sign on your door is the only way to stop junk mail delivered by local businesses. If you have opted out of Royal Mail door drops, it will also remind the postman not to push unaddressed envelopes and leaflets through your letter box (as, surprisingly, postmen have to learn by heart which households on their round have opted-out!).
The stickers Stop Junk Mail sells also give you the option to say 'yes' or 'no' to free newspapers. And buying one of our stickers will keep us going as well; our campaign is funded solely by the sale of 'no junk mail' stickers!
Tick the box to say 'no' to further information
When you give your name and address to a company, for instance when you buy a product or service, look in the small print and tick the box to say that you don't want any further information about other products and services.
Often you will find a second tick box asking you if your personal details may be shared with other 'carefully selected' companies. Never agree with this; your name and address will be added to numerous mailing lists, resulting in more junk mail.
Opt out of being on the edited register
When you fill out your annual electoral registration form, choose for your details not to be added to the 'edited voting register'. There is absolutely no advantage in having your personal details on the edited register. It can be bought by any person or company and can be used for any purpose, including sending junk mail. So, read the form carefully and tick the right box to ensure that your details will appear on the 'full register' only.
Return to sender
If you receive junk mail with a return address on the envelope, write 'Unsolicited mail, please return to sender' on the envelope and put it back in the post unstamped. The sender will have to pay the return postage and will usually remove your details from their mailing lists.
Contact the sender
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.
Often it is enough to phone the sender and ask them to take your details of their mailing list(s). However, the request is only legally binding if it is in writing.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has the following guidelines for writing a notice requesting a company to stop (or not begin) processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes:
- Make sure your notice is dated.
- Make sure 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 processing your personal data. Usually a period of 28 days is considered to be reasonable.
An example letter can be downloaded from our website:
- Example of notice to stop unwanted advertisements (Word, 25Kb)
If the organisation you have writen to does not comply with your request, your next step would be to complain to the ICO. Note that they will want to see a copy of the notice you sent to the organisation, as well as records of any other communications that have taken place between you and the organisation in question.
Before you complain to the ICO, you should have read their leaflet called 'The Data Protection Act – When and how to complain'. This leaflet can be found on the ICO website:
The actual complaint form can also be downloaded from the ICO website:
And for further information you can contact the ICO helpline:
- 01625 54 57 45