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- Quick Guide
- Junk Buster
- Door-to-Door Opt-Out
- Letterbox stickers
- Your Choice
- Mailing Preference Service
- Edited Electoral Register
- Tick boxes
- Return to sender
- Contact the sender
Other Junk
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Guide to stamping out junk mail
Tip 2 - Letterbox Stickers
Putting a 'no junk mail' sign on your door is the only way to stop unaddressed junk mail delivered by local businesses. If you have registered with Royal Mail's Door-to-Door Opt-Out it will also remind the postman not to push unaddressed leaflets through your letterbox (as, surprisingly, postmen have to learn by heart which households on their round are opted out!).
You can make a sign yourself or buy a sticker from the shop. Stop Junk Mail sells two types of stickers. If you don't want to receive either leaflets or free newspapers you can get a 'No/No' sticker. If you do want free newspapers you can get a 'No/Yes' sticker instead.
'No Junk Mail' or 'No Commercial Leaflets'?
One of the reasons why Royal Mail ignores 'No Junk Mail' signs is that the text 'No Junk Mail' is not very specific. What you see as 'junk mail' might be 'useful information' to your neighbour. If you are going to make or buy a sign, make sure it doesn't simply say 'No Junk Mail'. The text is too vague and leaves it to deliverers to guess whether or not you want to receive for instance a leaflet from your local councillor or a flyer from one of your neighbours about a missing cat.
The text 'No Commercial Leaflets' does make it perfectly clear what sort of leaflets are and are not welcome. If a leaflet is trying to sell you something it's junk mail. If, on the other hand, it's primarily informative it's welcome.
As you will have noticed, the stickers Stop Junk Mail sells also give the option to say 'Yes' or 'No' to free newspapers. This is for the same reason. A sign saying 'No Junk Mail' puts deliverers of free papers in an impossible situation; to some people free newspapers are highly informative and entertaining, to others they are just junk mail in disguise.
Help them to help you!
Generally speaking, leaflet deliverers are quite willing to respect 'No Junk Mail' signs. True, there are deliverers who simply don't care (in my own experience take-away restaurants are the worst offenders) but most deliverers understand that ignoring a polite request not to receive leaflets is rude and reflects poorly on the company they represent and the industry as a whole.
They're not all 'baddies'. In fact, deliverers are sometimes rightly frustrated with householders for making it difficult for them to do a decent job. If you are going to put up a 'No Junk Mail' sign, consider if deliverers will be able to easily notice and understand the sign. In particular:
- If you are going to make a sign yourself, keep it simple. Deliverers are unlikely to read through a long list with items you don't want to receive and then decide whether or not they got what is listed.
- Put the sign on your letterbox, or at least as close to the letterbox as possible. That way the deliverer can't fail to notice it.
- If you live up a long drive (or up steps or behind a gate) put an extra sign up at the end of the drive. The deliverer will be grateful.
In short, be nice to deliverers and help them to help you.
What if my sticker is ignored?
Any 'No Junk Mail' sign is 'just' a polite request not to receive leaflets. The Data Protection Act 1998 gives you the right not to receive addressed junk mail (see 'Contact senders') but there is no such equivalent for unaddressed junk mail.
You may find that the leaflets you receive are being delivered by your postman. Royal Mail ignores 'No Junk Mail' signs and wants you to register with its Door-to-Door Opt-Out instead. If that is the case you should either register with the opt-out or, if you have already signed up, contact Royal Mail to make sure they stop delivering unaddressed mail. More information about making complaints about the Door-to-Door Opt-Out can be found on the Door-to-Door page in this guide.
If the leaflets have been delivered by local businesses, and if you are confident that your sign is clearly visible (and understandable) for deliverers you can try contacting the offender directly. A more radical solution is to return any unwanted leaflets to the sender in an unstamped envelope, with a polite note asking to respect 'No Junk Mail' signs in future. Royal Mail will notify the offender that an item is ready for collection at the local distribution office, and that a charge for postage and admin costs is due. Think of it as 'justice for the price of an envelope'.
Links and tools
What's next?
» Tip 3 - Your Choice Preference Scheme for Unaddressed Mail