Hughmer Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 I expect many of you will rely on family to mind your mail when away. We don't have any living family in the UK so it's not so easy for us, and in the past we set up redirection to our book keeper who'd bin the junk, file the mundane, and email us with scans of important stuff. We chose the book keeper because he knows all about our finances anyway and it just feels more comfortable than asking a friend. Sadly our book keeper can't do it this year because he's rather poorly so we need to find a secretarial bureau or something that can offer a similar service. Anyone got any recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Once away not really fussed about anything at home. We have good neighbors who pop in and at least pile the mail up out of the way and water the plants...that's about it :-D Then again with a 9 metre monstrosity parked outside your house I doubt your neighbors talk to you? :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hughmer Posted April 30, 2013 Author Share Posted April 30, 2013 thanks judge most helpful I'm sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Hughmer - 2013-04-30 1:04 PM thanks judge most helpful I'm sure Seriously though, is there no one you can trust who can pop in.. don't you leave spare keys with someone? If its business stuff that needs opening that is a bit more complicated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudders Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Hughmer - 2013-04-30 11:45 AM I expect many of you will rely on family to mind your mail when away. We don't have any living family in the UK so it's not so easy for us, and in the past we set up redirection to our book keeper who'd bin the junk, file the mundane, and email us with scans of important stuff. We chose the book keeper because he knows all about our finances anyway and it just feels more comfortable than asking a friend. Sadly our book keeper can't do it this year because he's rather poorly so we need to find a secretarial bureau or something that can offer a similar service. Anyone got any recommendations? Ok have a chat with your local sorting office manager, who I am sure will be able to sort something out for you, explain to him/her what you are doing and something will be sorted for you, perhaps to open a po box number where they can store your mail, however I am not sure whether you might also need to put in a redrirection from your address to that po box , anyway I am sure they will come up with something suitable and safe for you, have a great time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldi Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Afternoon all, the royal mail do mail hoding service for a modest fee but our experience is that it is not very reliable so we get our daughter to come round now. norm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 anyone see the undercover program last night re parcels? caught the tail end of it.... :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hughmer Posted April 30, 2013 Author Share Posted April 30, 2013 Previously we used R.Mail redirection so that all our mail was sent to the book keeper, and as I tried to indicate in the 1st post, some of it was financially sensitive, and while we didn't mind the book keeper seeing it, we preferred our close friends didn't. What I was hoping to elicit from the assembled company was suggestions of secretarial bureaux or other firms who could sort, file and forward as the BK used to do. But I think i may have sorted it. Found a great mail scanning service at £13/month. Website looks great. Not so sure about the accommodation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Jeez......I would be careful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 ..They look like they may also do a mean kebab.....! 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Hi Hugh I can't open your download, but how long are you away? We just get a friend to collect our post, and she bins the rubbish, and keeps the rest for when we get back, unopened. Does any of your post have to be opened before you return? We just make sure that there will be no credit card balance, and use one we can acces on line and therefore if used can be paid on line.All our bills are paid by standing order, so no problem there. I would rather use a trusted friend than an unknown (to you) mail box PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dencol Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 I have in the past used a local secretarial / office company. They do not open the mail but kept it in a PO Box. They would also forward unopened post to me once a week. Was couple of years ago so don't know if post office still allow it but the company would post a package of my mail to either the local post office a local secretarial company to be held for me. Occassionally if I knew I was on site for a week the site office would accept the package some would - some would not. All I did was ring the company and give them a forwarding address. The problem I had was with Roayl mail I would request mail forwarding to the holding company but it was a bit hit and miss and I would return home to find mail in the house. It did cost because I was paying a company for a PO Box and forwarding the mail but at the time it was worth it as I was getting mail that could not wait until my return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noodles Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 JudgeMental - 2013-04-30 12:53 PM Once away not really fussed about anything at home. We have good neighbors who pop in and at least pile the mail up out of the way and water the plants...that's about it :-D Then again with a 9 metre monstrosity parked outside your house I doubt your neighbors talk to you? :D LOL :D :D :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 On the basis that we are away for up to 2months at any one time, we use RoyalMail 'Keepsafe'. It's not 100% reliable, but on the whole pretty good, and we formerly used ity at our flat where the mails boxes were very insecure, externally mounted, and very small. The cost is reasonable, though in theory why do you pay NOT tohave it delivered!! You can set it up over the phone, and at that time state the day/date you want it delivered in bulk to your home address. If you wish to change this (ie bring the date forward) whilst away you can call them and they will alter this for you. As this fits in with the period we are away, we shall continue to use the system even though we now have a letter box in the front door......but how you manage for periods in excess of the 62 days I am not quite sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 We do long trips away, four to six months away usually, we have tried mail redirection, waste of time that was some was redirected some wasn't, we got the fee back for that fiasco. So now we have all bills paid by Direct Debit, any mail that arrives at our home whilst we are away just piles up behind our door, we have people call in and check our home whilst away,[ Insurance requirement ] and they put our mail in a plastic box for us and we sort it when we arrive home, there is three piles of mail when sorted 1/ complete junk, i.e pizza offers, furniture bargains , political crap, window conversions etc. 2/ Junk with our address on ,ie, specsavers, Christmas cards from Charities, Saga, etc, and 3/ Bank statements, gas and Electricity statements, water statements, and other personal mail. so after sorting , Junk mail 1 and 2 I post back into the Royal Mail post box, let them recycle that, and 3 I read , file and deal with as required, We have a frosted glass paneled front door and when we go away we stick black plastic sheet over the glass so a casual caller cannot see through the glass and note any piled up mail on the floor[ before being picked up ] thus indicating the house may be unoccupied and ripe for a Burglary . People tend to think that mail is important and must be dealt with straight away on receipt, I do not think that way, I think that if people want my attention I will give it to them , but only when I am ready to do this.this also applies to E Mails and Internet, I use this at my convenience , not for the convenience of others , no matter how urgent they may think my attention is needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hughmer Posted April 30, 2013 Author Share Posted April 30, 2013 vindiboy - 2013-04-30 10:57 PM no matter how urgent they may think my attention is needed. What a breath of fresh air... perhaps you feel like me when I'm at a service counter and the phone rings behind the desk and the clown who's supposed to be serving me takes and deals with the call while I wait. Herrumph! Back to the OP I should have said "many" months.. We're leaving the uk within 2 weeks. We'll be back in October. Perhaps. We try to run a modest property empire that supports our way of life. Most things can be dealt with by email, standing order, direct debit other methods. We know all this. But occasionally the bank screws up. Something's not paid. There's a final demand. It needs to reach us. We NEED TO KNOW. We need a mechanism that thinks like us if we're at home We do not want our friends to know the intimate details of our financial affairs. So a bureau seems like the answer. Is Ducie Street our salvation, - or can anybody answer the OP, - is there another answer to our predicament? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barryd999 Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 DD and email is the answer. I dont see why the bank would screw up a DD if its been ongoing for a while. If you have online banking you should be able to see if something hasnt come out when it should of. I have heard of the mail scanning services but dont know how good they are. Everything we pay is by DD, debit card, bank transfer or business cheque. All business stuff is done by email including invoices. I do have a neighbour who piles up the post and sorts it and would tell me if anything official looking came in but he would ask me if I wanted him to open it. I dont worry about it to be honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawcara Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 I think there is a thing called Poste restante or somesuch that the Post Office will do. Basically you have to know an address abroad and post will be sent there. They can also hold post for you or you can do a redirection. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Barryd999 - 2013-04-30 11:48 PM DD and email is the answer. I dont see why the bank would screw up a DD if its been ongoing for a while. If you have online banking you should be able to see if something hasnt come out when it should of. I dont worry about it to be honest. Yes, we have DD or STO for everything, and can access Banking on line whilst away if need be. Anything else can be dealt with when we get back home, and usually ther are quie a few magazines (inc MMM) which make up the bulk and wieght of what is delivered by RM on our return. Most folk/companies we deal with can get hold of us by email, so like earlier posters, we don't warry about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Hughmer - 2013-04-30 1:04 PM thanks judge most helpful I'm sure My apologies, was getting you mixed up with my mate Hugh ( hughman) it's either attention deficit or dementia......... :-S It's complex this. And beyond most people's experience. Mail one thing but needing it opened and actioned quite another..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Might be worth asking your Solicitor if they can provide this service (abiet at a COST) but should give you much more peace of mind that back street bucket shop pictured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 vindiboy - 2013-04-30 10:57 PM We do long trips away, four to six months away usually, we have tried mail redirection, waste of time that was some was redirected some wasn't, we got the fee back for that fiasco. I would be fascinated to know how you managed to get the fee returned? I have had more arguments with Royal Mail than any other firm going back over years. I should explain that I cannot receive mail where I live so I still have to use the address of my house which I rent out. Many years ago I did manage to get some compensation but they will not do it now there is no overseeing body. Last year I paid £85 for redirection abroad but very few letters arrived. In fact one was returned to sender immediately which resulted in not receiving my pension for 4 months. When my last tenants moved out I found mail going back 15 months. I try to do as much as possible on the internet but not all banks etc. will stop paper statements. I now have post transferred to an address which is served by the same sorting office as my address and they still get it wrong! After the last fiasco I had had enough and wrote to my MP. Interestingly one RM complaints office dealt with my complaint (in which I mentioned that my MP had been informed) and another dealt with the MP's correspondence. As far as I am aware there was no liaison between them. My complaint earned me £3.30; the MP's earned me £25 - obviously carried a lot more punch!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldi Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Afternoon folks, Sounds like a business opportunity for someone like a retired solicitor or accountant eh. ? norm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 There are lots of secretarial services companies who would be able to provide a bespoke service. For example a quick Google search would give you the following. http://www.yell.com/s/secretarial+services-hemel+hempstead.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 Here's another one that will open the letters, scan them and upload to a secure site for you to read. http://www.ukpostbox.com/ See their Scanned service. I have never used these companies so cannot vouch for their reliability, trustworthiness etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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