Dealing with Junk Mail and Telemarketing

Unsolicited mail is often annoying and sometimes even offensive. The brightly coloured envelopes claiming you’ve won a holiday or a million pounds invariably fail to fulfil their promises, and they can be upsetting for the bereaved who regularly receive junk mail addressed to departed loved ones.

Called ‘direct mail’ by the marketing companies that send it, junk items of post are easy to prevent. The same goes for cold calls – telemarketing people ringing you at the most inconvenient hours, trying to sell insurance or lower your fuel bills. Often these take the form of pre-recorded messages on automated systems that will repeatedly phone you no matter how many times you hang up on them.

The most direct course of action is to contact companies and ask them to stop inundating you with mail or phone calls. More effective and official are the Mail Preference Service (http://www.mpsonline.org.uk) and the Telephone Preference Service (http://www.tpsonline.org.uk), which are free and quick to use. Both services are run by the Direct Marketing Association (UK) Ltd, which also runs equivalent services to prevent unwanted faxes and emails.

All you have to do is register your name, address and/or telephone number and then wait up to 28 days while your information is processed (up to four months in the case of mail). You can also register your mobile phone number, but this will only prevent calls and not texts.

Under the Government’s Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, it is unlawful for UK companies to make unsolicited direct marketing calls or send unsolicited faxes to individuals who have indicated that they do not want to receive such calls or faxes.

Should you be registered with one of the preference services and then make a complaint about a company that is still contacting you, the Direct Marketing Association will investigate, and a full report will be made to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, who will take appropriate action. You can also contact the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk) directly to complain about a letter or fax being received.

It ought to be noted that the Direct Marketing Association’s preference services are usually so effective that you will not only not receive marketing and sales correspondence and calls, but you will also not be contacted by charities – including those you may support.

You may, however, continue to be contacted by overseas organisations and firms with whom you have done business in the past.