Royal Mail in letters blunder

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/ ... 242305.ece

Cheques for debt agency end up in man's PO Box

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

By Lesley-Anne Henry

Royal Mail apologised today for a blunder in which letters containing confidential financial information of Ulster people were delivered to the wrong address in Northern Ireland.

The company has launched an investigation after it emerged the letters which included names, addresses, bank details and debt repayment records which were to be delivered to a debt collection agency ended up in the wrong PO Box.

Also among the bundle addressed to the Belfast Collection Services were a number of cheques - at least one of which was made out for several hundred pounds.

The Royal Mail mistake could have implications for people who think they have settled their debts.

The letters were given to the Belfast Telegraph by a concerned citizen, who did not wish to be identified.

Some of the letters were dated September and October, but were only discovered last week because the PO Box isn't checked regularly.

The man mistakenly opened one envelope and when he realised what they were, he immediately contacted the Belfast Telegraph.

When he went to check his post box again on Monday the man found more letters addressed to BCS in his PO Box.

He said: " With everything that is happening with the Child Benefit scandal in England, I thought people should know about this too.

"These people have paid their debts, but the money hasn't reached the agency."

The letters also detail the history of individuals' debts, to which companies and how much they owed and had paid.

And he added: " I didn't know what to do with them.

"I think people should know this is happening. It's terrible. I don't want to know people's business."

A spokesman for Royal Mail put the mistake down to "human error".

He said: "Royal Mail apologises to the customer that on this occasion there has been a failure within our processes for handling his mail.

"An initial audit suggests this is due to human error.

"The security of all mail is of utmost importance to us and we are carrying out a full investigation into what has gone wrong."

It is understood Belfast Collection Services will lodge a complaint with Royal Mail.

The letters are now in the hands of the PSNI.

East Belfast DUP Assemblyman Robin Newton said: "I think it is insufficient for Royal Mail just to say they are offering an apology.

"This is likely to cause a great deal of embarrassment at the very minimum and possibly the loss of business to whoever may be involved.

"To have letters of such importance in this case falling into innocent hands but which could have easily fallen into the hands of someone who could have made use of the information is not just inefficiency."

[not me]

The man mistakenly opened one envelope and when he realised what they were, he immediately contacted the Belfast Telegraph.

as people always sem to do

[mrlovepantsuk]

bet he wouldnt have contacted them if the postman had delivered his mail through 10 foot snow drifts, 100mph winds with just his initials on the letter thanking them for a fantastic service, tosser.....