Stopping junk mail and unwanted post

with the Mailing Preference Service and more.

Stopping junk mail and other unwanted mail in your postbox (all for free)

  1. Register with the Mailing Preference Service
  2. Register with Royal Mail to stop junk mail from your Postie
  3. Remove yourself from the version of the voter list that the council sells
  4. Put up a letterbox sticker asking for new junk mail
  5. “Return to Sender”
  6. Avoid being added to any mailing lists in the first place.
  7. Register with the “Your Choice” Preference Service for unaddressed mail.

Register with Mailing Preference Service

You can do this for yourself and previous occupants of your house.

Register with Royal Mail to stop junk mail from your Postie

You can phone, email, or write to them to ask for the form to fill in to register (which lasts for 2 years):

Remove yourself from the version of the voter list that the council sells

  • Nearly all councils sell the voter list to any company that wants it. This means companies have your contact details to send you junk mail to.
  • You can tell the council’s election office not to sell your details BUT still to keep you on the voter list so you can keep voting.
  • You can ask them to remove your details from the “open register” (sometimes called the “edited register”. More information on the Open Register: https://www.gov.uk/electoral-register/opt-out-of-the-open-register
  • When the electoral office sends you the annual voter registration form make sure you opt out every single time – sometimes it means you need to fill in and send the paper form because the electronic registration doesn’t allow opting out.
  • Find your nearest electoral office and ask to opt-out: https://www.gov.uk/get-on-electoral-register
  • This will not affect your ability to vote.
  • This will not affect you appearing on the voter register used by Credit Reference Agencies so will not affect your credit rating.

Put up a letterbox sticker asking for new junk mail

  • Create your own ‘no junk mail’ sign on your letterbox or door to help stop junk mail.  Make a sign yourself saying “No commercial leaflets”. You can add “No free newspapers” or “Yes, free newspapers” depending on if want to get free newspapers or not.

“Return to Sender”

  • Write “Return to Sender – unsolicited mail” and put it back into the post (with no fee to pay) and hope they will take you off their mailing lists.
  • Pre-print labels with “Return to sender – no longer at this address” or similar if you regularly get mail from previous occupants.

Avoid being added to any mailing lists in the first place.

  • A lot of people accidentally or unintentially sign up to mailing lists by not unticking boxes when filling in forms from companies. The basic rule is: Whenever you fill in a form with your address or contact details always look for a box to tick or untick to say you do not want to be added to any mailing lists.

Register with the “Your Choice” Preference Service for unaddressed mail

Some organisations use un-addressed mail (ie without your name and address) such as leaflets, flyers, free newspapers, etc and the DMA can also add you to their list for not getting them.