Received someone else’s legal letter

Thewife

Hi looking for advice please ..

I received a letter with the envelope addressed to me but upon opening the letter inside is for another individual and details court dates , judgements and agreed payments made and missed etc

I contacted the person whom the letter was for and naturally the man in question was extremely embarrassed and got rather emotional as this took him back to a very dark place during this court case where he said he got very depressed and suicidal due to the stress of the situation . I felt awful for having to make that phone call and put this stress upon this man again and wondered if there would be any recourse for this man to take against this solicitor and the debt in question for breaching his personal data to me ? I have had dealings with this solicitor previously so they have my details on file which now has lead me to wonder if they have sent a letter to me and it’s gone somewhere else ! Just to note we live in different parts of the country and our names are in no where similar but the envelope has my name and address and marked STRICTLY PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL but the letter enclosed is for this other man .

Any help about what we should do would be greatly appreciated . Also best advice for me on how I can find out if they sent me a letter and it went to someone else , would they tell me the truth if I call and ask them ? Would they even know if my letter went some where else , I’m presuming the person receiving it would have to report it in order for them to be aware of it ?

Thank you in advance

Addle

If I got correspondence in error, I’d return it to the sender, not contact the addressee about it.
Can’t imagine that there’s any recourse.

bisset

How did you have his phone number to call him?

Thewife

Thanks for your reply . I have never been in a situation like this before and honestly thought I was being helpful by phoning the person the letter was for with the view of getting his address to post it to him , but I was not expecting the emotional response which I got and I feel so awful about it being the bearer of bad news to this poor man . Should I notify the solicitor company or another body regarding the breech ?

Addle wrote: »

If I got correspondence in error, I’d return it to the sender, not contact the addressee about it.
Can’t imagine that there’s any recourse.

Thewife

It was on a letter attached to the solicitors letter details court proceedings against him and a company going back a few years .

bisset wrote: »

How did you have his phone number to call him?

Darc19

Always return to sender and ignore what was in it.

It was none of your business making a third party contact - how could you think it would be OK?

Thewife

Because I had dealings with this solicitor in the past and given the envelope was addressed to me I didn’t realise the letter inside wasn’t for me until I had read it ! After reading the letter and being utterly confused I then noticed another persons name and details at the top ! I have never been in this situation so i didn’t know what to do and my natural instinct was to call the person to whom the letter was for and tell him I had it and how to get it to him .

Darc19 wrote: »

Always return to sender and ignore what was in it.

It was none of your business making a third party contact - how could you think it would be OK?

NickNickleby

I have in the past received correspondence intended for someone else. Fortunately I didn't feel the need to read ALL its contents, nor did I feel the need to contact the person involved to tell them of the breach. I simply contacted the sender and told them they had obviously put the wrong letter in my envelope. As for any letter intended for me going astray, I would hope that whoever received it in error, would simply return it as having been sent in error. I imagine that a solicitor would be in total shock upon receiving returned mail such as this and would tighten up procedures.

Or one could look to cause havoc, in the hope of obtaining the same result.

Thewife

Well I would like to hope that a solicitor would inform a client that they their personal details and business has been breeched by sending it to a different address and addressed to a different person and maybe I’m skeptical but I don’t believe they would be contacting me to admit such a thing so I am wondering how and if I can find out for sure if my data has been breeched along with this other mans .

NickNickleby wrote: »

I have in the past received correspondence intended for someone else. Fortunately I didn't feel the need to read ALL its contents, nor did I feel the need to contact the person involved to tell them of the breach. I simply contacted the sender and told them they had obviously put the wrong letter in my envelope. As for any letter intended for me going astray, I would hope that whoever received it in error, would simply return it as having been sent in error. I imagine that a solicitor would be in total shock upon receiving returned mail such as this and would tighten up procedures.

Or one could look to cause havoc, in the hope of obtaining the same result.

Thewife

I should also state ... the company named in this letter with this man is the same company in which I had dealings with through this solicitor so when I started to read the letter I didn’t at first know it wasn’t for me because the company and solicitor are the same but the amounts owed and dates didn’t match with mine and that’s when my confusion started and I realised the actual letter was for another person . I didn’t open the letter and immediately realise it wasn’t for me and just keep reading to be nosey and I also have never been faced with this situation so wasn’t sure of the protocol and honestly thought I was being helpful but instantly regretted it !

Thewife

The man in question is obviously going to contact the solicitor about what happened and I am also going to contact them to find out if a letter ment for me has gone elsewhere but before doing so I just wanted advice before I do so , so I can be sure what they tell me is true or not.

Anyone with a bit of cop on would contact the sender of the letter, not the person it was addressed to, especially if it's a sensitive matter like this. Dunno what you were thinking, OP.


EDIT: I re-read my post after writing it and it seems needlessly harsh. Not intending to have a go at the OP, I appreciate you were trying to be helpful, but my advice is stop getting involved. If there's recourse for the chap, let him figure it out. It has nothing to do with you, don't meddle in the issue. But do inform the solicitor incase, as you said, a letter was meant for you, and has gone astray.

Purple Mountain

You've told the other party about it, let him deal with it how he wants.
But I do echo what the others said, it would not occur to me to contact him, I'd have either rang or emailed the solicitor and posted it back.

wiggle16

Thewife wrote: »

The man in question is obviously going to contact the solicitor about what happened and I am also going to contact them to find out if a letter ment for me has gone elsewhere but before doing so I just wanted advice before I do so , so I can be sure what they tell me is true or not.

I don't know if there's anything anyone can tell you to help you detect if your solicitor is lying on the phone. You either trust that your solicitor is honest or you don't. For what it's worth I write dozens of letters out every week in work and because of how the copies are stored I wouldn't know if one went to the wrong address unless it was sent back to me. I would doubt there's any way they can prove nothing of yours has gone somewhere it shouldn't have.

I don't know. I really don't understand why you called the man instead of putting "not known at this address" on the envelope or sending it back to the solicitor. Your man is going to throw a wobbler on the phone to them and the solicitor might well lose that client over a very simple mistake, which could have been avoided if you'd just sent it back. So if it were me I wouldn't stir the pot trying to see if the man has any recourse.

angel eyes 2012

Thewife wrote: »

Hi looking for advice please ..



Any help about what we should do would be greatly appreciated . Also best advice for me on how I can find out if they sent me a letter and it went to someone else , would they tell me the truth if I call and ask them ? Would they even know if my letter went some where else , I’m presuming the person receiving it would have to report it in order for them to be aware of it ?

Thank you in advance

There is really no "we" in this scenario, the onus is now on the data subject (other client) to take it up with the solicitor and this is not really your concern.

With regards to finding out if your letter went to the incorrect recipient, it really is a wait and see approach. I would imagine, the only way you would be informed is if the Solicitor's office was to contact you directly and tell you about any breach involving your personal data. Just because they were guilty of a data breach with another client, it doesn't necessarily follow that your personal data was also breached.

Thewife

Yes I suppose I’ll never be sure if a letter with my details went to another person but considering the envelope in which the other persons letter arrived to me was addressed to me at my address leads me to believe a letter of some sort was being sent to me also. I’m more shocked given everyone’s replies that my first response was to contact the person and re unite the letter that way instead of contacting the solicitor , I need to seriously re think my initial gut reactions to things 🙈

Thanks everyone for your replies !

angel eyes 2012 wrote: »

There is really no "we" in this scenario, the onus is now on the data subject (other client) to take it up with the solicitor and this is not really your concern.

With regards to finding out if your letter went to the incorrect recipient, it really is a wait and see approach. I would imagine, the only way you would be informed is if the Solicitor's office was to contact you directly and tell you about any breach involving your personal data. Just because they were guilty of a data breach with another client, it doesn't necessarily follow that your personal data was also breached.

JustAThought

Actually OP I was very shocked at everyone elses harsh replies to you - I would also have callled the person it was intended for and let them know. You did right. You are involved because you got it and now know at least some of the details, it does cast doubt over the competency and professionalism of your shared solicitor and their ability to pace and manage their workload and handle sensitive and private data.
And,however unintentionally or carelessly it is a quite large breach of GDPR leglislation and no doubt if the law society or governance committee got hold of this they would also have cause enough to haul them up for breech of confidentiality and possibly professional misconduct. I’m
totally with you on this!


The only reason I got to know someone unlinked to me and never living at my address was using myhome to file tax returns (online) from was because I opened a letter sent to them at my address -implications for me personally - you bet - but the state agency was never going to release that ‘confidential’data without that mistake being made and me finding out by accident.

The only reason I got to know that some scammer had registered their limerick car to my dublin address was by the same error -a person I never knew,met and who also never lived here.Again under GDPR I could
find no details and the car regisration office says it happens often.
So
yes -keep
opening those letters and keep reading them and keep that man in the loop.They would be quick enough to drag him back to court and run up
solicitors fees if he missed a payment -even if he never knew there had been a settlement because his solicitor was careless and made a mistake. Lets face it -we mock people who as a defence say they didnt know or nobody told them or they never got a letter -this could have had serious consequences for him.

People in high stress situations deserve
better -and solicitors should be more careful.

Thewife

Thank you 😊
Had the envelope been addressed to this man I would never have opened it but it was addressed to me so naturally I presumed the letter inside was also for me and especially given I have had dealings with this solicitor and for the same company in which the man was indebted to I didn’t think it wasn’t for me when I started to read it , it was only when I got to the end of the correspondence and realised the amount stated was not what I owed I realised something wasn’t right with the letter and then I noticed someone else’s name and address and contact details etc at the top of the letter . I also never thought about it from the point of view that had the man never known about this letter he then would have unintentionally missed the court date or response date and had this case gone ahead without him I now wonder how much the court would believe him if he says he knew nothing of his letter because he never received it 🀷*♀️ I really think all letters of this nature or any letter that is marked as STRICTLY PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL should always be registered and signed for by the person it is ment for , therefor there is no mistaking where it ended up !

Thanks for your reply I don’t feel as bad now . I did lay awake for a long time last night questioning my gut reaction to things and also with this poor man and his reaction playing on my mind . He has asked me to forward the letter to his address which I will do this morning and I’m sure the solicitor in question will be getting a call from this man or his solicitor! I will also be getting my solicitor to make a phone call to see if we can find out where my letter ended up as clearly they were sending me a letter of some sort also given that they printed my name and address on a envelope ! It’s a horrible feeling to think someone knows personal financial information about you and your business and I wish I didn’t know this mans business but I don’t see how it could have been helped given the envelope was addressed to me and given we both seem to have legal issues with the same particular company and firm of solicitor !

Thank you for your reply 😊

JustAThought wrote: »

Actually OP I was very shocked at everyone elses harsh replies to you - I would also have called the person it was intended for and let them know. You did right. You are involved because you got it and now know at least some of the details, it does cast doubt over the competency and professionalism of your shared solicitor and their ability to pace and manage their workload and handle sensitive and private data.
And,however unintentionally or carelessly it is a quite large breach of GDPR leglislation and no doubt if the law society or governance committee got hold of this they would also have cause enough to haul them up for breech of confidentiality and possibly professional misconduct. I’m
totally with you on this!


The only reason I got to know someone unlinked to me and never living at my address was using myhome to file tax returns (online) from was because I opened a letter sent to them at my address -implications for me personally - you bet - but the state agency was never going to release that ‘confidential’data without that mistake being made and me finding out by accident.

The only reason I got to know that some scammer had registered their limerick car to my dublin address was by the same error -a person I never knew,met and who also never lived here.Again under GDPR I could
find no details and the car regisration office says it happens often.
So
yes -keep
opening those letters and keep reading them and keep that man in the loop.They would be quick enough to drag him back to court and run up
solicitors fees if he missed a payment -even if he never knew there had been a settlement because his solicitor was careless and made a mistake. Lets face it -we mock people who as a defence say they didnt know or nobody told them or they never got a letter -this could have had serious consequences for him.

People in high stress situations deserve
better -and solicitors should be more careful.

Darc19

So every letter with confidential information should be registered and signed for?

That's preposterous.

You'd have to queue in the post office to send it and then hope that the addressee is in when it's being delivered.

If not in, they have to go to the trouble of visiting the local post office to collect it during opening hours and within 7 days.

The solicitor made an error. You went the wrong way about dealing with it and then you look at a catastrophe syndrome type scenario of "a letter to me must have gone to the wrong place"

Stop over thinking it.

Thewife

Yes I do think any sensitive mail like the one I received should be registered and for few reasons (1) the company can be sure the person got it ! (2) if data is breached you are certain to get the truth because you can request a copy of the delivery record and therefor be sure if your letter went to and was signed by someone else (3) it might tidy up the legal system in the sense that people are responding to letters or court dates because the system can be sure that person got that letter .


I also don’t feel I’m overthinking anything . A solicitor printed my name and address on a envelope clearly to send me a letter , given a letter for another person was in a envelope printed and addressed to me certainly leads me to believe my letter has gone elsewhere because it’s not arrived here ! It’s somewhat scary that’s solicitors office is making this kind of mistake when the letter included very sensitive information . I’m sure if a person elsewhere in the country received a letter for you with such information and unknowingly read it before realising it was for you , I’m sure you’d certainly want to know about it ? And I don’t think I’m on my own here in thinking that if you didn’t know about it the solicitor I doubt would be contacting you to own up to such a thing ! And that is my main issue , I want to be absolutely certain that someone in the country hasn’t received sensitive information about me and I don’t feel the solicitor will willingly own up to this when I contact them , hence one of the reasons I asked for advice here .

Darc19 wrote: »

So every letter with confidential information should be registered and signed for?

That's preposterous.

You'd have to queue in the post office to send it and then hope that the addressee is in when it's being delivered.

If not in, they have to go to the trouble of visiting the local post office to collect it during opening hours and within 7 days.

The solicitor made an error. You went the wrong way about dealing with it and then you look at a catastrophe syndrome type scenario of "a letter to me must have gone to the wrong place"

Stop over thinking it.

Thewife

Moderators

If you can close this thread or delete it I would be greatful as I think I have all the info I need now thanks