Stop getting junk mail

There are some actions you can take to stop getting junk mail.

There’s no single organisation that you can register with - it’s best to do all the actions listed here.

Put a sign on your door or letterbox

Put a ‘no junk mail’ sign on your door to help stop junk mail.

You can make a sign yourself - write “No commercial leaflets”. You can also write “No free newspapers” or “Yes free newspapers” depending on whether you still want to get free newspapers.

It isn’t a good idea to rely on signs alone as some delivery people might ignore them.

Contact Royal Mail

You can tell Royal Mail to stop delivering leaflets and brochures to your address.

You need to download this form from the royal mail website (pdf). Fill it in and send it to the address on the form.

Royal Mail will send you a copy of the form if you can’t print it yourself. You can phone or email them:

You'll stop getting unaddressed junk mail within 6 weeks of Royal Mail receiving your form. They’ll stop delivering unaddressed mail to you for 2 years - then you’ll need to fill in another form.

Register with the ‘Your Choice’ scheme

Registering with the Direct Marketing Association’s ‘Your Choice’ scheme will help reduce the amount of marketing junk mail you get.

Contact DMA and ask them to send you an opt out form.

You’ll start getting less junk mail in about 12 weeks. After 2 years you'll need to fill in another form. 

Register with the Mailing Preference Service

Register with the Mailing Preference Service (MPS) - this will stop advertising material that’s addressed to you personally.

You can register online at the MPS website, or you can contact them by phone or email.

You can’t register if you have a PO box or business address, or if you live in Ireland.

You should start to notice a difference soon after registering - it can take up to 4 months for the service to be fully effective. Your details will stay on the service once you’ve registered - you should let MPS know if your details change or you move.

Stop charity marketing mail

You can contact the Fundraising Preference Service if you want to stop getting marketing mail from a charity registered in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. They'll tell them to remove your contact details within 28 days. The best way to do this is to register on their website. You can register over the phone if you prefer.

You'll need to have your contact details and the charity name or registration number to hand.

You can contact the Scottish Fundraising Standards Panel if you want to stop getting marketing mail from a charity registered in Scotland. You can get more information on their website.

Contact your electoral registration office

You can search for your local electoral registration office on GOV.UK.

Ask them to take your details off the ‘open register’ - this is a list of people and addresses that can be bought and used for sending junk mail.

If you want to remove your details from the open register

You can choose for your details not to be added to the edited electoral register when you fill out an electoral registration form. Tick the box that says “opt out” of the open register.

Contact the sender directly

If you want to stop getting mail from a particular sender, contact them directly. Include:

• your full name and address

• the date

• this sentence: “Please stop processing my personal data for direct marketing purposes in accordance with Article 21 of the General Data Protection Regulations.”

• a reasonable date that you want the organisation to stop sending you mail - Article 21 says they should do this within 1 month

Return to sender

If you get junk mail with a return address on the envelope, you should:

1. Write “unsolicited mail, return to sender” on the envelope.

2. Post it - you don’t have to pay.

This won’t guarantee that you won’t get any more junk mail, but it’s a way of letting the company know that you don’t want any more mail.

How to avoid junk mail

In future, you should check any forms that you fill in for tick boxes that say something like “I give permission for third parties to contact me” or “I give you permission to contact me”. Ticking (or unticking) the boxes will prevent you from getting junk mail from that company. 

If you give your contact details over the phone make sure you tell them not to send you marketing mail or give your details to anyone else.