Author: Archive

Every year UK households are bombarded by a staggering 15 billion pieces of junk mail, equal to 626 unsolicited letters per British household, but the consequences are more than just simple irritation on the part of the recipient.

An estimated140,000 householders fall victim to identity fraud every year and many people are putting themselves at risk by not shredding or destroying junk mail according to new research by CPP. 80 per cent of the population admit to throwing their junk mail away without even taking it out of the envelope. All an opportunistic thief needs to cash in on our identities is a name and address.

Over a lifetime the average person will throw 49,000 letters in the bin. A spokesman from CPP said: “The results from this survey are terrifying – people don’t realise that by dropping 49,000 letters in the bin, they are effectively giving fraudsters 49,000 opportunities to steal their identity.”

The statistics reveal we are most at risk when moving house. 16 per cent of people fail to tell people when they move, with a quarter of us getting so wrapped up in the trials and tribulations of changing homes we forget to tell banks, utility companies and the DVLA for at least 2 weeks.

Almost a third of us naively rely on the new occupants of our old homes to forward our mail on to us. But the trust may be misplaced: less than half of new owners bother to send on any correspondence at all.

A spokesperson for CPP said: “Moving home is a key time for people to leave themselves vulnerable to fraudsters. Giving notification of change of address should be organised weeks in advance and should be put in equal priority to signing the deeds or booking the removal lorry. If it isn’t, the consequences could be very serious.”

Royal Mail is facing union demands for a 27 per cent pay rise that the post group claims will cost an extra GBP1 billion a year, The Times has learnt.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has asked for the minimum payment of its members to be brought into line with average basic pay in the UK. The main postal union is also demanding that its members work a 35-hour week, rather than the existing 40 hours.

The CWU says that postal workers, who earn a minimum of GBP311 per week, should be able to benefit from investment and improvements expected in the business over the next few years.

In a letter to Royal Mail, Dave Ward, the CWU deputy general secretary, said: “Given the proposed scale of change within the company, we require a pay settlement that achieves UK average basic pay for OPGs [outdoor postal grades]. This was set at GBP395 per week in 2006 and we are undertaking research to establish whether the figure has subsequently increased.”

The CWU says that the rise could be phased in, although Royal Mail said that the union had called for the increase to be immediate. Mr Ward said: “The business has a five-year plan for success and that must include raising the value and status of postal workers’ jobs in that timescale.”

The postal organisation, which has a pension deficit of GBP6.6 billion and recently reported a plunge in its profits, says that it cannot afford such a rise. A spokesman said: “This pay claim will cost us GBP1 billion at a time when we are facing full competition and the cost of servicing our pension deficit is pushing our profits down 86 per cent.” The group maintains that it already pays better rates than its competitors.