One person in 20 doesn't bother forwarding or returning letters which come through their door but are addressed to someone else - they just bin them. So are they breaking the law? There are 14.5 million letters lost in the UK each year, research by postal watchdog Postwatch has found. Of these, 60% are simply delivered to the wrong house. So what happens to these letters? The majority are put back in the postbox or delivered to the correct house by the hand of the good-hearted citizen.
But 5% of householders simply put letters that are wrongly delivered straight in the bin. Are they breaking the law?
Not bothered
The Postal Services Act 2000 is clear that an offence is created if anyone intentionally delays the post or intentionally opens a mail bag. The Act goes on to say: "A person commits an offence if, intending to act to a person's detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him."
Which, as even non-lawyers will easily appreciate, is not the same thing as throwing away a letter because you can't be bothered to deliver it yourself. It could be argued, though, that putting mail in the bin counts as a "delay", albeit an indefinite one.
But the chances of being able to complain to the police about a negligent neighbour throwing away your letters is pretty slim, simply because of the difficulty of finding out about something you probably did not even know was on its way to you.
And even if there was evidence that someone had opened your letters, proving that they had done so intending to act to your detriment would be no easy task.
Incredibly rare
A Royal Mail spokesman admits it's unlikely prosecutions could be brought, simply because of the difficulty of getting evidence. Furthermore, he's not aware of anyone having been prosecuted for throwing misdelivered mail away.
The reported cases of prosecutions for tampering with the mail are incredibly rare, and involve rogue postmen.
The spokesman adds that it would be a different matter if someone profited from information taken from someone else's mail, or indeed stole items directly out of letters or parcels. As for letters which have been incorrectly addressed, as opposed to those which are simply put through the wrong letterbox, there is an easy answer. Many people may be tempted to open such letters to find out a return address, but need not worry.
Direct mail
The Royal Mail spends �10m a year on two dedicated sorting offices, one in Belfast for letters and one in Portsmouth for packages, to which any incorrectly addressed mail (which has no return address specified) is sent.
These offices open the mail and try to determine where they have come from so they can be returned.
The Postwatch research into misdelivered mail did not establish how much of it was direct marketing information. But seeing as 67% of the mail delivered comes from businesses (admittedly including letters such as bank statements), it's a fair bet that a lot of the mail which ends up in the bin was junk even before it was posted.
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It may not seem that important to you if you get someone else's mail - most people say to themselves 'it's a small mistake and it only takes five minutes to pop it through the right letterbox or put it back in the postbox' 
