How do I stop baby club junk mail arriving at my grandparents' house?

Why is baby-club mail arriving at my grandparents' house?

A parent or grandparent often puts nan's address on a baby-club form so a free pack has somewhere to land before the new family has its own flat. The club then treats that address as the postal contact. Later mail can arrive in nan's name, mum's name, or both — a second letterbox, not a leftover unsubscribe inside mum's own app.

BMPS and MPS work on a named person at a UK residential address. They do not read the club's privacy policy for you. If the envelope says a real name, start with those registers. If it says "The Occupier" or has no name, those registers cannot clean it.

What does BMPS stop, and what does it miss?

The Baby Mailing Preference Service is the free register for people who do not want baby-related mailings. MPS's BMPS page says companies that check the file are told that circumstances have changed and that the preference is no further baby product or service mail. Registration is updated daily.

MPS states that companies who are not members of the Data & Marketing Association and Baby MPS may not be aware of the registration and may have to be notified directly by you. A BMPS listing is not a legal block on every sender.

How do I register the grandparents' address?

BMPS says you may register for yourself, a family member, or a friend who asked you to act on their behalf. Ask nan first. Then do the addressed-mail registers before the leaflet opt-outs.

1. 1
   Write down every name on the envelopes Nan's full name, mum's name if it appears, and any misspelling the club used. MPS cleans by title, forename, surname and full address. "The Occupier" is not a valid MPS surname.
2. 2
   Register those names at the grandparents' address on BMPS Use bmpsonline.org.uk. This is the baby-specific file. It does not replace a named-club opt-out.
3. 3
   Register the same names on MPS Use the Mailing Preference Service. Citizens Advice says the service can take up to 4 months to be fully effective; MPS's own homepage says registration can take up to three months to show the full effect. Details stay on the file until you tell MPS they have changed.
4. 4
   Add the Royal Mail Door to Door opt-out if leaflets are the problem Citizens Advice: download the form from Royal Mail, post it, or ask Royal Mail to send one (0345 266 0858 / [email protected]). Unaddressed junk mail from Royal Mail should stop within 6 weeks of them receiving the form, for 2 years.
5. 5
   Write to any sender that is still arriving after the published wait Citizens Advice's wording is an Article 21 UK GDPR objection: full name and address, the date, "Please stop processing my personal data for direct marketing purposes in accordance with Article 21 of the General Data Protection Regulation," and a reasonable stop date. Article 12 says they should do this within 1 month.

Does MPS stop occupier mail or leftover names?

No. MPS's consumer FAQ says it cannot reduce mailings addressed to the Occupier or Homeowner, because list-cleaning needs a title, forename, surname and full address. For that mail, contact the sender and ask to be removed from delivery lists.

If the club used mum's name at nan's house, MPS also lets you register a previous occupant's name at the current address, and to register a previous address if you have moved. Allow the published wait (MPS FAQ: 4 months for a previous-occupant registration to take effect) before treating it as ignored.

Citizens Advice also covers a "no commercial leaflets" sign on the door and returning an envelope that has a return address, marked "unsolicited mail, return to sender", without paying postage. Neither step replaces BMPS, MPS or a named-sender objection.

How do I stop one named baby club?

Registers reduce industry lists. A club that already holds the grandparents' details as a customer, or that you asked to send packs, is outside the MPS promise — MPS says registration will not stop mail from companies you are a customer of, or mail you requested.

• Open the club account (or the welcome email) and change the postal address or close the membership.
• Send the Article 21 sentence Citizens Advice publishes, to the address in that club's privacy notice.
• If a pack was claimed in nan's name, she is the person the sender has on file — her objection is the one they can match.

In shortBMPS plus MPS for named baby mail at nan's house; Royal Mail Door to Door for unaddressed leaflets; a direct Article 21 letter for any sender still writing after the published wait. Occupier envelopes and non-DMA members sit outside the registers.