Wrongly delivered mail — ComReg · Ireland

Direct answer

Mail for someone who does not live at your address: write "not at this address" on it and put it back in the postbox — do not open it, that is a crime. If it keeps coming, tell The carrier's customer service — the postal operator — and ask the registry to investigate who is registered at your address (see that page). Your own mail going astray, opened, or arriving late: complain to the operator first; ComReg — postal regulator (01 804 9668) — the postal regulator — handles unresolved complaints. Someone reading your mail is also a data-protection issue for Data Protection Commission (DPC) (01 765 0100).

Call firstThe carrier's customer service

Report toComReg — postal regulator

If that failsData Protection Commission (DPC)

🗣️ What to say

"Since [date] I receive mail addressed to [name] at my address; this person does not live here. Please correct your delivery data. / My own mail addressed to [address] is [not arriving / arriving opened / delivered elsewhere]; [examples with dates]. Please investigate and confirm."

🪜 Step by step

Return, do not open"Not at this address", back in the box. The operator reroutes and, after a few, updates its data.
Tell the operator: The carrier's customer serviceOnline form; ask them to note the correct occupants.
Registry checkIf a stranger is registered at your address, the registry corrects it — that stops most of it.
Your mail missing: complain, then ComReg — postal regulatorOperator complaint with dates and examples; the regulator if unresolved.
Opened mailPhotograph the envelope; report to The carrier's customer service and, if it is a pattern, to the police and Data Protection Commission (DPC).

📇 All contacts

The carrier's customer serviceTracking, claims for loss or damage, redeliveryFirst step for anything about the parcel itself

ComReg — postal regulatorComplaints about postal services after the operator's own processSystematic non-delivery, lost or damaged post📞 01 804 9668 🔗 www.comreg.ie/consumer-information/postal-services

Data Protection Commission (DPC)Complaints against companies, investigations, finesWhen the company does not answer within a month or misuses data📞 01 765 0100 🔗 www.dataprotection.ie

Department of Social Protection — PPS number / Civil Registration ServicePPS number, birth/marriage certificatesOn arrival and for certificates📞 0818 927 999 🔗 www.gov.ie/en/service/12e6de-get-a-personal-public-service-pps-number

❓ Frequently asked

Can I throw the mail away?

Better not — return it. Destroying someone's mail can be an offence and the sender needs to know the address is wrong.

Important letters from authorities never reach me

Ask the authority for digital delivery and check your registered address; a wrong registration is the usual cause.

A previous tenant's parcels arrive

Refuse the delivery or return it to the carrier; do not accept and keep them.

📎 Sources

Last checked: 2026-09-26

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📬 I keep receiving someone else's mail, or mine goes elsewhere — what do I do?