Halifax explains reason for letters and says 'it's our legal duty'

Halifax has explained why it is sometimes legally bound to send out certain letters to customers.

The issue came to light after a person contacted the bank over social media frustrated that they were wrongly receiving letters.

They said: "No wonder scammers get our details with your lack of security. You continue to send other people's mail to my address after 10 years.

"I spent over 1 hour on the phone and was assured it was resolved." The person shared an image of what appeared to be one of the letters, on which they had written 'This person has not lived here in 10 years'.

Halifax responded to apologise for the upset caused although they said they had to keep sending out the letters to comply with the law.

The bank said: "We do have a legal requirement to send some forms of correspondence to the last address we have on record and cannot change this until the customer updates their details I'm afraid. You have the right idea in returning it to us."

There were reports of a similar incident back in March this year, with a person reporting to Halifax .

Halifax said in response to them: "Please return sender and mark 'not known at this address', or hand them into one of our branches."

But the bank also warned that unfortunately the bank is sometimes "legally obliged" to send out certain letters.

Barclays recently provided an update relating to a letter going out to some customers. A saver contacted the bank disappointed that their interest rate would be dropping.

In response, Barclays said: "Interest rates can fluctuate based on market conditions and are subject to change. A letter would've been sent out to you prior to this, explaining the reason for the drop in interest rate.

"If you have the app, you can view this letter by tapping 'More' on the homepage then 'Statement and documents'."

Many savings providers have been dropping their rates after the base interest rate fell, down from from 4.5% to 4.25% in May.

Some experts have spoken out to encourage people to take up investing as an alternative to just having cash savings. Wander Rutgers, UK CEO of investing app , said: "The UK needs to come out of its savings shell to reap the rewards of investing."

The investment group calculated that if you had put your funds in the FTSE100 compared to cash ISAs for the past nine years, you would be five times better off.

Mr Rutgers said: "To build meaningful long-term wealth, investing in stocks and shares needs to become the rule, not the exception. It should sit alongside cash savings, under a single ISA wrapper, to help people get the most from their money."