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How to stop unwanted catalogues and marketing post

Addressed catalogues, unaddressed leaflets and marketing letters each stop through a different route. This page sets out the data protection opt-out, the Mailing Preference Service and the Royal Mail option, in order.

Step by step

How to stop unwanted catalogues and marketing post

There is no single switch that turns off catalogue post. Addressed mail, unaddressed mail and a company's own use of your data are governed by three separate systems, and each one needs its own request, sent in the right place, before it stops.

  1. Register with the Mailing Preference Service

    The Mailing Preference Service (MPS) is a free register that stops addressed marketing post, meaning mail with your name on it, from any company that checks the list before it mails you. You add your name and address at mpsonline.org.uk, and there is no charge. Registration takes effect within a few months, because companies work through their printed mailing lists in cycles and do not remove an address the moment it appears. MPS only reaches the businesses that choose to check the register, so a company that has never checked it may keep mailing regardless.

    MPS covers addressed mail only. It does nothing for mail sent to 'the occupier' or delivered without a name on it.

    Registering online

    Add your address at mpsonline.org.uk directly.

    Registering by post

    Write to the Mailing Preference Service with your name and address if you would rather not register online.

  2. Object to the company directly, in writing

    Under UK GDPR you have the right to object to direct marketing at any time, and once you have objected, the company must stop using your data for that purpose. This right applies whether or not you have also registered with MPS, because it comes from data protection law. Write to the company, by letter or email, stating that you object to direct marketing under UK GDPR and asking it to stop processing your data for that purpose. Keep a copy of what you sent and the date, since you may need to show later that the company was told and did not act.

    If the company stops

    It should confirm in writing and remove you from future mailings.

    If it does not

    You can report the matter to the ICO, the regulator that enforces UK GDPR and the direct marketing rules that sit alongside it.

  3. Stop unaddressed mail through Royal Mail

    Unaddressed mail carries no name, addressed instead to 'the occupier' or delivered as part of a general household drop, so neither MPS nor a UK GDPR objection touches it, because no personal data was used to send it in the first place. Royal Mail runs a separate opt-out for this category, letting you tell it that you do not want unaddressed items delivered to your address. This stops future drops of that kind but has no effect on addressed catalogues or letters, which are dealt with by the two steps above. The current method for registering this opt-out is on Royal Mail's own website, since the process has changed over time.

  4. Give it time, then follow up if catalogues keep arriving

    Both MPS registration and a UK GDPR objection take weeks to take effect, because a company processes removals in batches alongside its normal print and mailing schedule. If a catalogue still arrives more than a few months after you registered or objected, write to the company again, referencing the date of your earlier request. If it continues mailing despite a clear, dated objection, you can raise the matter with the ICO, which handles complaints about direct marketing and UK GDPR compliance.

This reflects the Mailing Preference Service, UK GDPR and Royal Mail opt-out arrangements as understood in 2025. These processes can change, so check mpsonline.org.uk or ico.org.uk for the current position before relying on it for your own situation.

What you agree to when you request a free catalogue

Requesting a free catalogue is a data exchange. Filling in a form, whether on a website, over the phone or on a card enclosed with another delivery, hands the company your name and address, and usually an email address or phone number as well. The company needs that information to send you the catalogue, but the same form is often the point at which it also asks to keep using your details for marketing, sometimes through a box you tick, sometimes through one you have to notice and untick.

What the company can do with your address afterwards

A company needs a lawful basis under UK GDPR to use your personal data. Sending you the catalogue you asked for is simple: you asked for it. Sending you further marketing by post, email or text in the months that follow usually rests on a different basis, called legitimate interests, which allows a company to market to you until you object. That is why one request for a free catalogue can produce mail from the same company for years afterwards, long after you stop wanting it.

Whether your details are passed to other companies

Some mail-order and catalogue businesses share customer address lists with other retailers or list brokers. This is allowed under UK GDPR, but only where it has been disclosed to you at the point you handed over your data, typically in a privacy notice or a consent box near the request form. Agreeing, or failing to disagree, to marketing from partners described only in general terms is usually what brings catalogues from companies you have never dealt with directly.

What to check before you hand over your address

  • Whether the request form has a marketing consent box, and whether it is already ticked
  • Whether the privacy notice mentions sharing your data with third parties or partners
  • Whether an opt-out or unsubscribe method is stated, and where it leads
  • Whether the company names a data controller and a contact for data protection queries

None of this is a reason to avoid requesting a catalogue you actually want. It is a reason to read the form before submitting it, because the settings chosen there decide how much marketing follows. If marketing has already arrived that you did not expect, registering with the Mailing Preference Service and sending a direct opt-out request to the company, both covered on Mailing a Catalogue Legally and in the step-by-step MPS registration guide, are the two routes that actually stop it.

Register with the Mailing Preference Service

Registration is free and covers addressed mail. It takes effect within a few months, so post already in the system will keep arriving for a while after you sign up.