How to complain about your postal service
Although it is Ofcom’s job to regulate the postal industry, we cannot investigate individual complaints about post and parcel companies.
If you have a problem with your post or parcel service, you should complain to the company directly. Every company must have a complaints procedure you can follow.
For more information, please visit our complaints area.
Problems
Contact Royal Mail’s customer services department to submit a compensation claim.
Royal Mail entitles customers to a certain amount of compensation for retail mail (e.g. stamped or metered mail including Special Delivery Guaranteed and Signed For) that is lost, damaged or delayed.
- For items posted with Royal Mail which have no intrinsic value or where a claimant cannot provide proof of posting, there will be compensation for loss, damage and delay of a minimum of six First Class standard letter stamps.
- For items posted with Royal Mail using First or Second Class standard services, which are lost or damaged, that have an intrinsic value, with proof of posting and proof of value (such as an invoice or receipt), customers will be entitled to a postage refund plus compensation for actual loss up to the value of the item, or £20, whichever is the lowest.
- For items posted with Royal Mail using Signed For services, which are lost or damaged, that have an intrinsic value, with proof of posting and proof of value (such as an invoice or receipt), customers will be entitled to a postage refund plus compensation for actual loss up to the value of the item, or £50, whichever is the lowest.
- For items posted with Royal Mail using Special Delivery services, which are lost or damaged, that have an intrinsic value, with proof of posting and proof of value (such as an invoice or receipt), customers will be entitled to a postage refund plus the compensation for actual loss up to the value of the item, or the value associated with the Special Delivery product purchased, whichever is the lowest.
Compensation for delayed retail mail will become payable three working days after the due delivery date.
£5 and £10 payments for delay and substantial delay for Special Delivery (not posted on account).
Redirected retail mail is eligible for compensation for delay.
Users of the Articles for the Blind service can claim compensation for loss, damage and delay.
With regards to lost items, mail is not considered to be lost until 15 working days after the date of posting.
More information is available on Royal Mail’s website.
Royal Mail chooses its own collection and delivery times. Ofcom does not regulate these times.
However, Royal Mail must tell Ofcom if it plans to change its delivery times, and publish the changes on its website.
Royal Mail aims to complete deliveries by 3pm in urban areas and by 4pm in rural areas. Royal Mail tries to maintain this every working day, but volume variations, transport disruptions and operating problems mean that there may be times when deliveries are late.
If your deliveries are consistently later than the specified times, contact Royal Mail’s customer services.
There are opt-out schemes available to help reduce the amount of unwanted post you receive.
Addressed mail
For mail that is addressed, contact the Mailing Preference Service (MPS) to remove your address from mailing lists. You can call the MPS on 020 7291 3310.
Please note that it can take up to four months for your address to be removed from some mailing lists.
Unaddressed mail or leaflets
If you want to stop unaddressed mail or leaflets being delivered by Royal Mail to your home, then you will need to ask Royal Mail to ‘opt you out’ of Door to Door. More information is available on the Royal Mail website.
As part of its universal service obligation, Royal Mail must deliver to every address in the UK, every Monday to Saturday.
But for some addresses, it is not possible for Royal Mail to deliver mail right up to the door. If that is the case, Royal Mail must tell you that it cannot deliver to your address and explain why delivery is not possible. You must also be told about the alternative delivery arrangements Royal Mail has made for you, and how to appeal its decision.
If you receive this notification and you are not happy with the decision or the alternative delivery arrangements Royal Mail has made, you can formally appeal this decision with Royal Mail.
If you are not happy with the outcome of your appeal, you can request a second review. And if, after a second review, you remain unhappy with Royal Mail's decision, your case should be referred to Ofcom for consideration.
You can find more information about how to appeal on Royal Mail’s website.
Deliveries and charges
Special Delivery Guaranteed is Royal Mail’s urgent and insured product, with guaranteed delivery by either 9am or 1pm the next day.
It includes an online tracking system and electronic proof of delivery and compensation up to £500 or the value of the item, whichever is the lower. If you need something delivered by the next day (with a few geographical exceptions) this is the service to use.
The ‘Signed For’ service provides proof of posting, signature on delivery to the address (not necessarily the addressee) and online confirmation of delivery of your item. It includes a maximum of £50 in compensation. If you want the peace of mind of knowing that your item has been delivered to the address but not the addressee, this is the service to use, but please note that this service does not include a guaranteed delivery time and should not be used for valuable items.
Royal Mail’s redirection service allows customers to have mail redirected from their old private address to a new address. Royal Mail offers concession prices for people who receive certain benefits. There is also a redirections service if you are moving business premises. You can apply for a redirection online.
This service is not available for all customers, and it does not cover all types of mail. More information is available on Royal Mail’s website.
If you order goods worth £15 or more from outside the EU and you have not paid the Import VAT in advance, you will have to pay Import VAT on these goods when they arrive in the UK.
If the goods are worth more than £105, customs duty is also payable.
However, whichever UK postal operator delivers your goods will pay these customs charges, and will then charge you both the customs charges and a handling fee before you can claim your goods from them.
For example, Royal Mail charges an £8 handling fee on top of the customs charges owed. Visit Royal Mail’s website for more information regarding customs charges on items ordered from abroad.
Royal Mail's Keepsafe service holds customers’ mail for up to two months while they are away from their home or business premises. The mail is kept at their local delivery office.
Royal Mail will deliver your mail once the Keepsafe ends. More information is available on Royal Mail’s website.
A letter is an item which is:
- up to 240mm in length
- up to 165mm in width
- up to 5mm in thickness
A ‘large’ letter is an item which is:
- up to 353mm in length
- up to 250mm in width
- up to 25mm in thickness.
If you have a large letter, you must use a ‘large’ stamp. If you are unsure whether your item is a large letter, Royal Mail’s size and weight guide, or your local Post Office will be able to help.
Royal Mail PO Box is a service that allows you to collect your mail from your local Royal Mail delivery office, instead of having it delivered.
If Royal Mail receives an item of mail with insufficient postage, it is their policy to inform the recipient that the item is available for collection. This gives the customer the choice of whether to collect the item with a £1 surcharge or refuse collection – allowing Royal Mail to return the item to the sender.
Royal Mail says that the handling charge is necessary to cover the cost of assessing the item for the correct postage and diverting it from the normal stream of mail, so that the additional postage can be requested from the recipient. It does not represent additional profit for Royal Mail.
Post offices and boxes
You can use the Post Office’s online Branch Finder tool by entering your postcode to find your nearest Post Office.
You can also use this tool to find the nearest Post Office that offers specific services, such as processing driving licences or Parcelforce Express Services.
You can also phone Post Office customer services on 0345 611 2970.
Contact Royal Mail customer services on 03457 740 740. You should make a note of the post box number, which can be found in the bottom-left-hand corner of the collection plate (for example GU27 66).
If you ever find that the collection plate is missing from a post box, make a note of the box’s location and tell Royal Mail that the plate is missing.