Royal Mail and their £20 cap. Conflicting information

Royal Mail…
Today I went to post two parcels.

The post office was shut - has infact been shut for two whole days now, due to a dodgy printer and no-one to fix it.
One of the parcels was for the US, with contents worth just over the £20 limit for standard airmail. (£23)
Now in the past I could have sent as standard airmail and - should the worst happen - put in a claim up to the cap of £20.
Now Royal Mail via Twitter have decreed that unless I pay the extra £5 for tracked and signed for to cover the extra £3 that the parcel is worth, should the worst happen I would not be able to claim anything at all!!!

I have always thought - and indeed in the past have used - standard airmail for items that are just over the £20 as it seemed ridiculous to pay an extra £5 to cover £2 or £3, but apparently now it’s not an option at all?

When did that come in???

I think it’s all due to the new privatized RM there bottom line is to make profits and dividends for it’s new shareholders

1 Like

I was told that once at the post office, but the t&c on the RM website clearly say that they will pay compensation up to £20 or the value of the goods, whichever is lower. So that implies they will pay £20 if the value is above that. It doesn’t say anywhere in their t&c that you have to use the more expensive option if the value is above £20. When you put in a claim, you have to give a breakdown of costs anyway, so you would just stop at £20 surely?

I would hope so - unless they’re being particularly picky on the day when they compare the costs stated on the form to the invoice included as proof of cost.

They really need to be clearer, otherwise it’s all down to interpretation of rules by the person assessing the claims on that day - and as we’ve seen with post office staff, that’s a mire of conflicting information, depending on who you speak to!

Technically they only have to pay you the cost of manufacturing anyway, not the sale price, so that would presumably be a bit less than the invoice. Having said that, they do sometimes accept the invoice value instead, so it does depend who’s dealing with the claim and how they’re feeling on the day!