Looking for help with claim against Royal Mail in small claims. They admitted to losing my 'signed for' package, but then failed to reply further or compensate me. Four months afterwards, I issued Small Claims writ and they sent me standard letter and standard cheque for compensation two weeks later. They have put through their defence which from reading other threads is the same they always use, ie: 1. No contract was entered into between parties for the delivery of the parcel (they mention Harold Stephen & Co V's RM 1978 as reference). 2. The defendant has immunity to a claim in tort in respect of the transmission or delivery of post. Saying they cannot be sued in contract or tort. I know of one case on here that they lost in the County Court. However County Court proceedings are not recorded as far as I know. What I am looking for is any evidence of similar proceedings, a letter explaining the court's reasoning or similar. If anyone had anything they could redact and post I would be very grateful.

I posted a mobile phone I sold to someone using Royal Mail's {RM} Guaranteed next day delivery before 1pm service. This service also includes insurance for up to £500 for loss or damage to items using this service. The item was posted in the UK from my local Post Office in Cheshire to Northampton so classed by RM as mainland mail. The recipient collected the item from their local RM sorting office and when opened there it was found to have damage by way of a cracked screen. The recipient advised me of the damage in writing within 30 minutes of collecting the item and at my request he posted it back to me in a package in its original packaging then I refunded him the cost of the phone. I then submitted a claim for compensation (£106 to repair the screen) to RM under the terms of the insurance sold to me (up to £500 loss or damage) with the guaranteed next day delivery service. On submitting the claim I fully complied with all of RM's requests for information, proof of posting, photographs of the item both pre and post damage, eBay listing number, Paypal Transactions etc . The first reply from RM was a letter of 24/11/15 saying they were sorry to hear of my problem, but they did not confirm or deny they had damaged it. They went onto say the damage was most likely due to my negligence for not packaging the item correctly and in turn they would not be offering compensation on this basis. They also returned my item with this correspondence. I escalated the matter and asked them to review the case and told them the item had been packaged correctly using reasonable care and that the suggestion I was negligent was unhelpful and insulting. I asserted it had been damaged by RM's employees or possibly by their mechanical sorting equipment and refuted any negligence by me. Once again RM wrote back in a letter of 3/12/15 saying they had looked into the matter but felt the original decision was correct and that no compensation would be offered as I had been negligent by not packaging the item correctly. They advised if I was still not happy with this decision then I could escalate it to their "Escalated customer Resolution team". Once again I wrote to RM and explained to their Escalated Resolution Team that I required them to pay for the damage to item, pointing out I refuted that I was in any way negligent and that I had taken reasonable care in packaging the item prior to posting. I also advised them that I was very insulted/offended by their suggestion that I had been negligent. I advised them that if they did not pay for the damage I may have to consider legal action by way of the Small Claims Court. The Escalated Resolution Team responded on 8/12/15 by saying that they had reviewed the case and that after reading correspondence the original decision was correct. The individual went onto say: "I have reviewed the details of your claim and I am afraid I have concluded that it was handled correctly and the previous response appropriate. If I can clarify, to look into the outcome of your complaint I have carried out a further inspection of the packaging of the damaged item and original packaging. Having completed these investigations, I am satisfied there is no evidence of any damage to the external packaging consistent with the damage caused to the content. Having reached this regrettable conclusion, as your item could not have been damaged during its journey with Royal Mail we are not responsible for the repair or cost of your item". It is interesting to note that there was no proper review carried out by the Escalated Team as the mobile phone and packaging could not have been inspected as it was returned to me by them on 24/11/15. I am also very angry as ultimately if they are stating the damage was not done by them; there is a suggestion that the item was damage already there prior to posting which is implying I submitted a fraudulent claim. I have no reason to disbelieve that when the phone was received by the individual at RM's sorting office it was damaged as RM's tracking system shows when he collected it and the email message from him advising of the damage demonstrate he contacted me within 30 mins of collection, so allowing for time for him to travel home and write to me etc seems fair enough and as aside I have no reason to question his character. I wrote back to RM in a letter before action advising them I was very annoyed by the content of their message and giving them 14 days to pay for the damage or the matter would escalate to Small Claims Court. Once again RM wrote back saying their position was unchanged in respect of their decision. I have raised a claim via MCOL and I have asked for the £106 for repairs to the screen. I refuted I was negligent and cited RM as having acted both disingenuously in the handling of my claim and also my annoyance as the implication that I have acted in some fraudulent manner. RM's legal team have lodged a defence which in my is perhaps simply an attempt to muddy the water and over complicate the issue by arguing various immunities: 1. No contract was entered into between the parties 2. RM has immunity to a claim in tort in respect of such delivery of post 3. RM may only be liable to pay compensation if the conditions of the scheme known as the Royal Mail UK Postal Scheme (UK Post Scheme) are satisfied. 4. The claimant did not comply with RM's packaging guidelines therefore compensation is not available. 5. Even if the RM is liable under the UK Post Scheme, liability is limited under the scheme and the defendant, RM, is not liable for consequential loss. 6. Further argument of no contract existing quoting Harold & Stephen Co Lts V RM {1978} 1 AII ER 939 7. Immunity in tort: Citing Ofcom designation of RM as a "Universal Service Provider" USP* within the meaning of Sect 65(1) of the Postal Services Act 2011 and Ofcom's designation being made under Schedule 9, para 3(1) of the PSA 2011. 8. Citing RM as a Postal Operator under Sect 27(3) of the PSA 2011 and a scheme under Sect 89 of the PSA 2011. 9. As RM is a USP* & a Postal Operator there is no right to a claim of tort as sections 89 & 90 of the PSA 2000 applies. 10. Guaranteed Next Day Delivery is a scheme under the UK Post Scheme notified to Ofcom under Sect 89A of the PSA 2000. 11. Under the arrangements of the UK Post Scheme, in the absence of no arrangements under the UK Post Scheme no compensation is payable even if RM are deemed negligent. 12. They do admit compensation can be made under Sect 91 of the PSA 2000 provided all the terms of the scheme are complied with. [this makes all the waffle above seem rather irrelevant?] 13.They make further references to packaging guidelines and their service users obligations under this aspect of their T&C's. 14. The claimants packet did not meet with the requirements of the packaging guidelines therefore RM is not liable. Sorry if this all seems rather long winded, but i feel if there is advice given to me it should be done with people being made aware of the full facts to date. My simplistic view is that at 12 above there is a right to sue; the other stuff is added by their legal team in my view to dissuade claimants from progressing further. I did package the item in a bubble wrap envelope and then further wrapped the item in a protective foam sleeve. RM's guideline is simply to cover in 1cm of cushioning - something which I have done; so why they are not paying out beggars belief. *In respect of all of the other waffle, is it not fair to argue that the average person walking into a Post office to post such an item using such a premium service simply could not be expected to either research, review and understand the legal complexities of all the aforementioned either online or on hard paper at a PO counter before posting? Would these terms not be an issue under the Unfair Contracts Act? Further the Post Office accepted the item in its packaging. * Is it not the case that RM is also a retailer as I was sold insurance with this premium service? If so, are they not subject to any of the obligations Under the New Consumer Rights Act 2015? [introduced on 1/10/2015]

Government welcomes landmark law which will improve the safety of tenants READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-welcomes-landmark-law-which-will-improve-the-safety-of-tenants Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/34/contents/enacted/data.htm

I have had an ongoing problem with Royal Mail now for over 1 year, which has led me through all of their complaints procedures, then onto POSTR's and finally small claims. I made a small claim application against Royal Mail in April and have just received a copy of their 'defense' through the post. I'll attempt to summarize a VERY long story below. In April of last year I posted a parcel to Belguim via RM's International signed for service and took out extra insurance up to the value of £500.00. The parcel never arrived. The parcel was a toy/replica pistol and even though it was marked as a replica and boxed inside the original packaging the parcel was confiscated at the airport and sent for 'testing' to the N.I police service via RM's depot. When I was eventually informed of this (some months later) I called N.I Police who confirmed that the parcel was never handed over to them (they record all items received from Royal Mail for testing and give them a reference number). I made a claim for compensation but was refused. At first RM argued that the item was a 'weapon' and was on their list of 'prohibited goods'. I successfully argued that this was not the case, and so RM changed its argument and told me that it had a right to refuse any item that they considered might be harmful or dangerous to their customers or employee's. I commented that the item had been sent for testing but had been lost before it could be ascertained whether it was dangerous or harmless, however this point is never acknowledged. POSTr's response basically said that it could not respond to allegations of theft as it did not fall within the scope of the scheme?! I hadn't accused RM of stealing the parcel , just losing it!! It also said that although it accepted the parcel was not a banned item it observed that RM had the right to refuse any item that it felt was a danger to it's staff or the public. They offered me £10 compensation for my trouble. I filled in a small claims application in April and received their defense last week (summary below). 1. The defendant reserves the right to refuse and item that in its opinion may be harmful or dangerous. Liability for such items is not accepted. 2. No contract was entered into between parties for the delivery of the parcel (they mention Harold Stephen & Co V's RM 1978 as reference) 3. The defendant has immunity to a claim in tort in respect of the transmission or delivery of post. 4. The defendant may only be liable to pay compensation to the claimant if the conditions of a scheme known as the overseas letter post scheme are satisfied. 5. The defendant is not liable for consequential loss 6. The claimant has not particularised the sum being claimed ( the small claims application form didn't allow a breakdown of the sum being claimed other than 'court fees'??) Basically I'm not sure whether or not to continue with the claim. It appears from reading this forum and others that RM can do whatever it likes and is immune from the usual laws and responsibilities. Any and all advice welcome.

Hi, I took out a mortgage with Abbey National in June 2003 and I was advised by the in branch adviser that it would be wise to take the paymentcare policy with the remortgage and additional loan which was added to the mortgage. I have been paying this every month at a cost of £52.55 - which by my calculations means I have paid £9511.55 to date. My issue is that I didn't actually require this insurance at the time of remortgage but the adviser stressed that it would be "very helpful" to my application. Wishing to get the loan agreed I took the paymentcare insurance out. The reason I didn't need it was because I would receive 6 months full pay from work if I was sick, followed by another discretionary 18 months at full pay if required. I also had life insurance with my employer 4 x annual salary so my loan obligations in case of sickness or death would be met. This original mortgage was paid in full when I sold the property. Would someone be able to advise whether I have reason for a claim and if so where do I start? Many thanks for your help.

Hi all For 18 months, Royal Mail has failed to deliver around 70% of my mail. In addition, my bank has written at least 4 times to say Royal Mail staff are returning my mail to sender claiming they cannot access my address and / or I have moved. Both are malicious lies. I have made at least 10 complaints and they simply deny their staff are doing it - but have not asked to see the letters from my bank. I reported it to Action Fraud who say there is nothing they can do - last letter from Action Fraud did not even reach me, like much of my mail. For the past year, the delivery officer has been harassing me on the street in retaliation for making complaints. I reported him to the Met police but don't yet have enough for a prosecution to stick: it's his word against mine so I am filming him every time he harasses me, which as you can imagine is only fuelling his aggression (i am a small female so it's pretty intimidating). The fall out from non del of mail has been considerable, missed hospital appointments, thrown off my medical consultants' lists for non attendance, mortgage problems, bank refusing to send documents to me because of the security risk, etc. I want to take Royal Mail to court but am aware of their indemnity clause. I cannot sue under Goods and Services because I have no contract: the contract is with the sender. None of the senders are prepared to get involved. On what premise could I sue them for interfering with my mail? The police say it is a civil matter even though it is technically a criminal offence as i understand it. I may have screwed up by sending them a letter before action in which i quoted the Goods and Services Act; I now realise I cannot use that premise. I would be immensely grateful for advice: essentially - on what premise can I sue for tampering with my mail?

Hi All, At the start of June I ordered some tools from an online seller (Uni-Thread LTD) which were shipped via Royal Mail with an un-recorded next day service. After about 3 weeks* I called the seller to find out what had happened and after some investigation RM tracking said the parcel had been delivered - no signature or any further details. *The reason for the 3 week delay is I didn't get a confirmation email or invoice from the seller, so assumed there had been some error and it had failed to go through. It's only when looking back through my accounts that I saw the money had actually left my account. I've searched all my neighbours who would normally take in parcels and found nothing. The seller is offering a 25% discount if I order again, which I do *sort of* appreciate but am still unhappy about having to pay for these parts twice. What are my rights in this instance? I should mention this was a purchase for tools that my business made, not a personal purchase.

Royal Navy gets first unmanned minesweeping system READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/royal-navy-gets-first-unmanned-minesweeping-system

MOD confirms the death of Corporal Jonathan Bayliss, Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team (The Red Arrows) READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mod-confirms-the-death-of-corporal-jonathan-bayliss-royal-air-force-aerobatic-team-the-red-arrows Such sad news my Condolences to his Family/Friends/those who new him and served with him RIP.

Service of commemoration for 7 World War 2 Royal Air Force (RAF) servicemen READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/service-of-commemoration-for-7-world-war-2-royal-air-force-raf-servicemen

Royal Marines to be restructured in line with growing Royal Navy READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/royal-marines-to-be-restructured-in-line-with-growing-royal-navy

World War 2 Royal Warwickshire 2nd Lieutenant's grave identified after almost 77 years READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/world-war-2-royal-warwickshire-2nd-lieutenants-grave-identified-after-almost-77-years--2

Hi All, Just a word of advice....... If your ever are unfortunate enough to be hit by a driver insured with Royal Sun Alliance, Please make sure you DO NOT LET them try to resolve it even if they admit full liability..... Our parked car was hit by a RSA Client and you wouldnt believe the hassle we have had and is still on going...... * Failed to provide a loan vehicle due to various reasons (staff shortages / Needing to see the original cover note before letting you take car away but they couldnt confirm details of loan vehicle until we got to their pick up point, which meant you couldnt arrange cover note in advance so no chance of having the original when you collected the car...........) * Returned our car after 12 days with more damage than when they collected it - RSA cant explain what happened??. * Returned the car after another 3 days , 90% repaired but still not perfect - refused to let them have a 3rd attempt (Arranged proper repair ourselves and done in 1 day and looks like new again). * Total losses for the period was £2312 but only offered £650 in compensation.. ..., now going to legal dispute (lucky we had legal cover). * Refusing to supply documentation in respect of what work had been carried out on our vehicle. my advice is if your unlucky enough to be hit by a vehicle insured by Royal Sun Alliance DON NOT LET THEM REPAIR IT... ....., USE YOUR OWN INSURANCE COMPANIES 3RD PARTY CLAIMS PROVIDER..... Regards Jdmave NB Please pass onto your friends / colleagues as wouldnt want anyone else to have to have the same experience

READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/support-within-the-royal-air-force-community-for-those-affected-by-domestic-abuse

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/29/sexism-storm-engulfs-royal-britishlegion-16k-quit-womens-section/ I guess the men will have to start baking the cookies then? Apparently half the female members have left.

This problem with the Royal Mail has been going on since October last year. I ordered a TV digital receiver from on-line and I received notifications 2 days later that it had been delivered to my address. Got home there was no parcel i contacted the delivery office and they said i should contact Royal mail Customer service. To cut a long story short, all these attempts failed. i was now forced to go through their complaints process which ended up with the Postal Redress Service (POSTRS) claiming i do not have a claim. what bothers me is that the postman changed his story 3 times. Firstly he claimed he posted the parcel to the address, secondly, he gave it to someone at the address and thirdly, he claimed to have posted the parcel through my letter box which i disputed because it was too large to go through the latter box. Despite these evidences of gross negligence on the part of royal mail. they continue to quote an immunity clause Act of 2000, which in effect absorbs them of any responsibility. The sender of this parcel has got all the proof of postage and delivery, so i am left hanging in the balance and out of pocket. I can only describe the royal mails attitude towards this matter as appalling and disgraceful. They just behave as a law onto themselves and believe they are too big an organization to be taken on by an individual. I am beginning to suspect a case of theft by the postman, because when i confronted my regular postman about the item, he said he was actually on holiday that week in question. The Royal Mail used an agency staff who stole my parcel and updated his system to make it appear as if he had actually delivered it. Please any advice on the next step. Thanks

READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mod-choose-the-royal-british-legion-to-lead-help-for-veterans

Not sure if this is in the right forum but please move if not. Today, and not for the first time, I have received from Royal Mail a grey card for unpaid postage on mail addressed to me. They want £2. As I am sick of coughing up on line for unpaid postage only to find that it is rubbish, this time I intend to go to the sorting office to pick up the mail. My question is: Do I have a right to see the letter first before paying my £2 as I don't want to pay out for any more rubbish? I am expecting mail from the Court, but cannot see how they would not frank their mail so do not want to ignore the card, but neither do I want to continue to pay for rubbish junk.

I apologise if this is all over the show as im still extremely upset and its all still fresh. I basically posted a product which I sold to someone worth £200, I posted this product (to Manchester) yesterday late afternoon and it has come to light this morning that this is a fraudulent act as all emails sent to me from Paypal were indeed fake emails and the buyer is a fake buyer, I came to light of this when I called Paypal this morning with concerns of seller protection after reading lots of fraud stories about sellers/buyers on Paypal. They told me the emails were fake, etc. The transaction for the payment was also fake. Now I assume this parcel wouldn't have gotten too far with it being late afternoon yesterday and it being Sunday today, this has been posted Special Delivery Guranteed, recorded and signed for. I immediately call Royal Mail after getting off the phone to Paypal, and Royal Mail said i needed to get in contact with the police and log it as a fraudulent act, I was directed to action fraud online but phone lines are closed on weekends and the website to get in contact with police if it was fresh and lines were closed, so i did, they took down information from me and have booked me in to see someone at the police station tomorrow morning, since booking this the police station have called me back twice double checking information and taking down the "buyers" home address, where the product is being delivered to. I phoned Royal Mail again to see if they can do ANYTHING, I made them fully aware I am in contact with the police, i have a crime number and im seeing them tomorrow, I told them that i didnt want to come and get the parcel cause i understand they just cant, but to maybe at least hold on to it for 24 hours, they tell me over and over they cant do anything. Police contact me after this phone call to see if i tried anything with Royal Mail, i tell them they cant do anything. Now I understand rules, policies and all that which is why i didnt ask to come and get the parcel or to change delivery, But they are aware there is fraudulent activity is going on so i was a bit annoyed they couldnt keep hold of this for a day or something, Im wondering that if the police can not stop this and the "buyer" has gotten away with this if theres any kind of compensation I can claim on Royal Mail, especially since i made Royal Mail make some kind of note on their system that this is going on, which the lady said she made a note though it wont improve my situation. I did try to post a link from Royal Mails website stating some things around fraud but because of post count it wont allow me to post links but it states: Insure high-value goods If you are sending something valuable, use Special Delivery Guaranteed™, which will give you up to £2,500 compensation. Seller protection schemes will protect you against a fraudulent claim if you get a signature on delivery. (Sorry for the essay) Any help is appreciated, so upset with myself for not detecting or smelling this a mile off.

Got a bit of an annoying issue with Royal Mail. Will try and keep this as brief as possible. I sent a parcel to friends in Germany containing some baby clothing for which I paid just over four pound to go as a small parcel (airmail). The parcel never arrived and six weeks after sending it out it came back to me, in a clear plastic bag from Royal Mail, my parcel was more or less obliterated, the shipping bag I used was totally shredded with the contents falling out. The address was no longer visible as that part of the mailing bag was totally ripped away. Only my return address was still legible, so it was returned to me by what the enclosed apology letter says was Royal Mail’s lost mail centre. The contents although partly visible / fallen out were still undamaged, just a bit blackened from whatever caused the bag to be destroyed. (A machine ?) I managed to clean the contents (clothing ) but had to pay again to re-send them. I decided to make a claim against Royal Mail for the wasted postage costs for the first attempt to send the parcel. I submitted evidence of the destroyed packing and my proof of posting slip. Royal Mail then requested from me proof of value of the contents as otherwise apparently they couldn’t process my claim. I wrote back to them stating that I managed to salvage the contents and I didn’t have any receipts for the clothing as it wasn’t new and even if it had been I would not have kept the receipts. I couldn’t have anticipated that Royal Mail would destroy the parcel and then asking to see receipts for the contents to be honest. I told them I only wanted a refund for the wasted postage costs as they failed to deliver the parcel to Germany, which is what I paid for. They wrote to me today refusing any compensation / refund, because (I quote) “a postage refund is only available in the event of loss. In the event of damage to an item, we will look to compensate for the damaged iten, but still no potage refund is available.” They apologised for the inconvenience and that was it. I am not happy about this and would still like to pursue this as they charged me for a service they failed to carry out. What are my next options if any ?

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/feb/19/royal-mail-raises-stamp-prices

READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/royal-navy-statement-20-july-2016

Card put through door, item being held at your local office which is not the same as the tracking number details confirmed where it was. Why oh why are royal mail useless..

READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mod-and-royal-mail-sign-new-agreement-to-keep-personnel-connected

I've had two RM parcels recently delivered when I'm out. One late November, one yesterday. Both were delivered to a neighbour which is fine. (I've taken in packages for them and we keep an eye out for each other coming home so we can take the parcels round) however neither time have I received a card from the postie so I've been surprised that the parcel is handed to me. Obviously both of these have turned out okay and I've got my parcels but that's no thanks to RM. I've just been on the phone to my mother as my great aunt told me that she'd sent a parcel and I was away and hadn't got it. Luckily my parcel is with a pack that arrived at my parents so all is well but I panicked for a while. Surely RM are supposed to let the person the parcel is addressed to know where it has gone. (It isn't all bad. When the above parcel arrived at my parents, they got a card telling them where it was and then a visit the next day from the postie checking that they'd got it. She gave the impression she'd been panicking about it. The difference between town and village perhaps. Maybe I just need to move.)