Royal Mail - Loss of Highly Sensitive & Confidential Medical Records

[anishjc1]

I sent an item of mail in November/December 2011 to my pension company. I sent this information by Royal Mail Recorded 1st Class post. It was only by chance that I discovered in March 2012 that this has been lost. As a result of this loss, my personal and medical details have ended up in the wrong hands as someone has used my details to try and enquire about obtaining credit in my name

 

The information that I sent to my pension contained my following information:-

 

My Full Name

My Full Postal Address

My Home Telephone Number

My Personal Mobile Number

My Personal E-Mail Address

My National Insurance Number Including Copy Letters From DWP

My NHS Number

My Patient Number For Royal Bolton Hospital

My Patient Number For Salford Royal Hospital

My GP's Full Name & Address

Medical Record From Royal Bolton Hospital & Salford Royal Hospital

Medical Information From My GP

Copies of X-Rays & CT Scans

 

Royal Mail know that they have lost this information yet this still don't want to accept liability.

 

Royal Mail have been getting away with legal/Crown Immunity for too long and we as consumers should now be taking action for the Government to remove this immunity from Royal Mail.

 

I am happy to lead this campaign and very much would like the support of members of the public along with the Consumer Action Group. We as consumers need to lobby the MP's and the Prime Minister. Royal Mail cannot be allowed to get away with such grave mistakes which can ruin a person's life.

 

Since I have discovered my information has been lost, I have had trouble sleeping as I am really worried that someone has got all this information of mine and they could do a lot of damage with it, Royal Mail are just not willing to accept this or take it seriously.

[anishjc1]

Sorry...I meant to say that I sent this item of mail in November/December 2011.

[citizenB]

You should make a complaint to the Information Commissioner as a matter of urgency.

[anishjc1]

Hi citizenB,

 

I already did make a complaint to the Information Commissioner and the response I got was that Royal Mail have not lost my details directly themselves but lost them through their service which is different issue and they cannot do anything about this.

 

However, I have got information from Royal Mail's own website about their recorded signed for service and they say say "If you have an important item to deliver, our Recorded Signed For™ service gives you complete peace of mind with proof of posting and an electronic copy of the signature available online."

 

The above statement says it all and it is this statement that I am now going to concentrate on in my court case. I will have my court date coming up in the next few days.

[Conniff]

You should use 'Registered', it is signed for at every change of hands.

[anishjc1]

Royal Mail don't have a 'Registered' service, i tried looking for it on their website yesterday and the only next option is Royal Mail Special Delivery which guaranteed next day service before 1pm but this was too expensive for me.

 

I have had a positive reply from the Advertising Standards Agency though.

Edited August 11, 2012 by anishjc1
More Details

[barracad]

My Full Name

My Full Postal Address

My Home Telephone Number

My Personal Mobile Number

My Personal E-Mail Address

My National Insurance Number Including Copy Letters From DWP

My NHS Number

My Patient Number For Royal Bolton Hospital

My Patient Number For Salford Royal Hospital

My GP's Full Name & Address

Medical Record From Royal Bolton Hospital & Salford Royal Hospital

Medical Information From My GP

Copies of X-Rays & CT Scans

 

If I was sending sensitive information like this, I would have enquired to find out what is the most secure service and certainly wouldn't have relied on Recorded/Signed For which is no different from First/Second Class other than getting a signature at the other end. The service is not tracked at all.

 

Clearly this advice is not much use to you after the event... so looking at your claim - what losses have been suffered, exactly? As you have already discovered, Royal Mail are not liable for any losses but even if they were I can't see what quantifiable loss you have suffered?

 

Even when Royal Mail gets privatised there is likely to still be some exemption from liability for certain items which are provided as part of the Universal Service Obligation. If a competitor ever got the licence to carry these USO products then they would have the liability exemption rather than RM.

[barracad]

You should use 'Registered', it is signed for at every change of hands.

 

Registered post hasn't existed for many many years for inland services and at least 5 years or so for international services. I think you may mean Special Delivery.

[wazir]

In Royal Mail, 'registered' is now 'special delivery' and 'recorded' is now 'signed for' - although employees still often use the old terms, even to us in RM uniform when sending an item in the Post Office. Signed for is handled as normal mail until it is delivered - it is there for proof of receipt of the item by the addressee, not speedy delivery or extra security. As for compensation - what monetary loss has been suffered? I'm afraid this is unlikely to be successful.

[Conniff]

Registered post hasn't existed for many many years for inland services and at least 5 years or so for international services. I think you may mean Special Delivery.

 

Or I might mean that I am many many years old

[BazzaS]

In Royal Mail, 'registered' is now 'special delivery' and 'recorded' is now 'signed for' - although employees still often use the old terms, even to us in RM uniform when sending an item in the Post Office. Signed for is handled as normal mail until it is delivered - it is there for proof of receipt of the item by the addressee, not speedy delivery or extra security. As for compensation - what monetary loss has been suffered? I'm afraid this is unlikely to be successful.

 

Indeed : "signed for" guarantees a signature on delivery, but RM say it isn't a "guaranteed delivery service", so in their view it is acceptable to say "signature guaranteed on delivery, but no guarantee we'll deliver it, and if we don't deliver it don't expect a signature".

There is limited "tracking" of such mail : It restarts at the last stage of delivery.

RM seem to view "signed for" as intended for e.g. Legal documents, of no intrinsic value or urgency, where the poster wants proof of delivery IF it is delivered.

 

For a guaranteed delivery service, use Special Delivery, where the article is tracked along the way.

[Conniff]

You can't put all the blame on Royal Mail:

 

Manchester postman stole 70,000 items of mail

 

A Manchester postman has been jailed for nine months after admitting stealing 70,000 items of post.

 

John Hodson, 33, from Crumpsall, was caught after the Royal Mail hid tracking devices in his deliveries.

 

He pleaded guilty to two charges of theft and a charge of delaying mail under the Postal Services Act.

 

Hodson told Bolton Crown Court he stole some of the items, including greeting cards containing cash, because he had debts which had spiralled to £40,000.

 

The court heard Hodson began storing items about five years so that he did not have to deliver them.

 

He hid the items in his shed and garden. About a year ago he started stealing addressed items of post, which also included store vouchers and DVDs, to try to pay off debts.

 

More ...

 

You can bet this happens all over the country to some degree.

 

He shouls have come here to CAG,