Royal mail postage compensation?

Lighters · 10 Apr 2015 at 10:46

TLDR > told i needed to pay more for postage otherwise i wouldnt get any compensation.

I just went to the post office to post something for a family friend.

The item was a camera worth £100, they wanted me to get it signed for but when I mentioned the value the postperson told me that it would need to be sent by Royal Mail Special Delivery as 1st class signed for only covers up to £50. I said that would have been sufficient but they told me that as the item was in excess of £50 i would not be covered for a single penny in the event it went missing?

My gut tells me this was a complete lie and just a ploy to get more money as it went from about £4.50 to £8.50 for a 750g parcel.

Taking a quick look online it just says compensation up to £50.

any ideas? did I get robbed :'(

Redgie · 10 Apr 2015 at 10:57

Yeah, if it's insured for up to £50, they'll only pay out up to £50. Though in my past experience, they will often pay out more. Not sure why they would decline to pay anything just because it's more than £50...

slick rick · 10 Apr 2015 at 11:09

Yes they should pay up to the £50 as that was the level of cover in the postage method you paid for, regardless if the item value exceeds this limit.

Its possible that the person in PO did believe what they said is true and not just lying to get more money, who knows?

Lighters · 10 Apr 2015 at 11:09

Thats what I thought, surely they should have paid me up to £50 of the value but they were explicit that as the value was over £50 they would not pay ANYTHING, i would only get a few stamps. I was thinking it was just to get me to pay more for delivery.

Ah well, lesson learnt. What is the next best courier to use for future reference? ebay style postage requirements.

slick rick · 10 Apr 2015 at 11:15

That doesn't seem right at all, if you did have to claim you could just get the claim form and send it to RM and I am sure they would have paid you the £50.

As for other couriers, you can check websites like Parcel2Go or Parcel Monkey to compare prices. I would avoid Yodel and Hermes though. CityLink always served me well in the past for an excellent price, sad they have gone. The last one I used was UPS, took the parcel to a drop off point to save a few quid and had no problems

Rids · 10 Apr 2015 at 11:28

Can't really comment on Royal Mail policys, however from experience within the insurance industry if an item is deliberately under-insured payouts may only be proportional. Using this as an example, item was worth £100, you took a postage option which covered it for £50. Item gets lost / damaged / whatever... we split the loss and compensate you £25.

Probably not how Royal Mail works at all, but it is a thing.

UTmaniac · 10 Apr 2015 at 11:47

Always thought if you used a lower service, you get the lower compensation, not zero comp for something worth >£50.

Haggisman · 10 Apr 2015 at 11:56

Rids said:
Can't really comment on Royal Mail policys, however from experience within the insurance industry if an item is deliberately under-insured payouts may only be proportional. Using this as an example, item was worth £100, you took a postage option which covered it for £50. Item gets lost / damaged / whatever... we split the loss and compensate you £25.

Probably not how Royal Mail works at all, but it is a thing.

Well that's pretty rubbish...

It's none of the insurance company's business what the item is worth if it's above the policy limit (unless it impacts the risk).

In answer to the OP, the PO was telling porkies - you would be covered, but only up to the £50 limit.

arknor · 10 Apr 2015 at 12:16

From my experience with royal mail the staff certainly do not know it all like they think.

I've had refunds from RM before when a member of staff has made a claim about a service that is untrue.

Just fire them a complaint email and they will probably refund the postage

the staff never want to back down either even when you have proof they are speaking ****

Lopéz · 10 Apr 2015 at 12:28

Is their compensation package actually "insurance"? It doesn't mention the word insurance anywhere that I can see on their pages, they refer to it as "compensation"

If that's the case, it sounds like it might be their own internally regulated compensation package, in which case they can impose terms that would not normally apply to an insurance policy, including refusing to provide any form of cover for items that fall outside their parameters.