Taking royal mail to a small claims court

markhunter

Im self employed and I every week I send in my paperwork to the company Im contracted to and they pay me 2 weeks later. The paperwork has to arrive no later than a Monday. If its late I have to wait an extra week to be paid.

Twice in the last 3 weeks, royal mail have not delivered my special delivery package until the Tuesday, even though I send it before the last collection on Saturday morning.

The first time, they refunded me and suggested I took out consequential loss cover when I send my package, so last Saturday I asked about it in the post office. The lady I spoke to didnt really know anything about it other than it would have cost me £1.90 extra. She couldnt tell me if it covered the fact that if I didnt get paid on time for that week then I couldnt work the next week as I would have no money to travel so therefor I would expect them to compensate me to the tune of a weeks earnings. She couldnt tell me how long the claims process took, would I be paid out fairly promptly or would they drag it out for months? So I decided to hang fire on this occasion and contact them on the Monday morning to find out more. Surely they couldnt delay my second package in 3 weeks could they? Oh yes they did.

All they want to do is refund me the cost of postage. I still have no details about how this consequential loss cover works, what I can claim for or how long the claims process takes.

Im thinking I should just take them to a small claims court over this latest delay as I wont be paid on Monday 29th as expected and as its the end of the month my rent is due along with direct debits going out so I wont be able to afford travel to work that week as I'll be totally cleaned out.

Can anyone offer thoughts/suggestions?

Thanks in advance

DrScotsman

Um, every time I've sent a Special Delivery package on a Saturday I've been advised that it will arrive on Tuesday. Don't know if that's changed or if I've always happened to go after last collection, but that's my experience.

markhunter

DrScotsman wrote: »

Um, every time I've sent a Special Delivery package on a Saturday I've been advised that it will arrive on Tuesday. Don't know if that's changed or if I've always happened to go after last collection, but that's my experience.

No if its sent on Saturday before 12 then it should arrive on Monday. The first time I sent it I sent it on Friday but it meant that work I had done on Friday wasnt included as I had to finish off the paperwork first. So I asked at the post office and they told me that Saturday mornings were ok.

I have just managed to speak to royal mail on the phone, they tell me their claims process takes 4-6 weeks to complete so still wouldnt be ideal but Im gonna have to take out consequential loss cover from now on. They also told me that my package did arrive at the liverpool mail centre on Saturday but there were no notes as to why it didnt arrive at its destination until tuesday. Im just gonna try my luck at a small claims court I think, surely I cant be expected to buy an insurance policy that post office staff cant give me any information about and that their own website doesnt even give any significant detail about.

Equaliser123

Go extremely careful about issuing proceedings against Royal Mail. They are a statutory body and so they have specific legislation governing / protecting them.

DrScotsman

markhunter wrote: »

Im just gonna try my luck at a small claims court I think

I really wouldn't do that

90 Exclusion of liability

(1) No proceedings in tort shall lie or, in Scotland, be competent against a universal service provider in respect of loss or damage suffered by any person in connection with the provision of a universal postal service because of—

(a) anything done or omitted to be done in relation to any postal packet in the course of transmission by post, or ...

91 Limited liability for registered inland packets

(1) Proceedings shall lie or, in Scotland, be competent against a universal service provider under this section, but not otherwise, in respect of relevant loss of, or relevant damage to, an inland packet in respect of which the universal service provider accepts liability under this section in pursuance of a scheme made under section 89.

92 Section 91: supplementary

(5) The amount recoverable in any proceedings under section 91 in relation to a packet of any description shall not exceed—

(a) the market value of the packet at the time when the cause of action arises, or
(b) the maximum amount payable under a scheme made under section 89 for compensating the person aggrieved in respect of a packet of that description.

(6) For the purposes of subsection (5)(a) the market value of a packet shall not include the market value of—

(a) any message or information which it bears, or
(b) any item which, in relation to packets of that description, is excluded from the operation of this section by a scheme under section 89.

I'm not an expert, but I really don't think you have a case.

DrScotsman

...Or from the explanatory notes:

Sections 89, 90, 91 and 92: Schemes and limitation of liability

138. These sections enable a universal service provider to make and operate schemes setting out terms and conditions for the provision of universal postal services (in place of contracts), which limit liability, in particular the liability for consequential losses. The purpose of having such schemes is to ensure that the universal service will continue to be provided. ...

custardy

markhunter wrote: »

No if its sent on Saturday before 12 then it should arrive on Monday. The first time I sent it I sent it on Friday but it meant that work I had done on Friday wasnt included as I had to finish off the paperwork first. So I asked at the post office and they told me that Saturday mornings were ok.

I have just managed to speak to royal mail on the phone, they tell me their claims process takes 4-6 weeks to complete so still wouldnt be ideal but Im gonna have to take out consequential loss cover from now on. They also told me that my package did arrive at the liverpool mail centre on Saturday but there were no notes as to why it didnt arrive at its destination until tuesday. Im just gonna try my luck at a small claims court I think, surely I cant be expected to buy an insurance policy that post office staff cant give me any information about and that their own website doesnt even give any significant detail about.

just to clarify,the last posting time of an SD depends on the last collection time from the post office
so never assume every post office is X time because another is

neilmcl

If its that important for them to receive, I assume you timesheets/invoices, then why not use a Fax. What sort of losses are we talking about here, and can you really not work the following week if they miss a weeks payment?

markhunter

neilmcl wrote: »

If its that important for them to receive, I assume you timesheets/invoices, then why not use a Fax. What sort of losses are we talking about here, and can you really not work the following week if they miss a weeks payment?

I do surveys for people who apply for the government grants for loft and cavity wall insulation. The paperwork is the survey sheets plus the stuff needed for them to get the job done for free.

I already know how much Im picking up next week and how much I have in the bank right now, so on the week commencing Monday 29th, after my rent goes out along with other direct debits etc then I'll be left with pretty much nothing. Obviously I still have to live that week and feed my kids etc. It usually costs me about £30 a week in diesel to work a week. Just based on what I have now and what I have coming in before then, I'll be left with about £15 as long as I dont spend any money on anything else until then

fluffnutter

Basically the OP has a cashflow problem. Each week's payment has to be prompt else there will be no money that week.

I know it can be hard, but trying to get just one week ahead will help solve the problem. Then there'll be a buffer of one week's payment so the OP won't be living quite so hand to mouth.

I'd never rely on the postal service for something so critical as my wages... not that I think they do a particularly bad job, but what happens during bad weather, strikes etc? There's just so much that could go wrong.

I'd try to sort my cashflow out so that I had that one week in reserve. I appreciate it could be difficult, but a week is easier than a month so the OP has that in their favour. I'm not being unsympathetic but everyone needs to take responsibility for their finances, particularly when they're the breadwinner for kids/family.

DebtHater

When you go to the small claims, you will need to prove that beyond reasonable doubt, RM are the bad guys and you did everything you could to ensure your packages would be on time, for example sending SD and paying for the extra cover. You did not pay for the consequential loss cover, hence they are only going to pay you for actual loss. Which, if I remember correctly, is only worth upto £50, but you wouldnt get it as I am sure they state do not send important/valuable docs via Recorded or SD, they should be couriered!
The small claims will also ask you how much you are claiming. You cant claim for your wages, because they are not lost, simply delayed. You could potentially claim for damages, but this would be very very difficult to not only ascertain but to back up.

It costs you to take a claim to court, which will depend on the final amount you are claiming. It can also take months and months.

And dont forget, RM have their own legal teams who would walk all over you, bearing in mind the Postal Act is strongly against your case too.

Chance of success = Zilch