Forwarding on mail

winners09

Sorry, I had no idea where abouts to post this thread, this is the best I could come up with.

Does anyone know if it's free to "forward on" mail - i.e. cross out the original address and write on "please forward to xxx". I've received hundreds of letters over the past few years that have been forwarded from my home to my university address, but two of the letters have just been picked up by 'revenue protection' and charged a £1.32 fee for unpaid postage. I've spoken to one person at the post office who said Royal Mail should deliver a letter up to 3 times with a normal stamp, but only once if it has a 'UK Mail' stamp. I then spoke to someone else at Royal Mail who said they will only ever deliver something once, and you have to pay if you want it forwarded on.

Anyone know who is right?

Thanks

BitterAndTwisted

I suspect that the mail which has incurred a charge did not go through the Royal Mail in the first place, but via one of the many private contractors. When Royal Mail had a monopoly I daresay it was quite straightforward for mail to be redirected but if it's been posted via a contractor why should RM have to bear the cost of re-delivering it without having received any payment?

winners09

yes I agree with that, which I presume is why I was told by one employee that letters with "UK Mail" on will only be delivered once and will be charged if forwarded on. This letter does not have that on it, I can't tell it is Royal Mail but equally can't tell if it is any other company. It has a crown printed and "0036" if that helps at all.

Anyway I don't really care if RM should or shouldn't have to bear the cost of re-delivering, I just want to know if they have to or not. Firstly so I know if I have been wrongly charged, but more importantly so I can know whether to forward on mail in the future or not.

Any help is much appreciated!

Bronnie

I expect that's what they believe the Redirection of Mail (payable service) is for.

I can see a difference between an odd random letter from a former resident at the property being forwarded to a new address without charge, but it seems you are basically expecting the Redirection of Mail service for free!

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/product1?catId=400040&mediaId=600008

I would say in fairness either the people at your home address could be bulk forwarding your mail in a big envelope postage paid, you temporarily change your address for regular important mail you receive or you pay for 3 month redirections as applicable.

winners09

Bronnie wrote: »

it seems you are basically expecting the Redirection of Mail service for free!

I believe the Redirection of Mail service means that someone in the sorting office picks out all mail addressed to you at a given address, and forwards all this mail on to a given address. I am not expecting this service at all, and certainly not for free.

All I am wondering is if the man I spoke to at the Royal Mail who said that they will deliver an item up the 3 times for the price that has been paid, say 41p for first class, was correct or not. It seems that perhaps, as you imply, they have an unofficial policy of forwarding on mail if it has been unopened and someone has scribbled "please forward to " on it, but if it is caught be Revenue Protection then it will be charged a fee.

It's worth noting that I've had revenue protection stickers before on forwarded mail that have passed it through without a fee. Did they make a mistake then, have they made a mistake now, or have they changed their policy?

Bronnie

winners09 wrote: »

I believe the Redirection of Mail service means that someone in the sorting office picks out all mail addressed to you at a given address, and forwards all this mail on to a given address. I am not expecting this service at all, and certainly not for free.

I can't answer your RM policy question, but with respect, your initial post states

QUOTE winners09 Does anyone know if it's free to "forward on" mail - i.e. cross out the original address and write on "please forward to xxx". I've received hundreds of letters over the past few years that have been forwarded from my home to my university address, QUOTE)

it does seem to me like it is the Redirection of Mail Service that is appropriate.

winners09

Bronnie wrote: »

it does seem to me like it is the Redirection of Mail Service that is appropriate.

Thanks for your advice, but this service is not appropriate as they redirect by surname. Using this service would mean I would receive letters addressed to any member of my family.

Even if this was not the case, I wouldn't want to be spending £7 per month to have 5 letters a month re-directed. It would be far cheaper to stick on a new stamp.

Bronnie

Ah, I see. Are you sure you can't redirect mail for one named person?

Penelope_Penguin

winners09 wrote: »

Sorry, I had no idea where abouts to post this thread, this is the best I could come up with.

You're right - there's not really a place for queries like this. I'll move it to the Ebay board, as it's fallen from the front page of OS. The experts there are proerly clued up on postage so will be best able to help you

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

Kaleidoscope27

Out of curiosity, what sort of mail do you get at home which you need at uni every month? Can't you just pick it up when you go home for visits / holidays? Or is it something important? Because if it's important, maybe you could speak to the sender of the mail about changing your address to your term time one? It would save hassle for both RM and your family who are forwarding all your mail.

cyberbob

I have over the years when I moved house erc, Frequently received mail with the address crossed out saying please redirect. I have never paid a charge. I received one the other day that had been sent to my Dads redirected to me. If this applies to UK mail ones I don't know

Obviously if it was more than the odd letter the redirection service is more suitable