Very delayed passport

Rich_Legg

I'm after some advice please. I sent my passport via Royal Mail Track and Trace to Belgium from the UK. I was told it would take 3 days. The purpose was for a visa application made via a Belgian company I was due to work for. Royal Mail proceeded to make a mistake by sending my passport to New York, not Belgium. It then spent 7 days going through the American postal system and was then finally redirected to Brussels. Because the passport had been to America it is now subject to substantial customs checks and costs and is now still stuck with Belgian customs, over 2 weeks past the original send date. This now has the potential for me to lose a contract, all due to Royal Mail's mistake. I have a copy of my signed and dated contract, which was signed at the time of postage, and is also signed by the company owner. It also contains the contract length and rate if pay. This has the potential to have a huge impact with a large amount of money being lost. Had the passport gone to Belgium in the first place it wouldn't have been subject to such extensive customs checks and would have gone through quickly (as a work colleagues did). My question- is there any chance of seeing Royal Mail? Or is that a pointless act? Thanks in advance for any help. 

Sandtree

Compensation is capped at £50 unless you paid for the higher limit of £250

By the sounds of it you are talking about a business relationship and so wouldn't involve consumer rights. Almost certainly delays by customs are excluded and given both the US and UK are outside the EU they are likely to receive the same treatment by Belgium Customs. 

jon81uk

What do you mean by "Royal Mail Track and Trace"?
Exactly which service did you use, Special Delivery, Signed for, Tracked 24 Tracked 48?

For standard internation post Royal Mail do not pay compensation for delays
International compensation available | Royal Mail Group Ltd

If it was on business account they might pay up to £100 but not consequential loss which is what you are looking for 
https://business.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/648/~/royal-mail-business-account-claims

impoverishedtraveller

Pointless act - especially as your loss at the moment it only hypothetical.

If it was so important, as the business you want to work for, I’d be querying why you didn’t use something like FedEx or DHL overnight.