Getting 'Proof of Postage' at the post office

soolin

Yellowstone2 said:

Thanks for all your replies.
So POP/COP can be given  for large letters, does give some sort of 'added protection' in the event of something going missing, but maybe staff try to avoid the faff of having to do it?

So in theory, if I sent an item as a large letter with POP and it didn't arrive, what other 'proof' would I need to be able to make a claim for the value of the item, rather than the value of just the stamps?

Even taking a photo of the envelope before posting doesn't really prove it's contents. 

It either seems to be a service that doesn't really give you any extra protection as it's difficult to prove what was in the envelope, even if you have proof an envelope was sent, or it's a service that could be abused by many fake claims. 

You can only claim for the proven value of a lost item, it makes no difference whether you have sent it standard with POP or even signed for or special (with POP), it would be the same with a courier . It’s easy if it is an online sale as you can provide details of the sale, a PayPal payment page, or a screen shot of the sale, it becomes more difficult if you are sending gifts as you will need some sort of receipt to show the value. 

theonlywayisup

https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/367/~/how-can-i-get-proof-of-posting??gclsrc=aw.ds&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgribBhDkARIsAASA5bv8AKCo0f5k35k7YJFscynJali26plDTEP19nYTexorNOM4PoBb1skaAoETEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
You can request a free ‘proof of posting’ at the Post Office when you hand over your letter or parcel for posting.

Give that to the Post Office next time you are in and get them to issue proof of posting. 

MalMonroe

Hi, I've never had a problem at any post office, they've always given proof of posting, whatever I've been sending. Large, small, letter or parcel.

However, I've now discovered the Royal Mail collect from your home service.

Sent a large letter last week and although I've paid for the collection service in the past (not a lot, less than £1), this time the collection service was free and I was told that it will be free until the end of the year. 

It's such a bargain. You just do it all online, print out a label and stick it on your envelope or outside of the parcel, and wait for Royal Mail to collect. They send an email on collection and you can track your parcel or letter online until it's received at the other end. 

There's an option to send things via a 'signed for' service and it doesn't cost a lot.

I have found it a great system. And nothing has gone missing. Yet!  If there's been a parcel I've just weighed it on my kitchen scales. Haven't sent a really big one yet but I'd weigh that on my bathroom scales if necessary.

Try it, I don't think you'll be disappointed. (As long as they're not on strike, though, I've only just remembered about that.)

Link :  https://www.royalmail.com/collection

Jenni_D

Advantage? None really

Alternative option? There you go  

theonlywayisup

Jacob_Jones said:

MalMonroe said:

Hi, I've never had a problem at any post office, they've always given proof of posting, whatever I've been sending. Large, small, letter or parcel.

However, I've now discovered the Royal Mail collect from your home service.

Sent a large letter last week and although I've paid for the collection service in the past (not a lot, less than £1), this time the collection service was free and I was told that it will be free until the end of the year. 

It's such a bargain. You just do it all online, print out a label and stick it on your envelope or outside of the parcel, and wait for Royal Mail to collect. They send an email on collection and you can track your parcel or letter online until it's received at the other end. 

There's an option to send things via a 'signed for' service and it doesn't cost a lot.

I have found it a great system. And nothing has gone missing. Yet!  If there's been a parcel I've just weighed it on my kitchen scales. Haven't sent a really big one yet but I'd weigh that on my bathroom scales if necessary.

Try it, I don't think you'll be disappointed. (As long as they're not on strike, though, I've only just remembered about that.)

What is the advantage of this - compared to getting Hermes or DPD to collect your parcels? 

Cost.  Sending a letter via Evri (Hermes) or DPD isn't quite as cheap.

Carriers sometimes come to us up to 10pm at night - which I find unacceptable.  The Royal Mail option is generally mid afternoon as that is the time the postie does our part of the round.  Suits me perfectly. 

tightauldgit

Been sending a lot of stuff lately as having a bit of a clearout using Ebay on clutter around the house. 

You can definitely get POP on a large letter - I think it just doesn't generate it automatically as it does with parcels but they just have to put the details in. If you don't get the POP then you're only covered for the cost of postage, but with it you are covered for the value of the contents up to £20 for a large letter. 

With regards the best service I'm tending to use the post office for most of it for convenience. For smaller stuff it's generally the best option. For larger stuff I found that Yodel or Evri can be a bit cheaper but the nearest drop off points are about 5 miles away now. Quite often it's the item is higher value and you need more insurance then RM ends up cheaper. 

Free collections with RM are nice, but I've found them a bit hit and miss in terms of actually turning up to collect. 

KxMx

They may have been confused with the delivery confirmation available on small parcels, a number gets added to the receipt.

Not available for LL's but of course standard proof of postage is.