UK Royal Mail denial of insurance claim due to insufficient packaging

RFW

dan35 said:

Hi swingaloo I do have a photo of the box before posting. I still have the box. It doesn't look "crushed". They asked for a photo of the exterior of the box, which I sent them as part of the appeal process.

That's the problem. If the box wasn't damaged then RM will say they aren't culpable. It could either have been damaged when it went in the box or when it came out the other end, or by poor packaging in between. If you're going to court you'd likely need evidence of the former and a statement from the buyer that it arrived broken when they opened it.

To win a claim you have to prove that the fault lay with Royal Mail and I can't see a clear way you can do that.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

RFW said:

dan35 said:

Hi swingaloo I do have a photo of the box before posting. I still have the box. It doesn't look "crushed". They asked for a photo of the exterior of the box, which I sent them as part of the appeal process.

That's the problem. If the box wasn't damaged then RM will say they aren't culpable. It could either have been damaged when it went in the box or when it came out the other end, or by poor packaging in between. If you're going to court you'd likely need evidence of the former and a statement from the buyer that it arrived broken when they opened it.

To win a claim you have to prove that the fault lay with Royal Mail and I can't see a clear way you can do that.

To win a claim you have to prove on the balance of probability that the fault lay with Royal Mail and I can't see a clear way you can do that.  

Whether Royal Mail would defend is another matter, £2500 is a fair amount. 

OP I think if you want to go ahead with making a court claim you should get the lens inspected to determine what the fault is and how is may have occurred.

If you packaged within their guidelines and significant shock could cause the damage you may have at least some ground upon which to make a claim. 

It is worth a note that packaging items too tightly can cause problems, if the impact from being dropped can transfer itself through the packaging and the item inside is the weakest point that is what will break.

For a £2.5k lens I would have double boxed with peanuts between the two and the item wrapped inside how it was originally done via the manufacturer (if such info was to hand).