Royal Mail Compensation

[jordan10000_123]

Hi,

I've recently sold an item for £60. I've dispatched this Royal Mail tracked 48hrs which 'covers the sold value'.

The parcel was dispatched on the 12th and tracking hasn't updated since the 14th. I've contacted RM who basically said they can't see any tracking updates, and to claim on the 22nd.

The item was a 20yr old doll therefore I don't have an original recipt. 

Does anyone have any recent experience with making a claim as I've seen so much conflicting information as to whether RM payout for the sold value. 

Thanks in advance.

[papso22]

I understand that they pay out what you sold it for  when you are a private seller and the item is  covered by compensation. 

[thesmokingrunner]

Morning jordan10000_123,

Yup - I do. And Royal Mail don't...

RM48 compensation covers a parcel for up to £150, but dig into the small print and you will discover that you're only covered for that amount IF you can prove the original cost of the purchase. If you cannot the best you're going to get is a book of 8 1st Class stamps. Been there, done that...

RM do not cover the sold value of an item for the simple reason that if they did the compensation process could be abused - and item worth pennies could be "sold" to an associate and when the item goes missing (the law of averages means that if it's posted enough times sooner or later it will be lost in transit) the value of the lost item suddenly becomes £150 when claiming for loss. Any claim is therefore required to prove original purchase cost.

I'm sorry to say your compensation will be no greater than a book of stamps. Your best course of action is to complete a claim on the RM website - https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/325/ - and it will be dealt with accordingly. I'm a little confused that you were told to claim on the 22nd, though, as not only is that a Saturday but it's also far less than the 10 working days after posting that the RM requires before a claim can be submitted.

By my calculations if the parcel was posted on the 12th, RM48 would have delivered it on the 14th and any claim for loss cannot be made until 10 working days after that which would be the 28th, not the 22nd. (Note: RM does not count Saturday as a working day unless the item was sent using guaranteed Saturday delivery).

Hope this helps.

[barry.110]

I've had to claim compensation from Royal Mail a couple of times and unlike thesmokingrunner I've have been paid the full selling price, never been given stamps. It's been a while since I've had to put in a claim but from what I can remember you have to provide a screenshot of the the sold item showing the price, the proof of postage and the details of the buyer.

Obviously if your buyer has already opened a Not Received case with EBay you have to refund them, you can't wait until you put your claim in with Royal Mail.

[martmarg41]

I had the same experience as @barry.110.

Simply provided screenshots of the eBay sold item page and the order along with a copy of the proof of posting. I got full sale price plus postage cost in compensation.

[ile136yz]

I occasionally have had to make a claim for both UK & International sales not arriving.

With the RM Claim Form I included a scan of the eBay sold invoice & scan of the Proof of Postage receipt, & the lost claims were settled quickly.

[thesmokingrunner]

@barry.110 

@martmarg41 

Colour me intrigued...

Whilst I don't doubt either of you were paid full value in compensation it is not something I have ever experienced - though fortunately I have only ever had to make two claims for lost post.

My understanding is that RM will compensate for full value but - and it's a big but - it depends on the service used (as far as I know full value is paid when the item is sent using RM Special Delivery but not when using other services). The OP specifically mentioned using RM48 and this, from my personal experience and as mentioned in my previous reply, does NOT pay full value compensation.

Seeing as neither of you actually mentioned it, could you clarify which RM service you were using when you were compensated for the full sale price?

[martmarg41]

Mine would have been RM (Parcelforce) 48hr large parcel tracked, posted at local PO.

A couple of years ago now but I assume the same still applies.

[signs_and_vintage]

Same here recent RM eBay claims were paid at eBay price. No doubt if you send outside eBay and start asking for £££ without invoice proof you will be challenged. This was Tracked 48 and total losses are very rare here so they no doubt have few claims for them to worry about the odd £20 eBay item payout. It is very hard for scammers to engineer losses in transit.

When you purchase RM labels, provided your item is less than the maximum covered cos, you are told you are covered for the selling price in bold text with a figure quoted, this is a relatively new thing. I'll see them in court for going against those headline terms any day 

However, OP I think you are also worried far too soon about this, it is not uncommon for intermediate tracking to be missed and for particular depots to be behind. It's not great but it is how it is every now and then.

[*vyolla*]

Also same as @barry.110  for items sold on a private account (on a business account you need to supply proof of cost and that's all you'll get back).

I also just provided a copy of the order details, payment confirmation and the postage receipt. Postage method was RM first class tracked. 

[signs_and_vintage]

Actually I misread the date a little, if RM are telling you to claim them come on down, the price is right... I cannot see an issue with getting the full amount.

[rjwilmsi]

As a private seller you should be able to claim the full price of the item sold on eBay from Royal Mail. Royal Mail will want to see screenshots of the original transaction showing sale price and a screenshot showing that you issued a full refund to prove your loss. Because Royal Mail require more documents than slots available to upload in their claims process, I normally create a Word/Openoffice Writer document and then convert it to PDF so I can provide multiple screenshots in one document.

In my experience Royal Mail are extremely fussy about receiving exactly the evidence that they require. But once they do have that they will settle claims. Royal Mail normally wait 30 days before settling a loss claim in case the item arrives in the meantime.

The risk you have is that if the item is delivered in the meantime, RM will refuse your claim but you will already have refunded your buyer, so would have to hope to be able to make arrangements with the buyer to resend the money or return the item. If the buyer refuses to be cooperative, eBay won't help you.

[oystermouth1971]

Also have an RM claim in at the moment as a private seller for a used item I sold, no original purchase receipt. I used Tracked 48.  

Some comments are making me nervous lol.

RM have asked for ‘Proof of the items value – Please provide a copy of the PayPal or bank/credit card statement’

I have neither of these. All I have regarding proof of value are eBay screenshots of the sale price & those funds going into my eBay balance, before they were refunded to the buyer after the parcel had been lost (now posted 32 days ago, still missing)

I’ve got a bit of a sweat on tbh. But if it is rejected, are there any other courier options who will pay out on the eBay sale price rather than based on a purchase receipt?

Cant really see why RM are doing this (if it is the case). Seems like it is designed to stop them paying out adequate levels of compensation. I don’t buy the scam/fraud argument because at the end of the day, if they deliver as promised, scamming is impossible!

[martmarg41]

In the past when I had to make a claim I submitted a scan of the RM postage receipt and the eBay Order.

You may not get the full postage that you charged the buyer (only the actual cost) but you should get the item value. Good luck.

ps I generally use Evri and found any claims to be straightforward.

[signs_and_vintage]

As above, all I've ever done is supply the eBay sales record, showing what was paid for the item. I suspect the Paypal reference is probably hideously out of date from years ago before eBay tooks cards direct.

[vinylscot]

I've probably claimed for missing parcels about twenty times over the last decade or so. Almost always, I've received a full refund of the eBay sale plus my postage, often within three days or so.

The ones which didn't result in full refunds were the two highest value items, both £30-£50, sent under the "signed for" tariff. Not only was that annoying because of the value, but these two where the ones where I had the strongest evidence. Both parcels had been "delivered" at least 400 yards away (or the postman scanned them in his fan).

I reckon RM probably pay the small ones in full, as it's easier, and often cheaper. (A book of eight first class stamps now costs £13.20)

[signs_and_vintage]

Good point about the stamps cost, they'll soon downgrade that offer to a book of 4!

[oystermouth1971]

Just thought I’d update to say after 52 days since making the claim for lost postage, a cheque from Royal Mail landed on my doormat for the eBay sale price of the item + original postage paid.

RM claims are certainly more long winded than they used to be. Still, I’m happy with that outcome ultimately so will continue to use them.

[dfernand101]

A cheque ? seriously ? who uses those these days ? can't they just pay it into a bank account or paypal account ?

[davrman]

A cheque? How 18th Century... 😄