Over 90% of First Class mail arrives the next working day, but if yours doesn’t, the information below will tell you how we can help.

Has your mail item arrived five or more working days after it was posted?
If so, your mail is classified as ‘delayed’, and we’ll give you compensation of 12 First Class stamps. If you provide additional evidence of delay and your claim for compensation is accepted, you will be sent a cheque for £5, or for £10 if your item has suffered substantial delay (i.e. was delivered more than eleven working days after the day of posting') and you provide additional evidence or proof of delay.

What happens if your mail is lost?
If your mail gets lost, we’ll give you a minimum compensation of 12 First Class stamps. However, if there was something of value in your mail, we'll refund the actual loss, up to maximum value of 100 First Class stamps or up to the market value, whichever is the smaller amount. Please apply for this within 12 months.

Please note that we do not pay compensation without an original certificate of posting being produced.

If you’d like to claim for late or lost First Class mail, you can do so here

Over 97% of Second Class mail arrives within 3 working days, but if yours doesn’t, the information below will tell you how we can help.

Has your mail item arrived seven or more working days after it was posted?
For Second Class mail the ‘due date of delivery’ is the third working day after it was posted. If so, your mail is classed as ‘delayed’, and we’ll give you compensation of 12 First Class stamps. If you provide additional evidence of delay and your claim for compensation is accepted, you will be sent a cheque for £5, or for £10 if your item has suffered substantial delay (i.e. was delivered more than thirteen working days after the day of posting) and you provide additional evidence or proof of delay.

What happens if your mail is lost?
If your mail gets lost, we’ll give you a minimum compensation of 12 First Class stamps. However, if there was something of value in your mail, we'll refund the actual loss, up to a maximum value of 100 First Class stamps or up to the market value, whichever is the smaller amount. Please apply for this within 12 months.

Please note that we do not pay compensation without an original certificate of posting being produced.

If you’d like to claim for late or lost Second Class mail, you can do so here

99% of all Special Delivery Next Day packages arrive by 1pm or earlier, but if yours doesn’t, the information below will tell you how we can help.

Has the 1pm deadline been reached?
If not, hold tight, it’s almost certainly on its way.

Was your Special Delivery Next Day item delivered after the 1pm deadline had passed?
If so, we’re very sorry and we’ll refund whatever you paid for Special Delivery. An additional payment of £5 will be payable if the item was delivered more than 24 hours (one working day) after the guaranteed time of delivery or, £10 will be payable and your fee refunded if the item was delivered seven or more working days after the guaranteed time.

What happens if your mail gets lost?
In the unlikely event that your mail gets lost, we'll refund the actual loss, up to a maximum value of the service used (£500, £1,000 or £2,500) or up to the market value whichever is the smaller amount. Please apply for this within 12 months.

If you’d like to claim for late or lost Special Delivery mail, you can do so here

Please note that Special Delivery items are not guaranteed for delivery on Saturdays or Sundays.

Special Delivery 9.00am is not covered by the Retail Scheme.

Has the 9.00am deadline been reached?
If not, hold tight, it’s almost certainly on its way.

Has you Special Delivery 9.00am item arrived after the 9.00am deadline has passed?
If so, we’re very sorry and we’ll refund whatever you paid for Special Delivery 9.00am. You can also apply for Consequential Loss of up to £10,000 - this is when the loss, damage or delay of what you’re sending would cost you more than its market value.  You can choose how much compensation you’d like when you pay for the service. Please apply within 14 working days of posting.

What happens if your mail gets lost?
In the unlikely event that your mail gets lost, we'll refund the actual loss, up to a maximum value of the service used (£50, £1,000 or £2,500) or up to the market value whichever is the smaller amount. Please apply for this within 12 months.

If you’d like to claim for late or lost Special Delivery 9.00am mail, you can do so here

Did you send your Recorded Signed For mail First Class?
If so, it should usually arrive within one working day.

You can use Track and Trace to check the progress of your mail quickly and easily.

Has your mail item arrived five or more working days after it was posted?
If so, your mail is classified as ‘delayed’, and we’ll give you compensation of 12 First Class stamps. If you provide additional evidence of delay and your claim for compensation is accepted, you will be sent a cheque for £5, or for £10 if your item has suffered substantial delay (i.e. was delivered more than eleven working days after the day of posting and you provide additional evidence or proof of delay.

What happens if your mail is lost?
If your mail gets lost, we’ll give you a minimum compensation of 12 First Class stamps. However, if there was something of value in your mail, we'll refund the actual loss, up to a maximum value of 100 First Class stamps or up to the market value, whichever is the smaller amount. Please apply for this within 12 months.

Did you send your Recorded Signed For mail Second Class?
If so, it should usually arrive within three working days.

You can use Track and Trace to check the progress of your mail quickly and easily.

Has your mail item arrived seven or more working days after it was posted?
For Second Class mail the ‘due date of delivery’ is the third working day after it was posted. If so, your mail is classed as ‘delayed’, and we’ll give you compensation of twelve First Class stamps. If you provide additional evidence of delay and your claim for compensation is accepted, you will be sent a cheque for £5, or for £10 if your item has suffered substantial delay (i.e. was delivered more than thirteen working days after the day of posting and you provide additional evidence or proof of delay.

What happens if your mail gets lost?
If your mail gets lost, we’ll give you a minimum compensation of 12 First Class stamps. However, if there was something of value in your mail, we’ll refund you the market price, up to a maximum value of 100 First Class stamps. Please apply for this within 12 months.

If you’d like to claim for late or lost Recorded Signed For mail, you can do so here

For Standard Parcels the ‘due date of delivery’ is the third working day after it was posted. 90% of parcels arrive within three working days, but if yours doesn’t, the information below will tell you how we can help.

Has your parcel arrived seven or more working days after it was posted?
If so, your mail is classed as ‘delayed’, and we’ll give you compensation of 12 First Class stamps. If you provide additional evidence of delay and your claim for compensation is accepted, you will be sent a cheque for £5, or for £10 if your item has suffered substantial delay (i.e. was delivered more than thirteen working days after the day of posting and you provide additional evidence or proof of delay.

What happens if your mail is lost?
If your mail gets lost, we’ll give you a minimum compensation of 12 First Class stamps. However, if there was something of value in your mail, we'll refund the actual loss, up to a maximum value of 100 First Class stamps or up to the market value, whichever is the smaller amount. Please apply for this within 12 months.

Please note that we do not pay compensation without an original certificate of posting being produced.

When you send your standard parcel, you can choose to pay for extra compensation of up to £100, £250 or £500.

If you’d like to claim for late or lost Standard Parcels, you can do so here

We are under no obligation to provide compensation for delay claims:

• where the item is addressed in a manner that does not clearly include all the elements of the postal address, including the correct postcode, or is incorrectly addressed
• where the event giving rise to the claim was caused by circumstances outside Royal Mail’s control, including exceptionally severe weather conditions, acts of terrorism and vandalism and acts of third parties with whom Royal Mail has no contractual relationship
• where the item is posted in a manner that does not comply with the provisions of the scheme relevant to its conveyance under section 89 of the Postal Services Act
• where alternative delivery arrangements have been agreed with the customer, including, for example, through the use of services such as PO Box delivery, Selectapost, Mail Collect and Poste Restante, and delay is caused by the customer or by the nature of the arrangements
• where a postal packet has been forwarded from the delivery address stated on the item, whether by Royal Mail under its Redirection service or unofficially by third parties
• where postage for the postal packet in question is unpaid or underpaid
• where the loss, damage or delay has otherwise arisen through the posting or receiving customers own act or omission.  For example, where a customer has been notified that their delivery point is insecure or inaccessible and has not made suitable alternative arrangements
• where the claim relates to a postal packet posted with another postal operator, or
• in such other circumstances as Royal Mail, after consulting with Postcomm and Consumer Focus, may agree.

If you’re sending valuable items, we recommend you use one of our Special Delivery services. These receive special handling and are the only UK services we offer which provide compensation if you’re sending any of these items:

• Current British and foreign bank notes and coins
• Uncrossed postal orders
• Uncrossed cheques and dividend warrants payable to the bearer
• Any postage, revenue, National Insurance or savings stamps valid for use
• Credit notes, coupons, vouchers, gift tokens, tickets or anything that can be exchanged for money, goods or services
• Bearer securities, including share warrants, bonds or relative coupons and scrips or subscription certificates
• Jewellery, precious stones and metals

We can’t offer compensation for any of these items if you send them by First Class mail, Second Class mail, Recorded Signed For or in a Standard Parcel.

We may not provide compensation for delay if:

• the correct postage was not paid
• the item is not correctly or clearly addressed. See our clear addressing guidelines for help
• the item is not posted correctly. Details are given in section 89 of the Postal Services Act
• the reasons for the delay are outside our control. For example, exceptionally severe weather conditions, acts of terrorism, vandalism or acts of third parties with no contractual relationship with Royal Mail
• the delay is due to an omission or act by the sender or recipient. For example, the recipient has not made suitable alternative delivery arrangements after being advised that their delivery point is unsuitable. See more information in delivery exceptions
• alternative delivery arrangements have been put in place, including PO Boxes, Local Collect, or Poste Restante
• the item has been forwarded from the stated delivery address either by a third party or for example, using our Redirections or Diversions services
• the item was sent via another carrier or postal operator
• other circumstances have occured and this has been agreed by Royal Mail after consulting Postcomm and Consumer Focus

Want to know more about compensation for bulk mailings?

Damaged mail? We’ll help sort things out if your mail is damaged.

Missed delivery? Find out what happens if you were out when we tried to deliver.

Undelivered mail? Take a look at the reasons why sometimes we can’t deliver your mail.