We collect and deliver 82 million letters and parcels a day, six days a week, to over 27 million addresses. We try to make sure each one arrives safely and on time, but if something goes astray or gets lost, we'll do our best to sort it out.

Whilst we are committed to providing a world class postal service to our customers, we have two compensation schemes in place for when we do not meet our set standards for the delivery of mail.

Both schemes only apply to mail sent with Royal Mail – we do not give compensation for mail posted with other operators.

Our compensation schemes cover two broad types of mail - Bulk and Retail.

The Bulk Mail Compensation Scheme (also known as the Industry Compensation Scheme for Delay) applies to 1st and 2nd Class Printed Postage Impressions (PPI) (including Packetpost and Cleanmail; 1st and 2nd Class response services; Mailsort 1, 2 & 3 (including Walksort); and Presstream 1 and 2. Click here to find out about bulk mail compensation.

The retail compensation scheme applies to Royal Mail Special Delivery Next Day, First Class, Second Class, Recorded Signed For, and Standard Parcels. We'll talk you through when each different type of service should be delivered and what happens if it's not. For First Class mail, Second Class mail, and Standard Parcels, you can ask for a Certificate of posting for free when you send it. Find out the retail scheme details.

• Find out more about our 'retail' products
• Learn more about our 'bulk' products
• See the range of our 'response services'