The great Royal Mail insurance ripoff

[wheresthetorch]

I think the bigger question is how do they keep losing stuff? Where does it all go???

 

[e-rider]

Was that the max amount they would cover a bike for on the policy or the amount you had specifically insured it for? I know my insurer covers all bikes for upto £500 on house policy as std but if I value them above £500 I have to list them individually and pay a premium. I know that with some if not most insurance if you under estimate they will only pay out proportionally so for eg if you did have £100k of contents insured for £10k and you had £10k worth of goods stolen then you would only get paid out app £1k. http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/under-insurance-household.html

Like I say though if you want to insure goods through royal mail then Special delivery is the way to go atm, it is the only way the items are tracked securely through the system and hence why it is the only product that offers insurance for higher value goods. Products are changing/ evolving to offer the public consumer alternative tracked services but what levels of insurance these will carry...... as always you get what you pay for.

£500 was the house policy default for bikes - I hadn't even considered insuring the bike, so when it got stolen £500 was much better than nothing!

 

[e-rider]

I'm surprised at how many people are happy with the RM insurance system as it stands. I pay them to deliver something, then pay them more just in case they lose it, and then pay even more if I actually ever what to see any money back if they do lose it. And you lot think that's a fair system? No doubt you all love George Osborne as well.

 

[e-rider]

[QUOTE 4196663, member: 45"]What were their grounds for not paying out?[/QUOTE]
the correct service was not chosen considering the value of the goods

 

[PhilDawson8270]

I'm surprised at how many people are happy with the RM insurance system as it stands. I pay them to deliver something, then pay them more just in case they lose it, and then pay even more if I actually ever what to see any money back if they do lose it. And you lot think that's a fair system? No doubt you all love George Osborne as well.

It is no different to paying a builder to build an extension. But if he doesn't build it you don't get a refund. Of course, if you bought insurance from the builder, he may refund you if he doesn't do the job you paid him to do in the first place.

Disgusting!

 

[accountantpete]

And you lot think that's a fair system? No doubt you all love George Osborne as well.

No - but we do have Royal Mail shares

 

[outlash]

I'm surprised at how many people are happy with the RM insurance system as it stands. I pay them to deliver something, then pay them more just in case they lose it, and then pay even more if I actually ever what to see any money back if they do lose it. And you lot think that's a fair system? No doubt you all love George Osborne as well.

Or, you tried to pay for postage on the cheap, got your hands burnt and you're moaning about it. And no, I think I'm fairly safe ground to say there's one or two of us that don't like George Osboune. Nice try though.

It is no different to paying a builder to build an extension. But if he doesn't build it you don't get a refund. Of course, if you bought insurance from the builder, he may refund you if he doesn't do the job you paid him to do in the first place.

Disgusting!

Yeah, beacuse builders are paragons of reliability and quality workmanship...

 

[Rezillo]

A few years ago, I sent by insured Royal Mail some surround speakers, one of which rattled on receipt. The buyer sent them back - it turned out the drivers inside had detached from three of their mounting points and then bent on the remaining intact one. They were wrecked - basically, the box had been dropped from a height, and quite a height at that - it was momentum of the heavy drivers that pulled them from their mounts.

Royal Mail refused to cough up on the grounds I didn't have the original packaging, which the buyer had thrown away at work. After a couple of letters pointing out that I and no other sender had any control of what a recipient did with the packaging, they just stonewalled me. On the basis if they were going to waste my money, I would waste their time, I bombarded them with letters to which they had to at least spend time and money in replies before I got fed up with it all.

 

[swee'pea99]

I am 100% with a) those saying that if you pay an organisation to carry your stuff you should not have to pay more to get cover for their failure to deliver the service you have paid for - ie, to get it to the other end, undamaged, and b) the OP. How can it be fair to refuse £20 compensation for an item worth £21 when you would pay £19 compensation if it was worth £19? That's bonkers.

 

[Rezillo]

Royal Mail delivers about 15 billion (yep BILLION) items of mail a year inside the UK alone. It's loss rate is one of the lowest in Europe - indeed in the world.

I have no pecuniary interests to declare.

Slightly tongue in cheek but if Royal Mail regularly refuse to acknowledge loss or damage, those events are not going to appear in their figures. I've only ever had a handful of items go astray, so it's not a huge problem for me. However, Royal Mail didn't admit responsibility for any of them.

 

[MontyVeda]

In my previous job we sent hundreds of sub £20 items via Royal Mail each day... with such large numbers of small items being sent, odd ones did go missing every week or two which meant we'd have to send out replacements. According to the boss, the Royal Mail never once covered the cost of a single item lost in their delivery system.

 

[screenman]

I have fantastic service from Royal Mail, I also use them a lot for most of my mail order posting so you would have thought there agreater chance of things going astray, I am diligent in paying the correct amount for what I need.

 

[screenman]

In my previous job we sent hundreds of sub £20 items via Royal Mail each day... with such large numbers of small items being sent, odd ones did go missing every week or two which meant we'd have to send out replacements. According to the boss, the Royal Mail never once covered the cost of a single item lost in their delivery system.

I have found that things reported as missing have often got there, then been reported as not arriving.

 

[Milkfloat]

I have found that things reported as missing have often got there, then been reported as not arriving.

Ahh, so you have sold on ebay too.

 

[postman]

I have been retired from RM for nearly ten years now,but i would only use Registered Mail as i knew it or Special Delivery as it is called now.Maybe the cost of that service is too high.But at each stage someone has to sign for the items.And inside the final bag is a printed list of all items carried in said bag.And it is only cleared when you the customer take final delivery of item.