Royal Mail Business Account Claims

We’re sorry you’ve had a problem with your mail. If you're a Royal Mail Business Account customer and an item of mail is lost, damaged, delayed or arrived with some of the contents missing you may be eligible for compensation.

Franking customers should not complete any of the below claim forms - Instead please use the dedicated form here.

For items scanned as delivered

If your item has been scanned as delivered there are some key checks to make. Click here to find out more.

How to make a claim

In order for us to pass your claim to the right team and avoid any delays, please read carefully and select the correct option below:

What you can claim for >>

Untracked services (including International)

• No loss or damage compensation is available for untracked contract services posted using a Royal Mail account (excluding VAT exempt 1st and 2nd class, VAT exempt Royal Mail Signed For®, International Standard and Economy posted on account*)
• No compensation for consequential loss.

Royal Mail Tracked®

• Compensation based on actual loss (or cost to repair in the case of damage), where evidence of posting and value are provided, up to the maximum of £150 (£100 for items posted before 3 April 2023) or the market value whichever is the lower of these.
• No compensation for consequential loss.
• Claims must be made within 80 days of the date of posting.

Royal Mail Tracked® Returns

• Compensation based on actual loss (or cost to repair in the case of damage), where evidence of posting and value are provided, up to the maximum of £150 (£100 for items posted before 3 April 2023) or the market value whichever is the lower of these. Please note: Maximum value is £50 for customers who haven't signed up, or migrated to, the new Tracked Returns Enhancements.
• No compensation for consequential loss.
• Claims must be made within 80 days of the date of posting shown on the tracking information for the item.

Change to maximum value for Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed®

From 3 April 2023, we are increasing the maximum permitted value per single item that may be carried by any Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed® product from £2,500 to £5,000. The maximum value of compensation paid will remain at £2,500, it is just the maximum permitted value per single item that is being increased. Currency, foreign exchange and similar items are excluded from this change, and the maximum permitted value of such items sent using Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed® products shall remain at £2,500. The definition of ‘similar items’ in relation to Currency, foreign exchange etc includes: Money (including, tickets, coins (of any currency), bank notes (of any currency), postal orders, cheques; unused postage and revenue stamps and National Insurance stamps; exchequer bills, bills of exchange, promissory notes and credit notes; bonds, coupons and other investment certificates; and coupons, vouchers, tokens, cards, stamps and other documents that can be exchanged for money, goods or services, dividend warrants uncrossed and payable to bearer or bond coupons).

(9am, 1pm, letters, parcels)

• Compensation based on actual loss (or cost to repair in the case of damage), where evidence of posting and value are provided, up to the maximum of £750 or the market value which is the lower of these.
• Enhanced compensation is available at the time of purchase for £1,000 or £2,500 at an additional cost.
• We will not pay for loss or damage to any single item where the total value of the contents is more than £5000. For more information please refer to theterms and conditions of the service.
• No compensation for consequential loss unless consequential loss cover purchased.
• We will refund the Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed fee if your item arrives later than the due delivery time.
• Claims must be made within 80 days of the date of posting.
• Claims must be made within 14 days of the date of posting for Consequential loss if consequential loss cover has been purchased.

International Tracked, International Tracked and Signed

• Compensation based on actual loss (or cost to repair in the case of damage), where evidence of posting and value are provided, up to the maximum of £100 or the market value whichever is the lower.
• Enhanced compensation up to £300 is available at the time of purchase at an additional cost.
• The maximum compensation payable when additional compensation has been purchased for Items containing coins, banknotes or currency notes, securities or instruments payable to bearer (e.g. cheques; bankers drafts; travellers cheques) is limited to £100 per item.
• No compensation for consequential loss.
• Claims must be made by the sender within 180 days of the date of posting.

International Signed

• Compensation based on actual loss (or cost to repair in the case of damage), where evidence of posting and value are provided, up to the maximum of £50 or the market value whichever is the lower.
• Enhanced compensation up to £250 is available at the time of purchase at an additional cost.
• The maximum compensation payable when additional compensation has been purchased for items containing coins, banknotes or currency notes, securities or instruments payable to bearer (e.g. cheques; bankers drafts; travellers cheques) is limited to £100 per item.
• No compensation for consequential loss.
• Claims must be made by the sender within 180 days of the date of posting.

What we mean by actual loss

Actual loss is what the item cost you to acquire, purchase or manufacture (or repair in the case of damage).

Example of actual loss

Mrs Smith (the end purchaser) bought a pair of jeans from a shop and paid £25 for them. If she posts them on and they go missing she can claim what it cost her to purchase the jeans, i.e. £25.

The Shop (the retailer) that sells the jeans buys them from the manufacturer for £15. If they post them and they go missing they can claim what it cost them to acquire the jeans, i.e. £15.

The Factory (the manufacturer) that supplies the shop makes the jeans for £10. If they post them and they go missing they can claim what the item cost them to manufacture, i.e. £10.

When you can claim >>

Items sent for delivery within the UK

• We cannot accept a claim for loss unless 10 working days or more have passed since the item was due to be delivered (7 working days Royal Mail Tracked items and 5 working days for Special Delivery Guaranteed)
• Working days are Monday to Saturday excluding Public and Bank Holidays (Monday - Friday for Special Delivery Guaranteed)
• Claims must be made within 80 days of the date they were posted
• We usually provide a full response to claims within 30 days of receiving them, so please allow us this time to investigate before contacting us again
• Claims for Special Delivery Guaranteed® fee refunds, for items delivered after the specified delivery time must be made within 14 days of posting

Please Note: If you have added Royal Mail Signed For® to a service and we are unable to provide a copy of the signature or proof of delivery (except where this was due to a refusal to provide one on delivery) then we will refund the Royal Mail Signed For® service fee, but not the underlying postage paid for the service. All claims for a refund of the fee must be made within 3 months of the item being posted.

Items sent for delivery abroad

• We cannot accept a claim for loss of an International Tracked, International Signed or International Tracked and Signed item unless at least 10 working days have passed since the item was due to be delivered.
• All claims must be submitted by the sender within 180 days of posting the item.
• Once we receive your claim we may contact the Foreign Postal Administration as part of our investigation, so please allow up to 90 days for us to investigate and respond fully before contacting us again.

What you'll need to make a claim >>

• Full details of the sender and recipient
• Service used (e.g. 1st Class, Special Delivery Guaranteed, International Signed For)
• Item tracking/barcode number
• Date and location of posting

You must also provide:

• Electronic copy of your proof of cost price – this should not include item sale price
• Digital/electronic images showing the damaged item and its original packaging (damage and part loss item claims only)

Parcelforce Claim Centre >>

Franked / Mailmark item claims >>

Royal Mail Business Account item claims >>

The quickest way to claim is by using our online form. You can submit in batches of 10 if you have multiple claims. However, if you'd rather use the excel version of the form, this is still available but may take us longer to process. The excel forms must only be used if you're claiming for 51 items or more.

Providing evidence for an existing claim

If you’ve made a claim but were either unable to provide evidence at the time or you have been advised to provide different evidence for an existing claim – you should do this using our online form below. You’ll need your claim reference number, this will be in the email we sent you. You should not upload evidence using the below form if you have not yet made your claim.

How to cancel a claim

Sometimes claims can be resolved before we've completed our investigation. If that happens, let us know here:

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