Royal Mail specific terms for
Special Delivery™ Services
January 2012
Royal Mail, the Cruciform and the colour red are registered trade marks of Royal Mail Group Ltd.
Royal Mail Group Ltd, registered in England and Wales, number 4138203, registered office: 100
Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0HQ. © Copyright Royal Mail Group Ltd 2012. All rights
reserved.
Royal Mail specific terms and conditions for
Special Delivery™ services
1
Introduction
1.1
These specific terms apply to our Special Delivery Next Day and Special Delivery
9am services. Special Delivery is a secure, express service which guarantees
delivery to most of the UK the next working day; there are two delivery options –
delivery by 9.00a.m, or by 1.00p.m.
1.2.
These specific terms form part of your agreement with us, which is made up of:



our general terms and conditions of business (general terms);
the additional terms (described in the general terms); and
the price confirmation letter.
2
Definitions
2.1
You may not be familiar with some of the words or phrases we use in this
document. When they are used for the first time, they are shown in bold print and
explained in the relevant part of this document, in the following section or in the
general terms.
agreed percentage
The percentage of items to be delivered on Saturdays, as
specified in the price confirmation letter.
average daily posting
The average number of postings each day, calculated by
dividing your total number of postings each year by the
number of days each year on which you make a posting.
delivery time


For Special delivery Next day, 1pm on the next
working day after handover or on a Saturday if you
choose to have a Saturday guaranteed delivery ;
For Special Delivery 9am, 9am on the next working
day after handover or on a Saturday if you if you
chose to have a Saturday guaranteed delivery.
money
Including, coins, bank notes, 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.
price confirmation letter
The charges that are payable by you for the Special Delivery
services.
Saturday guaranteed
delivery
a service which, for an additional fee, guarantees delivery on
a Saturday for items handed over to us on Friday, either by
9.00a.m or 1p.m. depending on level of service purchased.
working day
Monday to Friday (and may include Saturday if you have
opted to have a Saturday guaranteed delivery) of any week
excluding any Public or Bank Holidays in any part of the UK
or Northern Ireland.
2.2
If these specific terms contradict the general terms or the additional terms, these
specific terms will apply.
3.
Performing the services
3.1
Unless clauses 3.2 or 3.3 apply, we will deliver all items by the delivery time,
except to certain postcodes, which we will do within either 1, 2 or 3 working days.
You can refer to our website at www.royalmail.com/specialdelivery or phone your
Account Manager or Customer Services on 08457 950 950 for more information
on where we deliver.
3.2
You can ask us to provide a Saturday guaranteed delivery. If you have chosen this
service, all items despatched to us on a Friday will be deemed to require a
Saturday guaranteed delivery. We will work out the postage for this service in line
with clause 5.1. This service is not available for:
3.2.1
items which are scheduled to take more than one day to reach their
destination; and
3.2.2
any item addressed to a bank, building society, jeweller, post office or travel
agent.
3.3
We do not guarantee the delivery time for items to an address for which a person
has paid for our redirection service.
3.4
We do not guarantee delivery on Sundays, Bank Holidays, Christmas Day, Boxing
Day or New Year’s Day. We may deliver on these days if operationally possible.
3.5
We can suspend or cancel the guarantee of delivery times at any time by giving
you notice.
3.6
We may deliver any Special Delivery items which do not meet the terms of the
agreement using a different service. If we do, the terms, including postage, of that
service will apply to that item.
3.7
Except as specifically set out in the agreement, and to the fullest extent permitted
by law, we give no warranties in relation to the Special Delivery services and all
warranties, terms and conditions that would otherwise be implied under the Supply
of Goods and Services Act 1982 or other statute are expressly excluded.
4
Your duties
4.1
You must apply the correct Special Delivery label to each item. If you need help
please contact your Account Manager or Customer Services on 08457 950 950.
4.2
You must not send items which are:


larger than 460 mm by 610 mm by 460 mm. For tubular packages, the
length plus twice the diameter must not go over 1040 mm or be more
than 900 mm long; and/or
heavier than 10kg for Special Delivery Next Day or 2kg for Special Delivery
9am.
4.3
Unless clause 4.4 or 4.5 applies, you can send valuables using the Special Delivery
service.
4.4
You must not give us any single item whose contents have a total value of more
than £2,500.
4.5
In relation to each address you ask us to deliver to, you must not give us, on any
one day:
4.6
4.5.1
more than four items containing money; or
4.5.2
four or less items whose contents containing money have a total value of
more than £7500.
If you break clauses 4.4 or 4.5:
4.6.1
you must pay us for any costs (including legal costs), expenses, claims,
losses, damages and awards we have to pay as a direct or indirect result of
that break; and
4.6.2
we will not be responsible to you for any loss or damage for those items,
including any compensation specified in clause 6.
Forecasting
4.7
You must give us 48 hours notice of a posting that will be greater than your
average daily posting. We may refuse to accept that posting. If we do accept
that posting our acceptance will not necessarily entitle you to rely on clauses 6.2
and 6.3, which relate to delays. If you do not give us this notice we may not accept
that posting.
4.8
Clauses 4.4 and 7.6 of the general terms do not apply to Special Delivery services.
4.9
If you have asked us to provide a Saturday guaranteed delivery, you must make
sure that the postings for delivery on a Saturday comprise no more than the
agreed percentage.
4.10
If postings for delivery on a Saturday exceed the agreed percentage, we will not
have to deliver those extra items on a Saturday. Clauses 6.2 and 6.3 will not apply
in this case. If we do deliver extra items, we may
4.10.1 adjust the postage by giving you seven days’ notice and you must:

pay those charges; or

tell us you no longer wish to have the Saturday guaranteed
delivery: or

end the agreement with us; and
4.10.2 charge you retrospectively for the difference between the original postage
and the postage we have adjusted in line with clause 4.10.1, and you must
pay such charges.
4.11
If we agree to collect your items later than your normal latest collection time on a
working day (late access service) you must:





post a minimum of 400,000 items per year per site;
agree to RM staff preparing the items for despatch on your premises;
make sure each posting is available for us to collect at the time we agree;
make sure that you record all items for the late access service separately
from the items you hand over during normal service hours; and
pay us our standard extra charges for providing this late access service.
5
Charges
5.1
You must pay all charges for the Special Delivery services you use in line with the
rates set out in the price confirmation letter.
5.2
You can refer to our website at www.royalmail.com/specialdelivery or phone your
Account Manager or Customer Services on 08457 950 950 for more information
on Special Delivery charges, including additional levels of compensation available to
you for an additional fee.
5.3
If



the profile of your postings; or
the average weight of your postings; or
the number of items you hand over
changes during the term of the agreement, we may vary the postage (which may
involve applying our standard published rate card rates) by giving you at least
seven days’ written notice.
5.4
We carry out random samplings of your postings. If we establish that the postage,
as calculated by you, was incorrect for the sampled posting, we will invoice you for
the total amount of the underpayment or notify you of any overpayment and credit
your account, as the case may be.
5.5
We can vary the charges on giving you 30 calendar days’ notice:
5.5.1
in exceptional circumstances that substantially affect the cost to us of
providing the services (for example, a substantial increase in petrol prices);
or
5.5.2
annually on the anniversary of this agreement.
You must pay the new charges or you can end your agreement with us by giving
us at least one month’s written notice.
5.6
6
The sterling equivalent value of foreign exchange bank notes or traveller’s cheques
which you include in an item will be the value worked out at the date you give us
that item and shall apply until the later of:
5.6.1
the date we deliver the item; and
5.6.2
the date we settle any claim you make in line with clause 6.4.
Our responsibility to you and your responsibility to us
Loss or damage
6.1
If any item you have posted under this agreement is lost or damaged while
it is with us, and you provide satisfactory proof that you posted it and we
received it, we will pay you compensation for the item and its contents
based on the actual loss you suffer. The compensation will not be more
than the lower of:
6.1.1
the market value of the item (not including the market value of any
message or information it carries) at the time the item was lost; or
6.1.2
£50 for Special Delivery 9am, £500 for Special Delivery Next Day or the
maximum amount of additional compensation you have paid for in line with
clause 5.2.
Delays
6.2
If we do not deliver an item in line with clause 3.1, or make a first attempt at
delivery in line with clause 3.15 of the general terms, unless clause 6.3 applies we
will pay you the relevant postage in respect of that item.
6.3
If you have purchased consequential loss compensation and we do not deliver an
item in line with clause 3.1 or make a first attempt at delivery in line with clause
3.12 of the general terms, and you provide satisfactory proof that you posted it
and we received it, we will pay you compensation for the item and its contents
based on the actual loss you suffer. The compensation will not be more than the
maximum amount of consequential loss compensation you have paid for in line
with clause 5.2.
Claims
6.4
Unless clause 6.5 applies, you must make a claim for loss or damage as soon as
possible after the incident and in any case within 80 days of the date of posting.
We will not accept responsibility for claims made after this time.
6.5
If you have bought consequential loss compensation, you must make a claim for
consequential loss compensation in writing within 14 calendar days of the date we
accepted the item, otherwise we do not have to pay you consequential loss
compensation.
6.6 You must make any claim for delay in writing within 14 calendar days of the date we
accepted the item, otherwise we do not have to refund your postage fee.
6.7 You must submit your request for us to provide proof of delivery within 3 months of
the date the item was posted, otherwise we will not provide you with proof of delivery
and you will only be able to obtain it from our website, subject to clause 6.8. You must
make any claim for us failing to provide proof of delivery in writing within 3 months of
the date the item was posted, otherwise we do not have to refund your proof of
delivery fee.
6.8 You can obtain proof of delivery on our website for 12 months after the date of
posting.
General
6.9
We will not be responsible to you in respect of any item that does not keep to the
terms of the agreement.
7
Confidentiality
You and we will each treat the terms of this agreement as confidential and not
share any of its contents with another person without the other’s written consent.
8
Agreement and Declarations
8.1
Special Delivery, the Royal Mail cruciform and the colour red are our trademarks.
Nothing in this agreement will give you or your agent a right or licence to make
any use of these trademarks (or any other trademarks owned by us). If you wish to
use any of our trademarks you must first obtain our consent to which we may
attach such conditions as we think fit.
8.2
You must make sure that your agents and subcontractors keep to the terms of the
agreement.
8.3
If you do not keep to clause 8.1 we can end the agreement in line with the general
terms.
Royal Mail, the Cruciform and the colour red are registered trade marks of Royal Mail Group Ltd.
Royal Mail Group Ltd, registered in England and Wales, number 4138203, registered office: 100 Victoria
Embankment, London, EC4Y 0HQ. © Copyright Royal Mail Group Ltd 2012. All rights reserved.