Postal Service Act 2000
Latest documents
Certain Royal Mail products or services have the charges, terms and conditions detailed in documents called ‘Schemes’. These Schemes are published under the Postal Services Act 2000 and mean that it is not necessary for Royal Mail to have individual contracts with each and every customer purchasing these products or using these services.
The Schemes in the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes are the official versions and Royal Mail cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions in the consolidated versions made available here.
These Schemes have been amended and updated a number of times since they were first published and the original Schemes and all the amendments are published in the official journals, the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes which are available from HMSO or www.gazettes-online.co.uk
Occasionally it is necessary for Royal Mail to make changes to our postal schemes, when doing so we seek the views of interested stakeholders regarding our proposed new postal schemes before we finalise the wording. Please visit www.royalmailgroup.com/regulation/consultations for more information on our schemes consultations.
- UK Post Schemepdf, 540.65 KB - Last updated 6 August 2023
- Overseas Post Schemepdf, 680.06 KB - Last updated 6 August 2023
- Franking Post Schemepdf, 123.11 KB - Last updated 25 May 2018
Non-contract products and services
The products and services listed below are not covered by the Schemes. You can click on each link to view the specific terms for those product and services.
Specific Terms for Non Account Tracked 24 and Tracked 48pdf, 420.52 KB
Age Verification Non Account Terms and Conditionspdf, 143.51 KB
Non Account Terms for International Tracked and International Tracked & Signed Heavierpdf, 251.27 KB
Previous Changes to Non-Contract Products and Services
From Tuesday 31st August 2021 we will reinstate our timed guarantee for Special Delivery Guaranteed by 9am as follows.
For items posted from Tuesday 31st August 2021 we will guarantee deliveries by 9.00am* the next working day. From that date we will accept claims for delay or consequential loss (where purchased) as a result of delay for items posted using the Special Delivery Guaranteed by 9.00am service that are not delivered by 9.00am the next working day. This includes items where a Saturday guarantee has been purchased.
*existing postcode exceptions apply
From Tuesday 31st August 2021 we will reinstate our timed guarantee for Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm as follows.
For items posted from Tuesday 31st August 2021 onwards we will guarantee deliveries by 1.00pm* the next working day. As a result, from that date we will accept claims for delay or consequential loss (where purchased) as a result of delay for items posted using the Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1.00pm service that are not delivered by 1.00pm the next working day. This includes items where a Saturday guarantee has been purchased.
*existing postcode exceptions apply
During the pandemic, we put in place a temporary procedure for those services where we would normally capture a recipient’s signature on delivery in the UK. In order to protect both our people and customers, as much as possible, our postmen and women have been capturing the name of the person accepting the items, but not asking you, the customer to sign for items.
From 1st May 2022 we are re-introducing the capture of customer signatures.
You can check that we have obtained confirmation of delivery and who we delivered to by tracking your parcel at royalmail.com/track-your-item. From 1st May we will consider fee refunds or compensation requests for not capturing a signature for items posted on or after this date.
Special Delivery Guaranteed by 9am & 1pm - On Wednesday 23 December 2020 we will temporarily suspend our next day guarantee. Any items posted on 23 December are not guaranteed to be delivered on the next working day (or relevant postcode exception alternative guaranteed day). As a result, for items posted on that date we will not consider a claim for delay or consequential loss as a result of delay for items posted using our Special Delivery Guaranteed by 9am or 1pm services.
Special Delivery Guaranteed by 9am - For items posted from Monday 28 September 2020 up to Tuesday 22 December 2020 we guarantee deliveries by 11.00am* the next working day. As a result, we will not consider a claim for delay or consequential loss as a result of delay for items posted using the Special Delivery Guaranteed by 9am service that are delivered between 9.00am and 11.00am the next working day during that period.
Special Delivery Guaranteed by 9am - For items posted from Tuesday 31 March 2020 up to Saturday 26 September 2020 we guarantee items to be delivered by 12.00pm* the next working day. As a result, we will not consider a claim for delay or consequential loss as a result of delay for items posted using the Special Delivery Guaranteed by 9am service, that are delivered between 9.00am and 12.00pm the next working day during this period.
Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm - For items posted from Monday 28 September 2020 up to Tuesday 22 December 2020 we guarantee deliveries by 4.00pm* the next working day. As a result, from that date we will not consider a claim for delay or consequential loss as a result of delay for items posted using the Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm service that are delivered between 1.00pm and 4.00pm the next working day.
Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm - For items posted from Tuesday 31 March 2020 up to Saturday 26 September 2020 we guarantee items to be delivered by 9.00pm* the next working day. As a result, we will not consider a claim for delay or consequential loss as a result of delay for items posted using the Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1.00pm service that are delivered between 1.00pm and 9.00pm the next working day during this period.
Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm - For items posted from Thursday 19 March 2020 up to Monday 30 March 2020 a guarantee was not offered. As a result, we will not consider a claim for delay or consequential loss as a result of delay for items posted using the Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1.00pm service during this period.
For both Special Delivery Guarantee by 9am and by 1pm this includes items where a guarantee for a Saturday delivery has been purchased.
*existing postcode exceptions apply
For six weeks from 2 May until 13 June we temporarily stopped delivering letters* on a Saturday. From May 16 until 13 June we temporarily stopped delivering Royal Mail 48 on a Saturday. Letters and Royal Mail 48 were delivered as normal from Monday to Friday during this time. We resumed the six-day-a-week delivery of letters and all parcels from 13 June. Accordingly, during the applicable temporary periods, Saturday was not considered a ‘working day’ for all letters* and Royal Mail 48.
*This temporary change did not apply to Special Delivery Guaranteed, Royal Mail Tracked and 1st and 2nd Class Signed For services. We continued delivering these services Monday through Saturday.
To help our customers during the early days of Covid-19, between Monday 6 April and Monday 31 August 2020, we temporarily extended the retention period to 30 calendar days, to give recipients longer to collect or have their item redelivered before returning items to the sender. From Tuesday 1 September 2020 the retention period will revert to the standard 18 calendar days (21 calendar days for Custom charges).
This applies to the following:
- Items we’ve left a ‘Something for You’ card
- Items that have a ‘Surcharge to Pay’
- Items that have a ‘Customs Charge to Pay’
- Local Collect items where the parcel is addressed to the Customer Service Point or Post Office® branch