Royal Mail warning: Delays forcing millions to miss bills or fail to apply for benefits

[POSTMAN]

https://www.express.co.uk/finance/perso ... y-benefits

ROYAL mail problems are now affecting people's abilities to pay their bills according to analysis from Citizens Advice. A warning has been issued as postal customers are forced to deal with delayed services.

Royal mail customers have had to deal with delayed or outright halted services in recent months as coronavirus continues to impact companies across the UK. According to new analysis from Citizens Advice, this has impacted millions of consumers.

The charity detailed that almost one in three (31 percent) people across the UK experienced a delay in sending or receiving letters during January 2021, equating to around 16.5 million people.

Specifically, it was found that:

Almost one in 20 people received no letters throughout the entire month
One in 14 people experienced serious negative consequences of struggling to receive post, like being unable to pay a bill, or missing a GP appointment or job interview. This doubled for those who were self-isolating or shielding
People across London (42 percent), the West Midlands (37 percent), and the South East (36 percent) were most likely to experience a delay

Additionally, Citizens Advice saw a 365 percent increase in the number of people looking for advice on Royal Mail delays on its website in January, compared to the same period in 2020.

The charity had people get in touch with concerns that missing mail has seen them unable to pay bills, apply for benefits, and receive vital support from the charity’s advice service.

As a result of this, Citizens Advice, the consumer advocate for the postal sector, urged Royal Mail to ensure:

Letters are delivered weekly at an absolute minimum, and delivery returns to normal levels as soon as possible
People are given clear information on what’s happening in their area and how long delays could last

Alistair Cromwell, the Acting Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, commented on this: "We know Royal Mail have faced new pressures during the pandemic, and postal workers have worked tirelessly to ensure we can all stay connected.

"But letter delivery is a vital public service, relied on by many for bills and other critical information.

“Ensuring that people are able to receive letters at least once a week will provide reassurance to millions.

"We also urge Royal Mail to provide more transparency to people about what they can expect.”

January proved to be a difficult month for Royal Mail, as the company was forced to admit postal delays would be felt across 20 areas/postcodes within the UK.

On top of this, yesterday the Royal Mail warned delivery services would be impacted by the recent bouts of snow.

They apologised as parts of Scotland, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent were all expected to experience delays.

Additionally, resourcing issues continue to plague the service across the board.

In an official statement, Royal Mail had the following to say on their troubles: "Every single parcel and letter is important to us.

"Despite our best efforts and significant investment in extra resources, some customers may experience slightly longer delivery timescales than our usual service standards.

"This is due to the exceptionally high volumes of mail posted during this further lockdown period, alongside necessary coronavirus-related measures we have put in place in local mail centres and delivery offices to keep our people and customers safe.

"In such cases, we always work hard to get back to providing our usual level of service as quickly as we can."

[grchpo]

Alistair Cromwell says we are a vital public service, did he miss us being privatised.

[fb1969]

Prioritorise the premium products is the new phrase in our office, "fail mail" was a bit too obvious!

[redheadedwoman]

Not had a delivery all week but we have had a fair amount of snow and the pavements are lethal so until it all melts I will have to wait a little bit longer to see our lovely postie