Royal Mail service terms and conditions changes

Royal Mail have announced some changes to their terms and conditions which businesses need to be aware of, particularly the changes to Northern Ireland due to Brexit arrangements.

Sending goods from Great Britain (GB) to Northern Ireland (NI)

Customers are being notified that Royal Mail will need to make changes to their terms and conditions in relation to the Windsor Framework. Royal Mail have a microsite dedicated to the changes for the latest information and to keep up to date, including for any changes to terms and conditions.

Under the Windsor Framework, the arrangements for sending parcels from Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) to Northern Ireland will depend on whether they are sent to or from a private individual or a business.

There are four use cases you will need to familiarise yourself with:

• Business to consumer (B2C): Goods sent by a business in Great Britain to a private individual residing in Northern Ireland for personal use.
• Consumer to business (C2B): Goods sent by a private individual in Great Britain to a business in Northern Ireland (for example, a customer returning an item to a shop).
• Consumer to consumer (C2C): Goods sent by a private individual in Great Britain to a private individual residing in Northern Ireland for personal use.
• Business to business (B2B): Goods sent by a business in Great Britain to a business in Northern Ireland.

Additional surcharge to hold containers for later delivery

From 30 September 2024, Royal Mail will be introducing a new surcharge that will apply to Royal Mail Tracked Returns 24 and Royal Mail Tracked Returns 48. If, as a result of your action or omission, they hold your items for a later delivery date, they will surcharge you a fee per container for each day they have to store the items beyond the original scheduled delivery date. For further details about these charges, including the level of fees applied, please visit royalmail.com/surcharges.

Introduction of a charge for Royal Mail 24 and Royal Mail 48 items returned to sender

From 30 September 2024 Royal Mail will be introducing a charge for any Royal Mail 24 and Royal Mail 48 items that are returned to sender. For further details visit royalmail.com/surcharges.

Change in the required amount you must spend to qualify for free weekday collections

From 7 October 2024 you must spend £20,000 (excluding VAT) per relevant 12-month period, per site on qualifying postal services to get a free weekday collection. Customers benefiting from free collections with qualifying Tracked accounts are not affected by this change. For further details visit royalmail.com/termschanges.

Change in the postcode allocation by geographic zone for Royal Mail Tracked 24 and Royal Mail Tracked 48

From 30 September 2024 Royal Mail will be amending the postcodes zonal classification as specified in their agreement and will be reallocating them as listed below. These will form part of the pricing criteria for Royal Mail Tracked 24 and Royal Mail Tracked 48.

Current Zone postcodes

• Zone 1: England, Wales and parts of Scotland, excluding Highlands and Islands and includes all postcodes not covered in Zones 2 and 3 below
• Zone 2: The Highlands and Islands – postcodes IV, HS, KA27-28, KW, PA20-49, PA60-78, PH17-26, PH30-44, PH49-50, Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Guernsey and States of Jersey, ZE, GY, JE, IM
• Zone 3: Northern Ireland and Isles of Scilly – postcodes BT, TR21-25

New Zone postcodes

• Zone 1: England, Wales and parts of Scotland, excluding Highlands and Islands and includes all postcodes not covered in Zones 2 and 3 below
• Zone 2: The Highlands and Islands – postcodes IV, HS, KA27-28, KW, PA20-49, PA60-78, PA80, PH17-26, PH30-44, PH49-50, Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Guernsey and States of Jersey, ZE, GY, JE, IM, FK20
• Zone 3: Northern Ireland, Isle of Wight, Scottish rural and Isles of Scilly – postcodes BT, TR21-25, AB35-38, AB53-56, FK18-19, PO30-41

Changes to delivery speed exclusions

Royal Mail are making a change to the list of postcode exemptions for their next day service for sorted Business Mail, sorted Advertising Mail, sorted Publishing Mail and sorted Subscription Mail due to network changes which they anticipate will be ongoing until around 31 March 2025. After that date, they expect these additional postcode exemptions to be withdrawn. The only postcodes affected are PH19 – 50, ZE1, ZE2 & ZE3, HS1-5, HS6, HS7-8 & HS9, KW16, KW15 & KW17.
Please see royalmail.com/termschanges.

Supplementary Store Collection Fee

From 30 September 2024, a Supplementary Store Collection Fee will be charged where customers require collections from stores that are not from a street level collection point. For further details about these charges please visit royalmail.com/termschanges.