Postman’s delivery obligations

Willow123 · Post by **Willow123** » 25 Mar 2018, 16:23

Hopefully someone can help...
I live in a rural location in North Wales. I bought the property 4yrs ago & (asides the odd week/weekend) have only just moved in permanently. I have two issues I’d like help with if possible
1)I’m aware that the postman has been delivering my mail to a neighbour who did one of two things with other: 1) marked it as ‘not as this address’ & returned to sender OR 2) didn’t pass it on to me. I’ve had a number of items go missing thanks to this.
2) My cottage is at the end of a reasonably steep driveway, owned by my neighbour but across which I have access (couldn’t get to property otherwise). Neighbour runs a campsite & uses this driveway for campers to access his fields (opposite my property). Thanks to this, the driveway has become rutted/potholed & he intends to rectify this when the weather improves. My issue is that the postman left a note telling me he’d leave my mail at the end of the driveway in a bread bin he supplied as he’d damage his van if he came up & down daily. I’m not happy with this as this means my mail is insecure especially as campers use this driveway. Can he not just walk down & put mail in the secure mailbox on the outside wall of the cottage? This would in fact be quicker than driving down, turning & driving back up & of course would mean that my mail would be secure.
Is Royal Mail not obligated to ensure that mail is delivered SECURELY & TO THE ADDRESSEE??

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 25 Mar 2018, 16:55

Could I suggest that the secure mailbox is moved down to where the Postie put the "bread bin" that seems the most sensible solution?

To answer your question, yes Royal Mail has an obligation to make an attempt to deliver to all addresses when it is safe to do so.

Without knowing the specific issues at your address I can't say if I would disagree or agree with the posties assessment, but the postie is allowed in law to make his own judgements regarding H&S. If the drive up would damage his van, then this would suggest there is a question as to whether its safe for him to walk up said drive.

The distance to travel would also have an impact because Royal Mail has security rules about how long a vehicle can be left unattended.

Unadopted Roads in a poor state of repair have caused deliveries to be stopped in the past, at least your postie hasn't gone that far. http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/9340088 ... eive_post/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Janet Brum · Post by **Janet Brum** » 25 Mar 2018, 18:26

You can also arrange to collect your mail weekly or few times a week from your local delivery office.
The best solution is to move your post box near the main road as TrueBlueTerrier said above.

Willow123 · Post by **Willow123** » 25 Mar 2018, 22:54

Thank you for your replies to my post.
Have thought about moving secure post box to where postman has put bread bin - unfortunately the post I would need to attach it to belongs to my neighbour who has refused permission for me to do so.
As for walking down to my cottage, it’s safe to do so & would take no more than 3-4 mins to come down & return to his van. Is this too long to leave the van?
Also, where do I stand on the issue of him giving my mail to my neighbour (as he’s done on numerous occasions in the past)? Mail I’ve never received (can only assume neighbour destroyed it!!) - I tested this by sending myself 3 items ....

yellowbelly · Post by **yellowbelly** » 28 Mar 2018, 22:07

Willow123 wrote: Also, where do I stand on the issue of him giving my mail to my neighbour (as he’s done on numerous occasions in the past)? Mail I’ve never received (can only assume neighbour destroyed it!!) - I tested this by sending myself 3 items ....

Shouldn't be doing it really. Does he give it to the neighbour in person (if so why doesn't neighbour say 'It's not mine')
or does he deliver it to your neighbours address thinking that your neighbour 'minds' your property as you only used to be there intermittently
or could there be a possibility of addresses being confused (particularly if it's not the regular postie)? e.g Buckingham House and Buckingham Lodge.

Basically highlight to the local delivery office that items have possibly been misdelivered in the past. Then you'll need to discuss
with the local delivery office about whether the driveway is safe for the postie to drive/walk down or whether to pick up
your mail from delivery office until such a time the driveway is repaired.

An amicable approach normally works best I find i.e not wanting to drop someone in the poo, just trying to find and agree a solution to a problem.

Not wishing to minimize your issue and I know it's our job, but 3-4 minutes is a long time to walk up and down a rutted/potholed driveway especially to
deliver a single double glazing sales letter especially if it's chucking it down with rain/hail/sleet/snow and you've been out in it all day.

NewPostieUK · Post by **NewPostieUK** » 29 Mar 2018, 19:18

Doesn't the land owner (your landlord / neighbour?) have a legal responsibility to make sure access to your home is safe and adequate?

I've only done one rural duty but from that I'd say it's a common problem. I had a farm which had a gate and very rough track to a cottage. The previous duty holder told me the cottage was a holiday home and to put any mail in the porch at the farm with the farms mail. By chance I bumped into the lady living at the cottage, and asked her if she was still OK with her mail being dropped of at the farm. No! She'd lived there for 4 years, it wasn't a holiday cottage and she didn't like her mail being left there, neither did the farmer!

I made the effort to open the gate and drive up to her cottage after that, and one day she came out out and said she'd watched me struggling up the track, sometimes on foot, and had decided to pressure the farmer into maintaining the track. Within two months the track was beautiful tarmac, smooth and clean. Everyone happy thanks to a chance meeting.

I suggest you try to catch the postman, talk to him, ask him if it really is that bad, tell him not to leave your mail anywhere else (nicely) and let him know you appreciate his problems, and will look into having the road maintained better. I know a few nice words will make the 5 minute walk seem easy for him.

Willow123 · Post by **Willow123** » 05 Apr 2018, 18:51

Many thanks yellowbelly & newpostie for your advice & comments, I really appreciate them :-)
Hopefully the issues will be resolved with tact & a quiet & polite word very soon