Royal Mail publishes a list of the latest posting dates for Christmas delivery in the UK and overseas, but its website states that these are subject to change.
Changes could come this year because Royal Mail workers – members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) – are going on strike on several dates in November and December – right in the middle of the sales purchases season.
It will affect workers who collect, sort and deliver letters and parcels and the Royal Mail has warned that despite its contingency plans the ‘planned strike is likely to cause disruption to you’.
In other words, you should allow extra time when posting to account for subsequent strike days.
- Thursday, November 24
- Friday, November 25 (Black Friday)
- Friday, December 9
- sunday december 11
- Wednesday, December 14
- Thursday, December 15
- Friday, December 23
- saturday 24 december
Here are all the important dates you need to know when it comes to mailing items for Christmas.
Last posting dates for Christmas 2022
Here’s the full recap of the latest UK and overseas release dates.
- Friday, November 25 International economy to Cyprus, Eastern Europe, Greece, Iceland, Malta, Turkey
- monday november 28 International Economy to Western Europe
- Thursday, December 1 International standard and international tracking and signature services to Australia and New Zealand
- Friday, December 2 International standard and international tracking and signature services to China (People’s Republic). HM Forces Mail – British Forces Post Office (BFPO) – HM Operational Forces and HM Static Forces
- Monday, December 5 International standard and international track and sign services to all remaining Caribbean destinations (except British Virgin Islands, Dominica and Anguilla – last published date was October 7)
- Wednesday, December 7 International standard and international tracking and signature services to Africa, Asia (except China, People’s Republic), Central and South America, Far East and Middle East
- Thursday, December 8 International standard and international tracking and signature services to Cyprus and Malta
- Friday, December 9 International standard and international tracking and signature services to Greece, Eastern Europe (except Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia) and Turkey
- saturday 10 december International standard and international tracking and signature services to Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Poland, Sweden and USA
- monday 12 december International standard and international tracking and signature services to Austria, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland
- Wednesday, December 14 International standard and international tracking and signature services to Belgium, France and Luxembourg HM Forces Mail – British Forces Post Office (BFPO)*
- Friday, December 16 Royal Mail Bulk Economy across the UK
- Monday, December 19 2nd class across the UK. 2nd class signed for all of the UK. Royal Mail 48 across the UK
- Wednesday, December 21 1st class across the UK. 1st class signed for across the UK. Royal Mail 24 across the UK. Royal Mail tracked 48 people across the UK
- Thursday, December 22. Special delivery guaranteed. Royal Mail Tracked 24 across the UK
- Friday, December 23 Guaranteed Special Delivery with Saturday Guarantee across the UK
Your rights in the event of loss of letters or parcels
As a general rule you may need to wait between 5 and 10 working days before you can report the item as missing to the Royal Mail. This does not include weekends or holidays.
You should claim for damaged, lost or delayed mail (opens in a new tab) by completing a P58 form that you can collect from postal agencies. You can then be compensation due (opens in a new tab) depending on the service you paid for – so if a first or second class letter goes astray – you might get a booklet of six first class stamps as compensation.
But, if you’ve paid for a premium service – like special delivery – you can get your postage back plus compensation to cover the actual cost of the item posted. This can be up to £2,500, although you can also buy ‘consecutive loss cover’ at postage which covers up to £10,000.
As regards the maximum time limit, you must report any missing letters or packages to the Royal Mail within 80 calendar days of the date of dispatch.
If you buy something and your the package is late or has disappeared – you should always contact the company you purchased the item from – not Royal Mail or the courier company.
Indeed, it is the responsibility of the seller to deliver the item to you within the agreed time and in one piece. In the event of a problem, the retailer must reimburse you.
What happens if my publication is delayed due to Royal Mail strikes?
Under normal circumstances, if your message is delayed you could seek compensation, especially if you paid for a premium service like special delivery.
When there’s nothing to stop you from lodge a complaint with Royal Mail (opens in a new tab) if you think you’ve lost out in the mail due to the delay in the postal strike – Royal Mail could claim the strike days have been made public.
As for what is open on strike days, post offices will be open as usual, although post office collections will be limited.
But delivery offices and customer service points will be closed. This means that you cannot drop off or pick up items on these dates.