Royal Mail "Signed For" Service & ESA Appeals

I sent my esa claim form by signed for registered mail by Royal Mail. (I am to 'transfer from IS/DLA to ESA, 'supposedly').

I also insured the envelope for 'consequential loss',meaning that I could claim from Royal Mail what I would have lost out on if the envelope was not delivered, or if it went missing. I insured it for the amount of a year's worth of my current benefits award; a year, because it is usual to have a reassessment every year.

This was a hike in mailing fees that was dear to me out of my income, but gave me some peace of mind.

Whether or not I would then be able to successfully claim consequential loss damages if the form was not delivered or delivered late, I cannot say. It is possible that RM could then say that my insurance claim was not valid because receipt of the form did not definitively mean that I would have got an ESA award based only on the actual delivery.

But it was the best option to at least ensure that the form got delivered on time and with a signature.

That said, when I contacted RM about getting an actual copy of the signature of the person who received it, I was told that RM website was down, and that my inquiry was referred on to Parcel Force and would be dealt with as soon as possible....... but I never heard anything subsequent from anyone (weeks ago).

In the finish, my form was delivered and I got the phone call to make an appointment to attend the medical. But my experience with RM is nothing to brag about!

I haven't heard of being able to insure for consequential loss before, syx, is it easy to arrange with the Post Office, how do you go about it?
Cheers, Pen.

I had never heard of consequential loss insurance either, penthesilie.

At the PO counter, the clerk asked me if I wanted it insured, so I asked about what types of insurance were offered. Consequential loss was one, and she explained that it was for any loss I incurred as the result of the envelope not being delivered on time or going missing. I decided it was a good idea.

There is no special requirement for this insurance, and it is just another service that the PO offers customers. If I did it again for something else, I would just ask that the envelope be sent "signed for and insured for consequential loss".

There is a scale of consequential loss insurance available from under 1,000 pounds up to quite a few thousand. I insured my envelope against consequential loss equivalent to one year's of my benefits, as that would have been my loss if it went missing or was delivered past the due date.

I think the total for signed delivery and the insurance was about 23 pounds -roughly the same as my subscription to benefits and work --but both worth every penny, imo , because both help me to get the help I need in order that one day I can get back to work (I hope).

Many thanks, syx. When the time comes I'll ask the counter staff about that.
Cheers, Pen.

That's rather a lot of money! Before paying that I would want to be sure that they would pay up if the form was lost. As has been said, I suspect that they would wriggle out of it on the grounds that the benefit *might* not have been awarded even if the paperwork has arrived on time.

It's not necessary to use expensive methods of posting documents to the DWP.

Consequential loss is generally used for sending valuable items. In my opinion if you paid for this and lost out on a benefit as a result, Royal Mail wouldn't pay up for the amount you lost.

Many claimants use 'guaranteed next day delivery before noon' which dependent on weight costs on average £5.00.

It's not necessary to do this, it's sufficient just to send it 'recorded delivery' which costs about £1.00 extra of postage costs and can be tracked and traced on the Royal Mail' website in respect of when it was received and signed for.