Legal basis for taking Royal Mail to court

[Aquilegia]

Hello, I support a disabled friend and they have been dealing with continuous issues with Royal Mail. Many complaints have been made and ignored despite the issues then repeating. The problems have been, mail going missing, mail for other addresses being dumped at their address, and the most difficult, signed for mail being signed for in their name and put through the door without any agreement or permission. As they suffer with regular flare up's of issues they are unable to deal with mail regularly, this has caused serious issues with people claiming they have had the letter and therefore should have dealt with it.

I also see that Royal Mail should not ever use a persons name to say it was signed for, but the postmans name or code, they should post a note if noone answers the door instead. The missing mail has included sensitive personal inoformation from the NHS, and financial letters. They have also had to redeliver letters to other people despite not being well enough to do so and throughout the pandemic. As more complaints have been made the seriousness of the issues has escalated. It is clear they are being targetted and bullied and they are afraid that this will continue.

I want to help and the complaints process having been exhausted I am hoping you could clarify what legal basis they would have to take Royal Mail to court based on the issues mentioned? As they have been made aware of disability I am unsure if this is something that can be pursued under disability protections or harassment. To me signing using their name and failing to get agreement or permission is fraud? I am unsure what legal basis can be used for missing mail. As getting mail is not something any of us can find an alternative for to Royal Mail they are very upset as this has been happening for 18 months. Please advise or help if possible.

[echat11]

Hi Aquilegia

Before you consider taking any legal action, you will need to follow Royal Mail's complaints procedure. That way you can demonstrate that you've exhausted all other routes to find a resolution. If you need help lodging your complaint, Citizen's Advice can help you through the process.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

https://www.royalmail.com/sites/defa...s_AUG_2019.pdf

[Aquilegia]

Is my question not showing properly? there should be three paragraphs. I mentioned completing the complaints process. They would not consider legal action if they had not but they are being targetted by Royal Mail with mistreatment because they have been complaining. Royal Mail have lied in responses to the complaints.

If this is in the wrong sub section please move.

[echat11]

Hi Aquilegia

Before you consider taking any legal action, you will need to follow Royal Mail's complaints procedure. That way you can demonstrate that you've exhausted all other routes to find a resolution. If you need help lodging your complaint, Citizen's Advice can help you through the process.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

https://www.royalmail.com/sites/defa...s_AUG_2019.pdf

So you've lodged complaints with (stage 3) Postal Review Panel / Postal Redress Service?

[Aquilegia]

The complaint process has been followed up to the final review level, why do you keep advising me the complaint process needs to be followed?

[echat11]

The complaint process has been followed up to the final review level, why do you keep advising me the complaint process needs to be followed?

Because you can demonstrate to the court in any legal action you decide to take that you have tried everything to resolve the matter, including following the 'Royal Mail's' complaints procedure. You are using the court as a last resort.

[islandgirl]

Aquilegia - people here are volunteers giving you their time. You wrote that the complaints process was "exhausted". We do not know what that means. Many people post saying they have complained but have not gone through the entire process. If you have that is great but why not just tell us politely and calmly the steps that you have undertaken so far.
Fraud would be a criminal matter - you could try talking to the Police.
It may be that you have civil grounds and hopefully someone will be here to help but it is best to answer questions remembering that people here give up their time for free. Thank you

[Aquilegia]

First, there appears to be some sort of formatting issue with this website, until just now the only responses i saw were the first two from echat11. Now more are showing but in an order than is not chronological . Second, what is impolite about saying 'The complaint process has been followed up to the final review level, why do you keep advising me the complaint process needs to be followed?' All i saw was the same person saying the same question twice. It is a reasonable response, especially when i was not looking for advice on the internal process, but advice on the legal issues and i do not think it fair to start bandying about accusations of being impolite, I am dyslexic, not rude and was confused at the response. There is an issue either with posting or the mods publishing responses so you need to look at that?

If someone did not know what i meant by 'exhausted' they only needed to ask. But to be fair saying a process has been exhausted normally means it has been completed. The postal review panel is not stage 3 but the final stage of the internal process i have been told by my friend, they only had the option to make the initial complaint and then escalate it to the postal review panel. The Postal redress service is external to Royal Mail, it is not part of the process, it is the equivalent of an ADR like CEDR. As my friend has had a previous terrible experience trying to get a complaint resolved through CEDR they wanted to look at legal action as an alternative. There is also the issue that any decision by this external organisation would be both binding and block legal action.

So that is why i am trying to get clarification on where this situation would stand legally, not where the process is at, but what the legal position would be. So far noone has given any legal suggestion.

[wales01man]

First, there appears to be some sort of formatting issue with this website, until just now the only responses i saw were the first two from echat11. Now more are showing but in an order than is not chronological . Second, what is impolite about saying 'The complaint process has been followed up to the final review level, why do you keep advising me the complaint process needs to be followed?' All i saw was the same person saying the same question twice. It is a reasonable response, especially when i was not looking for advice on the internal process, but advice on the legal issues and i do not think it fair to start bandying about accusations of being impolite, I am dyslexic, not rude and was confused at the response. There is an issue either with posting or the mods publishing responses so you need to look at that?

If someone did not know what i meant by 'exhausted' they only needed to ask. But to be fair saying a process has been exhausted normally means it has been completed. The postal review panel is not stage 3 but the final stage of the internal process i have been told by my friend, they only had the option to make the initial complaint and then escalate it to the postal review panel. The Postal redress service is external to Royal Mail, it is not part of the process, it is the equivalent of an ADR like CEDR. As my friend has had a previous terrible experience trying to get a complaint resolved through CEDR they wanted to look at legal action as an alternative. There is also the issue that any decision by this external organisation would be both binding and block legal action.

So that is why i am trying to get clarification on where this situation would stand legally, not where the process is at, but what the legal position would be. So far noone has given any legal suggestion.

The easiest way to get Legal advice and suggestion would be to consult a Solicitor many offer 1/2 hour free advice

[des8]

"Legal advice" comes from a solicitor as wales01man

You asked about what action could be taken.
As you haven't mentioned what outcome you are looking for. it is difficult to give any pointers.

In many ways Royal Mail has immunity (I refer you to The Postal Services Act 2000, in particular to sections 90 - 92) so any court initiative will be difficult.