Has anyone ever attempted to challenge "Photo as proof of delivery" in court.

[johnf66]

We all have had it done to us.... We are not in or at work and the parcel you ordered from the internet shop or auction site has been delivered. You get home all excited to open your new purchase and there is NO parcel. So you diligently track n trace the number down to see a ridiculous photo (often blurred) of your parcel on an anonymous door step, no house number / no person who accepted your parcel in the photo etc. - in effect totally useless information can be gathered from this picture.

The courier service and even the Royal Mail think these useless photo is perfectly adequate as "proof of delivery" and push the onus back to the sender ( they say the contract is with them and not the recipient), when clearly the responsibility rests with them delivering the parcel. The sender passed the parcel over to them (duty of care of the package), paid for the the service, and expect to have it delivered to the correct address on the package in a timely manner.

I am just curious to know is anyone has challenged this in a court of law? (Please don't quote the usual BS about GDPR etc. persons face in the picture etc... I have heard and read it all before. )

TIA

[echat11]

Hi JohnF66

Welcome to LB

Have your neighbours got CCTV?

I've had a Royal Mail delivery driver, ring the door bell, I've answered the door within 20 seconds, he's halfway back to his van, he wasn't going to leave a card. So all sorts of stuff goes on.

[johnf66]

Hi JohnF66

Welcome to LB

Have your neighbours got CCTV?

I've had a Royal Mail delivery driver, ring the door bell, I've answered the door within 20 seconds, he's halfway back to his van, he wasn't going to leave a card. So all sorts of stuff goes on.

Hi, thanks for the welcome. I got ring door bells cameras front and back plus additional CCTV the full works so everything is covered. I have had in the past the same as yourself, the RM refuse to answers your voice on the the door bell and they are half way up the footpath within in 3 seconds of ringing the bell. (One post person was listening to her ear pods so couldn't even hear if the ring door bell was talking.) I do understand they have many deliveries to make so cannot take to long waiting around.

[PallasAthena]

I am sure people have challenged photos in court but no personal experience. Usually in small claims track and would be unreported unless someone posted it online.

It's going to be a factual question for judge to decide, not usually a question of law. Take your own photo of your doorstep from same angle/distance and present it alongside courier's photo. It should usually be obvious if they are the same doorstep.

As an aside I've never had a delivery person want to take a photo with all of me in it so that I would be personally recognisable. They aren't required to prove who took delivery at the premises, only that someone did.

What they seem keen to have round my way is a picture of the doorstep showing the door open and the parcel in shot. Which often means my feet are in it too but that seems to be an optional.extra!

Although I also get a fair number of 'dump and disappear before I get to the door'. They would surely be easily challenged in court as showing no evidence that parcel has been handed to anyone at the premises.

Your claim is against the seller. They are liable if their courier fails to deliver. But their defence will be that their courier did deliver so you end up back at the doorstep photo argument.

[Pezza54]

Royal Mail Tracked 24 and Tracked 48 take photos when the parcel is delivered. If nobody answers the door, the parcel is usually left on the doorstep and a photo taken.
If the parcel is left at the wrong address and the intended recipient (IR) doesn't receive it, this person should contact the sender to say they haven't received the parcel.
By now the sender will have received notice from RM that the photo of the delivered parcel is available to view on their website. The sender provides the IR with the code to view the photo on the website.
The IR replies that's not my front door, it has been delivered to the wrong address and sends a photo of their front door
The sender contacts RM and RM try to retrieve the parcel
If RM are unable to retrieve the parcel, the sender can claim on RM's insurance for the value of the item(s) up to £150 or more if the sender has paid for additional insurance