What happens if Royal Mail loses your gold parcel

What Special Delivery gives you

Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed is Royal Mail’s tracked, signed-for next-day service, with a signed handover at every transfer and a tracking number that updates at each scan point. A parcel can still go missing, and a calm plan beats a panicked one. GoldPaid can confirm the appropriate postal option before you post, which is why requesting a prepaid label starts with what the lot is worth.

Who is liable if the parcel is lost, and how do I claim?

• Cover ceiling, not a guaranteed payout. £2,500 is a ceiling that may be available; the paid figure follows the evidence of actual loss, capped by the cover level used.
• Claim window: 80 calendar days from posting. Miss that deadline and a good claim fails. Do it now, not next month.
• Route: royalmail.com/claims, or a paper P58 form from the Post Office. The tracking number and proof of postage go on both.
• Evidence, in one folder. Photos of every item and every hallmark, your home-scale weight for each piece, and the description you gave when the label was requested.
• Split high-value consignments. Two parcels each within cover beats one parcel over it. Tell us before posting.

The 80-day clock is set by Royal Mail’s own terms, not by us; miss it and cover is lost regardless of the evidence. Our role is to give you our records fast enough that the paperwork is complete inside the window. We do not make the claim for you, because Royal Mail deals with the sender, and the sender is you even though we bought the label. Once tracking shows the parcel signed for at our office, it is in our hands and our responsibility, and no Royal Mail claim by you is needed.

The five-step process if a parcel goes missing

1. Tell us straight away. Message GoldPaid on WhatsApp or call. We check the tracking with you and confirm whether the parcel has reached us.
2. Confirm the tracking history. Royal Mail’s tracking shows the last scan point. Often the parcel is delayed rather than lost and reappears within 48 hours.
3. Open a Royal Mail enquiry, as the sender. If the parcel has not moved for the expected window, you contact Royal Mail with the tracking number and it begins a formal search. Royal Mail deals with the sender, so this step is yours even though we paid for the label; we give you the label details you need.
4. Compile the claim evidence. Your Post Office proof-of-postage receipt with the tracking number is the key document. We add the item description you gave when you requested the label.
5. Submit the compensation claim in your name, as the sender. Royal Mail compensation under Special Delivery applies up to the cover level used on the label. Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. GoldPaid can confirm the appropriate postal option before you post.

Why proof of postage matters most

How to make a loss less likely in the first place

• Hand the parcel in at a staffed Post Office counter, never a postbox.
• Use plain packaging, never write "gold" or "jewellery" on the outside.
• For items worth more than the cover level on one label, tell us before posting and we will send more than one label so the lot travels as separate parcels, and no parcel is worth more than the cover that may be available on its label.
• Photograph everything you sent, before you sent it.