Royal Mail wants official permission to deliver large or signed items to neighbours if therecipient is not at home following a successful trial scheme over the last few months.
The postal operator says it is the only delivery company in the UK not allowed to deliveritems to a neighbour as part of its standard operations. But it is now asking British regulatorOfcom to change this rule after a successful ‘Delivery to Neighbour’ trial designed to bring itsterms and conditions more in line with other delivery companies.
In the trial, covering some 748,000 homes in Edinburgh, Gatwick North, Hull, Norwich, SwanseaEast, Wigan and Bolton since November 2011, Royal Mail delivered about 220,000 items that were toolarge to go through the letterbox or required a signature to neighbours instead of taking them backto the post office.
Feedback from households in the trial areas revealed that 92 per cent of customers whose itemwas left with a neighbour were satisfied with the overall experience, while 90 per cent ofneighbours who accepted an item expressed overall satisfaction. Research by Consumer Focus, the UKconsumer protection organisation, also found delivery convenience was improved for customers.
Mike Newnham, Royal Mail’s Chief Customer Officer, said: “The results of the trial have beenvery encouraging. Customers welcome the convenience of having items delivered to a neighbour ifthey are not at home to receive them.”
Royal Mail said it is now asking Ofcom to amend the regulatory arrangements which will allowit to extend Delivery to Neighbour across the UK later this year.
