Royal Mail Surcharge Update – Postage Underpayments

During the recent UK pandemic, the Royal Mail has not been pursuing all postage underpayment surcharges. However as they have seen an increase in customers submitting mail pieces with ‘Zero’ postage and insufficient postage they will now be enforcing these surcharges.

Normally the ‘Surcharge’ for submitting ‘Zero’ postage is £1.00 per mail piece plus the missing postage for the service being used. However, it has been agreed they will ‘Surcharge’ 10p per mail piece, plus the missing postage in line with the standard ‘Underpayment’ requirements.
Here are some examples of common reasons for postage underpayments:
  • Customers are not familiar with their franking machine and how it operates, if you require any clarification or would like us to add our complimentary size guide to your next order, please email us on info@mailcoms.co.uk and we can record your request.
  • A ‘Standard Letter’ postage has been paid and the item(s) weigh over 100g or is over 5mm in thickness and therefore should have been franked as a ‘Large Letter’ with the appropriate weight-based postage.
  • A C4 envelope has been franked as a ‘Standard Letter’ instead of ‘Large Letter’ with the appropriate weight-based postage.
  • • A ‘Standard Letter’ postage has been paid for items being sent to Ireland (excluding Northern Ireland). Southern Ireland requires the European International tariff to be used.
  • Zero Postage. It appears some customers print a ‘Zero Postage’ impression to test their franking machine and then fail to switch to a valid postal class.
  • Customers may have also disconnected their scale which is a mandatory requirement for use of a Mailmark machine.
If you have a query in regards to a surcharge payment, we highly suggest that you contact the Royal Mail directly on 03456 113 111 so they can help you sort the surcharge payment as, in most cases, the Royal Mail have a scanned electronic image(s) of the offending mail pieces.

Further Information about the Royal Mail's Simplified Surcharge & Underpayment Collection Process for Franking Machines

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