The Post Box

The Royal Mail has a duty to deliver your mail to your letter box.  The Royal Mail also has a strict privacy policy and it is illegal for them to deliver your mail to someone else’s mail box.  It is your responsibility to ensure that the letter box is clean, meets the terms of the Royal Mail and is easily accessible.   Some people who live in the country have their letter box at the end of a drive.  These are called roadside letter boxes and it is also your responsibility to ensure that the contents remain safe.  If a key is required to access the letter box, the Royal Mail offers a service whereby they have a key to the letter box.  There is a small annual charge for this but ensures that the postman can access the letter box if necessary.

You should always ensure that you empty the letter box regularly, preferably daily, so that new mail can be delivered.  If you are going on holiday, you can ask the Post Office to hold mail for you until your return.   Travellers can take their letter box with them and get mail delivered to the nearest Post Office for collection.

We all take the postal service for granted, and we expect our mail to be delivered to our letter boxes to be trouble free and that we receive our mail without any problems.  However, if there is a problem and we do not receive mail which is expected, we can refer to the Post Office and try to find a solution.   In some areas, letter boxes are vandalised by being broken into or set fire to.  Instances of this should also be reported to the Post Office, although it is ultimately your responsibility to provide a letter box.  Mail can also be stolen from letter boxes and again this should be reported to the Post Office so that they can build up a picture of the problem.  If your mail is constantly being delivered to the wrong address, you can complain to the Post Office who will make the necessary investigations.

The Post Office provides a vital service, especially in outlying areas and is important to support rural post offices wherever possible so that we can keep our mail being delivered to our letter boxes.  With the recent increases in postal charges, fewer people are likely to use the postal service due to the expense.  The Post Office may be forced to reduce services to remote areas and people living in those areas will be required to collect their mail from the sorting office instead of it being delivered through the letter box.  Some analysts consider that parts of the Royal Mail will be privatised resulting in a reduction in services.  The growth of e-commerce and electronic mail has already reduced the amount of mail being delivered through letter boxes, but it remains an essential service with many people relying on the services of the Royal Mail.

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