Postal Services

Royal Mail provides all of the UK’s postal services, in partnership with the Post Office and parcel delivery services. They have many useful services, some of which are described in this section.

Postage Pricing System

Post is priced by size as well as by weight and different sized stamps are required for larger items. If you are sending a large item you should check before deciding which stamp to use. You can find out more about this on the Royal Mail website.

You can now buy stamps online, using the Internet. To do this, visit the Royal Mail website. You can print your stamps directly from your own computer.

Find an Address or Postcode

If you are having trouble finding a postcode, you should be able to find it on the Royal Mail website.

If you know a postcode but aren’t sure of the address, you should also be able to find it on the Royal Mail website.

You are limited to searching for approximately 20 postcodes or addresses per day. This is so that the system doesn’t get blocked by people overusing it.

Post Office services

As well as postal services, the Post Office provides many other services such as:

Travel insurance
Foreign currency
Banking services
Bill payments
Vehicle tax
Driving licences
Passports

To find your nearest Post Office, visit the Post Office website.

Stop unwanted mail

Mailing Preference Service (MPS) is a free service which enables you to have your details removed from direct mailing companies databases. By registering with the MPS, your name and address will be removed from 95% of Direct Mail lists.

It can take up to four months for the service to have full effect and it can’t stop you receiving mail from overseas, unaddressed mail, or mail addressed ‘To the occupier’.

To register for this service, contact the MPS using the details given below, or use their online registration form.

If you wish to stop receiving unaddressed mail through your door that has been delivered by Royal Mail, you can also opt out of this. To do this, visit the Royal Mail website.

If you are still receiving unsolicited mail there are several other things you can do:

Contact the sender directly and ask them to stop using your personal data for marketing purposes. Organisations are legally obliged to respect this request if it is in writing.
When you give your details to a company, make sure you read the small print and tick the box to say that you don’t want any further information about their products and services.
Opt out of being on the edited register. When you fill out your annual electoral registration form, choose for your details not to be added to the ‘edited voting register’. This information can be bought and used to send junk mail.
If you receive junk mail with a return address on the envelope, write ‘Unsolicited mail, please return to sender’ on the envelope and put it back in the post unstamped. The sender will have to pay the return postage and will usually remove your details from their mailing lists.

Complaining about Royal Mail

If you have a complaint about the Royal Mail, the Post Office, Parcelforce, or any other postal providers, you should contact the service provider themselves in the first instance. You can contact the Post Office via their Customer Care website or using the contact details below. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive from your service provider, you can then contact Consumer Direct.

Citizen’s Advice operate an Advice Guide an online source of consumer rights information and guidance. They provide clear, practical, impartial advice to help you sort out problems and disagreements you may be having with suppliers of goods or services. For more information visit www.adviceguide.org.uk.

Last updated: March 10, 2022