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Royal Mail publishes a list of the last posting dates for Christmas delivery for both the UK and abroad, but its website does caveat that these are subject to change.
This year changes could happen because Royal Mail workers – members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) – are going on strike on several dates in November and December – smack in the middle of the sales shopping season.
It will affect workers who collect, sort and deliver letters and parcels and the Royal Mail has warned that despite its contingency plans – the “planned strike action is likely to cause you some disruption”.
In other words, you should allow extra time when posting to take account of the following strike days.
- Thursday 24 November
- Friday 25 November (Black Friday)
- Friday 9 December
- Sunday 11 December
- Wednesday 14 December
- Thursday 15 December
- Friday 23 December
- Saturday 24 December
Here are all the important dates you need to know when it comes to getting items in the post for Christmas.
Last posting dates for Christmas 2022
Here’s the full rundown of the last posting dates for both the UK and abroad.
- Friday 25 November International Economy to Cyprus, Eastern Europe, Greece, Iceland, Malta, Turkey
- Monday 28 November International Economy to Western Europe
- Thursday 1 December International Standard and International Tracked & Signature Services to Australia and New Zealand
- Friday 2 December International Standard and International Tracked & Signature Services to China (People’s Republic). HM Forces Mail – British Forces Post Office (BFPO) – Operational HM Forces and Static HM Forces
- Monday 5 December International Standard and International Tracked & Signature Services to all remaining Caribbean destinations (excluding British Virgin Islands, Dominica and Anguilla – last posting date was 7 October)
- Wednesday 7 December International Standard and International Tracked & Signature Services to Africa, Asia (except China, People’s Republic), Central and South America, Far and Middle East
- Thursday 8 December International Standard and International Tracked & Signature Services to Cyprus and Malta
- Friday 9 December International Standard and International Tracked & Signature Services to Greece, Eastern Europe (except Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia) and Turkey
- Saturday 10 December International Standard and International Tracked & Signature Services to Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Poland, Sweden, USA
- Monday 12 December International Standard and International Tracked & Signature Services to Austria, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland
- Wednesday 14 December International Standard and International Tracked & Signature Services to Belgium, France, Luxembourg HM Forces Mail – British Forces Post Office (BFPO)*
- Friday 16 December Royal Mail Bulk Economy across the UK
- Monday 19 December 2nd Class across the UK. 2nd Class Signed For across the UK. Royal Mail 48 across the UK
- Wednesday 21 December 1st Class across the UK. 1st Class Signed For across the UK. Royal Mail 24 across the UK. Royal Mail Tracked 48 across the UK
- Thursday 22 December. Special Delivery Guaranteed. Royal Mail Tracked 24 across the UK
- Friday 23 December Special Delivery Guaranteed with Saturday Guarantee across the UK
Your rights if letters or parcels go missing
As a general rule – you may have to wait between 5 – 10 working days before you can report the item as missing with Royal Mail. This does not include weekends or public holidays.
But, if you’ve paid for a premium service – like Special Delivery – you may get your postage fee refunded along with compensation to cover the actual cost of the item posted. This can be up to £2,500 although you can also buy ‘consequential loss cover’ at the time of postage which covers up to £10,000.
When it comes to the maximum time limit – you should report any missing letters or parcels to the Royal Mail within 80 calendar days from the date of posting.
If you buy something and your parcel is late or goes missing – you should always contact the company you bought the item from – not Royal Mail or the courier company.
This is because it’s the seller’s responsibility to get the item to you within the agreed time and in one piece. If there’s any problem – it’s the retailer who should reimburse you.
What happens if my post is delayed due to Royal Mail strikes?
In normal circumstances, if your post is delayed you could be to claim compensation, especially if you’ve paid for a premium service like Special Delivery.
While there’s nothing to stop you from putting in a claim with Royal Mail (opens in new tab) if you feel you’ve lost out by post being delayed due to the postal strike – Royal Mail could argue that strike days have been publicised.
When it comes to what’s open on strike days – Post Offices will be open as usual although collections from Post Offices will be limited.
But delivery offices and customer service points will be closed. This means you can’t drop off or collect items on these dates.
