24-hour warning issued to anybody who has Royal Mail stamps

A 24-hour warning has been issued to anybody who owns Royal Mail stamps. Monday July 31 is the last day to use old Royal Mail stamps before a surcharge applies.

From Tuesday, letters posted without barcodes will be treated as having “insufficient postage”. This means recipients will be forced to pay £1.10 to collect them.

Matthew Parkes, Royal Mail’s managing director for stamps and collectibles, said: “Customers who cannot use their non-barcoded stamps before July 31 will still be able to swap them for new barcoded stamps through Royal Mail’s simple and free Swap Out scheme. Nobody should be out of pocket as a result of this change.

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“A leaflet with a form was delivered to every household recently but customers can also print out a form from our website, call our customer experience team to order one or pick one up at a local Royal Mail delivery office or Post Office.” On its website, the company has warned: “Mail posted with non-barcoded Definitive stamps after 31 January 2023, will for the first 6 month be delivered as normal, no surcharge will be raised.

“After this 6 month grace period, an item with a non-barcoded stamp would be treated as if there is insufficient postage. Any item that has insufficient postage is subject to a surcharge. Surcharge fees can be found on our website.” The move is part of its extensive modernisation drive and will allow for the introduction of added security features.

Asked if old-style stamps could be posted after on Monday before final collections without charge, a spokesman for Royal Mail said: “We would recommend posting before the final collection times to be sure of not being surcharged.”

Stamps with barcodes were introduced by the company in February 2022 to streamline delivery services and improve security. It says this new addition “will enable exciting new services by connecting physical stamps to the digital world”. They can be scanned by customers using Royal Mail’s app, enabling people to do things such as watch a video.