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A Lisburn councillor has told Royal Mail to “catch yourselves on” after charging a disabled person to forward his letters to a new homes amid a postal “crisis” in the city.
The delivery company now owned by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s EP Group has been criticised for charging a family of three over £60 to redirect post to a new address within the city.
The redirection service has come under fire from the Lagan Valley elected member as Royal Mail publicly confirms it is experiencing high levels of staff sickness and resource pressures, leading to weeks of postal delays across UK postal areas including Lisburn and Banbridge.
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Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) SDLP councillor Pat Catney said:”I have been contacted by a local resident who has felt they had no choice, but to pay this cost to forward on mail to his new address.
“He is a father to a disabled son who relies on disability allowance and would expect to get medical letters sent to his home.
“Obviously the parent was concerned about missing any important letters, but especially now when we face this postal delay crisis in Lisburn, it is just not on.
“I would ask Royal Mail to catch yourselves on and don’t be charging people for an extra service when you can’t even provide the actual service you are supposed to. It is a disgrace.”
The cost breakdown is understood to be £41 for the first named person at the house and £10 for every other name for a period of three months.
Royal Mail has charged for redirection services for many years, but has faced significant criticism in 2018 over an increase of 74% since 2012.
The Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy has previously called for the service to be more affordable to households following years of “drastically increasing” the cost of redirection services.
A motion by DUP Alderman Allan Ewart was approved this week at Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council (LCCC) for an urgent meeting with Royal Mail to address the “weeks of delays” to local residents with claims of medical and financial distress caused by late mail arrival.
The LDRS contacted Royal Mail to ask if the cost of the service were fair at this time of delays in Lisburn.
A spokesperson said: “Redirection is Royal Mail’s standard service which forwards mail from a previous address to a new one for a set period when someone moves home, either permanently or temporarily.
“It helps ensure important correspondence continues to arrive while customers update senders with their new address.
“This is a paid service and has carried a charge for many years. It is not a new service or a recent change.
The spokesperson added: “Royal Mail does not offer a free Redirection service. however, a Concessionary Redirection is available at a reduced price for customers receiving Universal Credit or Pension Credit.
“Currently, 80.3% of First Class mail in the BT postcode area is delivered the next working day, with the remainder arriving shortly afterwards. This is broadly in line with national performance, where 77.5% of First Class mail is delivered the next working day and 96.6% within three working days.
“While we recognise some customers may experience delays, these are typically short-term and localised to specific delivery routes due to temporary resourcing pressures. Reports of waits of weeks are not representative of overall performance.
“Any customer concerned about missing or delayed mail should contact us so the local delivery office can investigate.”
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