Royal Mail brings back extra fee for some deliveries this Christmas

Royal Mail has reintroduced an additional charge for some deliveries, targeting business account customers during the festive season.

The surcharge, which is 5p extra for certain letters and 10p more for specific parcels, takes effect from today, November 20, and will remain until January 10, 2025, to accommodate the Christmas delivery rush.

The full list of affected services can be found below; however, standard letters are exempt. Although the surcharge currently affects only business customers, there's concern that consumers might bear the brunt if companies decide to pass on these extra costs.

On its website, Royal Mail explains: "The Peak Surcharge is effective across our busiest time of year as we scale-up our network at additional cost. The Peak Surcharge is applied on the product price after any discounts or commissions or other surcharges, and before VAT."

A spokesperson for Royal Mail commented: "The peak surcharge only applies to business customers for the Christmas period and was introduced last year. It applies an additional charge to certain business parcel products for a limited period to reflect the increased demand and capacity needed to handle increased volumes."

They added: "Other parcel carriers apply a similar surcharge. Christmas is our busiest time of the year and we invest in around 16,000 additional staff, more vehicles and temporary sites to increase our capacity to handle double the normal volumes of parcels.", reports the Mirror.

Royal Mail Christmas surcharge - what is affected?

Royal Mail is introducing a peak surcharge for business account holders, with a 5p charge on Royal Mail 24 and Royal Mail 48 large letters, as well as Royal Mail Tracked 24 and Royal Mail Tracked 48 letterboxable products. A 10p surcharge will be applied to Royal Mail 24 and Royal Mail 48 parcels, Royal Mail Tracked 24 and Royal Mail Tracked 48 Parcels, Royal Mail Tracked Returns, Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed by 9am, 1pm and end of the day Sunday, and Special Delivery Guaranteed Returns.

This follows another price hike last month when the cost of a standard first-class stamp went up from £1.35 to £1.65 - a 22% increase - starting October 7. The price for a large first-class stamp also rose from £2.10 to £2.60, marking a 24% rise.

Royal Mail attributes these increases to the falling number of letters sent. Stamp prices have been on an upward trend, with a standard first-class stamp costing £1.10 in October 2023, before rising to £1.25 and then to £1.35 in April 2024.

However, second-class stamp prices remain unchanged at 85p for a standard and £1.55 for a large second-class stamp. These changes come in the wake of Royal Mail's transition to barcoded stamps, with "special stamps" for anniversaries, events, and Christmas being the exception.

For those holding onto old stamps, Royal Mail offers a "Swap Out" scheme for exchanges.

To execute this, obtain a "Swap Out" form by downloading it from the Royal Mail website, ringing Royal Mail at 03457 740740, or collecting one from your nearest Post Office. If you're opting to download the form and lack a printer, you can fill in a web form and ask for the document to be mailed out to you.