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What to do if the parcel is lost? Who and in what amount should compensate for the damage?

Postal shipping is one of the most frequently used services in Ukraine. Another way to deliver goods and various things to other cities and regions has not yet been invented. Sending parcels to relatives, friends, customers – it’s not tricky. Sent and in a few days the recipient had already received in his hands, the things you sent. It would seem: what problems can there be? Yes, the most different: damage to the parcel, loss, violation of delivery terms … Fortunately, the law establishes liability for the perpetrators of violation of the conditions of postal items. In this article, we’ll figure out what to do when a parcel shipped domestically is lost?

First, we will discuss the details of the solution of the issue, if you used the services of the state postal service operator – Ukrposhta.

Postal shipments in Ukraine are regulated by a number of legislative and regulatory acts. The most important of them are the Law of Ukraine “On Postal Communication” of 04.10.2001 (hereinafter referred to as the Law) and the Rules for the provision of postal services, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of 05.03.2009 (hereinafter – the Rules).

In accordance with the law, the parcel is a postal item with items of cultural, domestic and other purpose not prohibited by law for shipment, the size, weight and order of shipment of which is regulated by law. That is, for example, drugs can not be sent by mail.

The rules of shipment determine that the package can be of two types: with the value of the content and without it.

Universal services include the dispatch of parcels without a value of up to 10 kg, a size not exceeding 500 x 500 x 400 mm.

Packages weighing more than 10.5 kg are considered to be oversized, exceeding the size indicated above. Their departure takes place in compliance with an additional packing procedure, weighing, etc. However, neither the weight nor the dimensions of the delivery questions of the package is affected.

The addressee of internal mailing is informed about the arrival of the parcel by phone (indicated by the sender) or by the appropriate notification (which can be found in his mailbox).

The mailings (parcels including) until the delivery to the addressee are the property of the sender, so the damage in case of loss is inflicted to the sender, and not to the recipient of the parcel.

Paragraph 129 of the Rules says that the operator is responsible for improper performance of postal services in accordance with the law. In this case, we mean the situations in which the parcel was stolen, appropriated or deliberately destroyed. Among other things, the Rules provide for the liability of the telecommunications operator to the sender for the loss of the parcel.

Naturally, before you announce the loss of your departure, you need to find out all the nuances. At a minimum, contact the post office, from which the parcel was sent with a statement about her search. Paradoxically, this service (search) is paid. As a rule, the post is not in a hurry to plead guilty to loss. Therefore, having received the answer that the parcel allegedly went to the beneficiary’s office – do not be lazy to apply with a similar statement about the search or for the provision of information and there.

When you have both answers in your hands and the situation clears up with regard to the fact of loss, you can safely apply to the Director General of the USPPС “Ukrposhta” with a claim for damages. Phone calls do not solve the problem, so it is better to use the services of a lawyer who will compose a competent letter-claim and send it to the addressee by registered mail.

According to Article 18 of the Law, for the violation of legislation in the provision of postal services, the operator bears the following material responsibility:

for the complete loss of registered mail items (registered mail, parcels, postcards, notification of delivery of postal items), parcels and direct containers without declared value – compensation of the cost of postal services and a penalty of 100% of the cost of these services (that is, for example, the services of sending an invaluable parcel cost you 50 UAH, you have the right to receive a refund of 100 UAH, which is equivalent to the cost of processing the shipment and 100% of the fine from this amount);

for a partial loss of the enclosure of the package without declared value – compensation of its value is proportional to the mass of the lost part of the parcel by dividing the size of the transfer fee by the net weight of the investment and a fine of 100% of the cost of postal services (that is, if you paid for sending 100 UAH the total weight of the parcel of 5 kilograms, and the lost weight of 1 kilogram, in the end you will get – 100 + 100×1 / 5 = 120 UAH);

for the complete loss of the package with the declared value, letters or parcels – a refund in the amount of the declared value of the postal item, the cost of postal services and a fine of 25 percent of the cost of these services (that is, if you determined the price of the parcel in UAH 100 and spent sending another 100 UAH., as a result of loss you will receive 100 + 100 + 25 = 225 UAH);

for a partial loss of enclosure of the package with the declared value, letters or parcels with a list of investments – return (refund) of the value of the investment or its damaged part according to the inventory, the cost of postal services and a fine of 25 percent of the cost of these services.

It is important to remember that in case of failure to specify the value of enclosed items or shipment without an inventory, the amount of compensation is determined proportionally to the mass of the lost part of the investment, regardless of its actual value, but no more than the declared value of the parcel, letter or parcel.

Thus, it is much more profitable to send a parcel indicating its value, although at the cost of services in this case the parcel will cost more.

In case of disagreement of the user with a certain operator, the amount of compensation, the issue of reimbursement of actual losses caused to him, moral harm, loss of profit due to improper performance of the operator’s obligations, as well as other disputes between users and operators are judicially examined.

Special attention should be paid to the issue of compensation for damage by non-state postal transfer services such as Nova Poshta, Deliver, Night Express and others.

They are also subject to the Act, but in addition they can also establish other options for reimbursement in their regulatory documents that are necessarily disclosed to the client or contained in the contract for services provided.

Fortunately, private structures do not in the least diminish the rights of consumers, but also significantly expand them, guaranteeing full compensation for damage due to the loss of the parcel, even as a result of force majeure, theft or fire. In addition, most parcels sent by such operators have their value, which gives the client a guarantee of adequate (commensurate value of the property being sent) compensation. The procedure for contacting a private operator with a claim for damages is similar, the only difference is that it is rejected from the loss of the parcel, as a rule, such enterprises do not take risks. And there are fewer losses.

It is important to remember that for applications for the loss of a parcel, the Law establishes the limitation period. He is 6 months old. If you apply with the application after a year, the operator has the right to reasonably refuse to consider the application.

The claim application submitted to the operator must be considered as soon as possible, but not later than 1 month from the date of receipt in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Citizens’ Appeals”.

If you have questions about postal items, their integrity, terms of delivery, damages, etc, you can always get a qualified and competent legal advice from our lawyers.