Drop and runs
Unpaid mail, and particularly parcel account fraud, is a significant problem for Royal Mail, costing us millions of pounds every year.
We want to ensure that every piece of mail that goes through our network is paid for, and have devised a two-year strategy to barcode our parcel products, so that we can scan those items and bill on those scans.
What can we do to tackle unpaid mail in the meantime?
There are a number of ways to minimise revenue loss – simply by following our standard operating procedures.
These include politely refusing mail that does not have posting documentation, scanning the barcode on all posting documentation and making sure that all paperwork matches the mail posted. Red Xing is also really important, and allows Revenue Protection to check that the mailing has been paid for.
Today we look at drop and runs – which also present a problem for Royal Mail.
What are drop and runs?
Any mailings that have been left unattended at any acceptance point by a customer without posting documentation are called ‘drop and runs’.
All PPI account mail must be accompanied by posting documentation, and can only be accepted at official acceptance points. These are:
- Business collection
- Post Office collection
- Mail centre collection
- Enquiry offices (not loading bays) and
- Customer service points.
What should you do with drop and runs?
If you spot a customer dropping their mail at Royal Mail premises or you see mail unattended without any accompanying posting documentation, then this mail should be Red X-ed and directed to Revenue Protection.
Once unpaid mail is in the network, it is impossible to stop it from travelling all the way through our network for free.
For that reason, drop and runs should always be handed over to Revenue Protection, who will investigate and check the mail to make sure that it has been paid for.
