An Post. What is a registered item and what is an insured item?

S

SlugBreath

Registered User
Messages
422
I called in to my local Post Office in Blackrock, Dublin today. I was sending an envelope to the U.K. I asked for it to be sent registered post. The cost was €9.70.

When I got home I realised that I had not been asked to declare any value on the item inside the envelope.

Looking up the An Post website I see that items with an undeclared value are only insured up to €25.

The item I was posting had a value of €150.

Should I have been asked to declare the value of the item as part of the registering process?

To pay €9.70 for an item that is only insured for €25, seems crazy.

If I had of known this I would have just put a standard stamp on the envelope and hoped for the best.
 
If it's tracked and registered you're safe enough. In my experience, they usually only ask about value when sending packages. But once you can track it and your recipient needs to sign for it, the odds of it going astray/getting lost are slim.
 

What is a registered item and what is an insured item?​

Click to expand...
Isn't that explained here?
www.anpost.com

Registered Post

The Registered Post service from An Post provides secure delivery for important or valuable letters and parcels posted within Ireland or overseas
www.anpost.com www.anpost.com
 
Registering an item with an Post only guarantees safe return to the receiver’s local postal service and not to the actual address. I discovered this a couple of years ago when I sent an item to the States. I registered it and when it never arrived I was told that it had arrived at the US Mail service and that was as far as it could be tracked.
 
Eithneangela said:
I registered it and when it never arrived I was told that it had arrived at the US Mail service and that was as far as it could be tracked.
Click to expand...

It depends on the recipient country, it seems, but I suspect the UK also. However, if it is delivered and signed for then that should be recorded:

"Registered Post International items will only be delivered when signed for. A copy of the signature can be obtained on request from the delivering postal operator and this can then be obtained from An Post Customer Services on 353 (1) 705 7600.

Tracking for Registered Post International is available up to dispatch from the Republic of Ireland but online tracking is not available to every country."
 
But once you can track it and your recipient needs to sign for it, the odds of it going astray/getting lost are slim.
Click to expand...
I think the odds of it getting lost are the about the same actually. But you can track it
 
Last edited:
LLB123 said:
If it's tracked and registered you're safe enough. In my experience, they usually only ask about value when sending packages. But once you can track it and your recipient needs to sign for it, the odds of it going astray/getting lost are slim.
Click to expand...
I don't understand. What is the difference in paying for a registered parcel or a registered letter. The handling procedure by An Post should be the same. It should not be up to the individual staff member behind the counter to decide if the parcel might contain something of value but the letter nothing of value.
 
I also recently sent a registered letter to the UK and was not asked for a value when posting.
The receipt only showed the tracking reference number and the country it was going to.
You would need to request a certificate of posting to show the address it was being sent to.
 
Tintagel said:
I don't understand. What is the difference in paying for a registered parcel or a registered letter. The handling procedure by An Post should be the same. It should not be up to the individual staff member behind the counter to decide if the parcel might contain something of value but the letter nothing of value.
Click to expand...
Because a parcel would be considered 'goods' I suppose and a letter is typically documentation? No idea, that's just how it's always been done in my experience so I'd imagine you'd need to specifically ask if you wanted to insure valuable letter contents.
 
Bronco Lane said:
I would have thought so. There are a couple of forms to complete. Were you offered these in the Post Office or offered any information?
Click to expand...
When I got home I rang the Post Office back and asked that very question....the answer I got was "that it is not within her job description" to do that.
She also suggested that if I were to put the value of the item on a declaration then this could lead to the item being stolen.

She said that lots of Post Offices don't ask you for the value of the item to be declared....she said that she sometimes randomly does it.

Is there a procedure for dealing with registered items or can the staff randomly decide?
 
Eithneangela said:
Registering an item with an Post only guarantees safe return to the receiver’s local postal service and not to the actual address. I discovered this a couple of years ago when I sent an item to the States. I registered it and when it never arrived I was told that it had arrived at the US Mail service and that was as far as it could be tracked.
Click to expand...
You would not think that from looking at their website. It says that there is,
  • Secure delivery to over 200 destinations worldwide"

They also have 5 Zones where you can send registered items, with charges attached. There is no mention that the tracking only covers the item as far as the postal border with another country. Are they saying that your item is only covered as far as "Dublin Port" or one of our airports?


www.anpost.com

Registered Post

The Registered Post service from An Post provides secure delivery for important or valuable letters and parcels posted within Ireland or overseas
www.anpost.com www.anpost.com
 
WaterWater said:
There is no mention that the tracking only covers the item as far as the postal border with another country. Are they saying that your item is only covered as far as "Dublin Port" or one of our airports?
Click to expand...

It has this in the "Things to Know":

"Tracking for Registered Post International is available up to dispatch from the Republic of Ireland but online tracking is not available to every country"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top