Life companies pledge customers won't suffer due to Royal Mail

Legal & General and Prudential say customers won't lose out if they miss return deadlines as a result of the Royal Mail postal strikes.

The life companies say customers should take steps to choose a more reliable service when sending time critical documents, but they will keep an open-mind on lapses arising from the strikes.

Juliette Emblem, spokesperson for the Prudential, says: "In the nature of treating all our customers fairly we will back date all delayed claims.

"Where documentation is delayed we will take the signature date as our measure of when something was sent, so customers trying to make a deadline, including for special offers or promotions, won't face disadvantages."

So far, none of the companies have received reports of problems as a result of the strikes but, with a massive backlog of about 30m letters and packages, companies are preparing for possible tail-end problems.

All time critical or sensitive outgoing mail is being sent via courier or the tracked Royal Mail special delivery service.

Where possible they are encouraging people to make use of alternative technology. Most adviser payments are already sent electronically.

L&G is also adapting its communications processes to deal with the backlog.

Mike Connolly, spokesman for the group, says: "With our outgoing mail we will be working flexibly to increase or reduce resources to match demand."

Problems arising from the strikes will be reviewed "on merit on a case by case basis", especially where customers miss a cancellation or cooling off period date due to the delays.

But he says the main problem will be with instructions to switch funds:
"We would have to implement it on the day it arrived as we obviously couldn't back date it or guess when it was meant to arrive.

"Our advice is if you are sending something you feel is particularly urgent you must choose a more reliable means than Royal Mail."

Aviva also had specific plans in place to manage inbound and outbound mail during the strikes, with staff collecting mail from sorting centres to ensure it was processed as usual.

Spokesperson Diane Mangan says: "We've now returned to normal and there have been no issues reported."