The price of a first class stamp rose from 30 to 32p on April 3, giving Royal Mail an inflation-busting 6.7% rise.
However, as the postal operator directly links the maximum amount it is prepared to offer in compensation for loss or damage to 100 times the value of a first class stamp, the 2p rise has resulted in the maximum compensation rate going up by £2 to £32.
Royal Mail, which delivers more than 80m letters every working day, compensates for damage or loss to the market value up to a new maximum value of £32. For post with no market value, customers receive a book of 12 first class stamps.
Millie Banerjee, chair of Postwatch, said: "Royal Mail uses customer complaints to help identify problems in its operations. By making a complaint, customers are helping Royal Mail to understand precisely where it should concentrate its efforts to restore services. The good news for customers is that compensation is paid for lost, damaged and delayed items. But it is not automatically paid -- you have to claim."
According to Postwatch, during 2004/2005 Royal Mail received more than 1.8m complaints. It paid compensation or goodwill in more than 900,000 cases, paying out nearly £20m.
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