Forum - Large amount of stock lost by Royal Mail but sender did not pay for adequate insurance ... Advice Please ...

Large amount of stock lost by Royal Mail but sender did not pay for adequate insurance ... Advice Please ...

Tue, 22/11/2011 - 13:27 — Sarah London

Hi,

I was hoping someone could help and inform me of my position within a sticky situation.

I am a designer/maker who was asked to be involved in a collaborative project set up by two individuals (also designer/makers) in London. The culmination of the project was an exhibition of the collaborative work along with a showcase of my own work (over £600 at wholesale value). The exhibition went on for several weeks and at the end of the exhibtion, as I did not live locally I requested that my work be sent back to me via the post and I was willing to cover the cost of its safe arrival.

The package was sent by one of the pair organising the exhibtion some time after I had requested this. Later when I chased it up, she told me that the package had actually been sent. After many weeks , Royal Mail accepted full responsibility for the loss of the parcel and informed us that they were not able to find it and offered £53 in compnesation due to the fact that the organiser sending the parcel had ONLY sent it signed for and NOT special delivery which insures the parcel for £500 plus.

The organisers of the exhibtion  are claiming that they were overworked during the time they sent it and that I should deal with the fact that it is lost and I should put it down to experience. I however am not at all happy that I should sit back and take such a loss as a small/early stage business.

Can anybody give me any idea of where I might stand on this and how I could take further action as this seems to be a very unfair situation.

I look forward to any advice anyone may have. And I realise that I ought to be more wary of where I send my work to next time!