Almost 15 million people were hit by Royal Mail post delays over the Christmas period, including 2.5 million who missed important documents about health appointments, fines or bills, according to Citizens Advice research.
According to the charity’s findings, more than half of those left waiting reported going at least a week without letters amid postal staff shortages due to a surge in Omicron cases throughout Christmas and January.
This is the second year running that Christmas post has been hit by major disruption, with 16.5 million people affected in 2022.
A survey of 4,165 adults in the UK shows that people across London, the South East and the North West were most likely to face disruption. Some of the worst-affected areas experienced eight weeks of severe delays, including Chelmsford in Essex, and Willesden and Upminster in London.
Though the charity said the situation currently seems to have “finally” improved, but there were still significant disruption up until mid-January when Royal Mail warned that 77 areas across England and Wales experienced delays.
The charity is now calling on communications watchdog Ofcom to investigate Royal Mail’s performance and to consider “enforcement action and fines to ensure lessons are learnt”.
Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “We understand the strain the pandemic has placed on Royal Mail. But after two years of disruption, Royal Mail cannot let poor service become the new normal. These delays can have serious consequences for those left waiting for their letters.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson said that the “vast majority of mail is delivered safely and on time” despite 15,000 staff members off work due to sickness and self-isolation at the peak of the Omicron wave.
They added: “As Citizens Advice has acknowledged, the situation has significantly improved. The number of offices we have reported as being most impacted by service issues has reduced from 77 to just one today.
“We apologise for any delays that our customers may have experienced in the local areas affected. We are working hard to equalise performance and improve service in those areas, including spending over £340m on overtime, additional temporary staff and sick pay, as well as targeted support.
“Our postmen and women are continuing to work incredibly hard, as they have done throughout the pandemic, and we are thankful for all of their efforts and determination.”
An Ofcom spokesperson said it “can take action if Royal Mail fails to meet [their] annual targets”.
They added: “We closely monitor its delivery performance throughout the year, and have made it clear to the company that it must improve as the impacts of the pandemic subside. We will assess Royal Mail’s compliance after it has reported on its overall performance for the whole financial year.”
