Cover for loss or damage

Applicable legislation

Consumer

If you are acquiring postal or courier services from us as a consumer, it is important that you understand that any rights you may have, or obligations we may have to you, under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and the Fair Trading Act 1986 apply alongside the terms of the Public Contract and this Postal Users’ Guide, and are not impacted by anything in this Section 2, but are subject to the terms of the Postal Services Act 1998.

Businesses

If you are acquiring postal or courier services from us as a business as defined in the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 you agree that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, the provisions of that Act do not apply to those postal or courier services.

Delay

Our delivery times are targets only – some items may take longer to be delivered. No compensation is payable for delays. Once a reasonable period for delivery has passed, and in the absence of any information on where an item is, we may determine the item to be lost and a claim for loss may be made.

Repair, replacement, compensation payment

If you purchase a postal or courier service from us and your item is lost or damaged in transit, if we are liable we may elect to repair or replace the item or to pay you an amount:

equal to the replacement value of the item;
equal to the cost of repair of the item;
up to the sum of cover available under the service you purchased (see below, and subject to any of the cover dependencies set out below)

whichever is the lesser, together with a refund of the postage paid.

Cover dependencies

The amount of cover available to you as a sender if your item is lost or damaged in transit (if any) will depend on:

the service you purchased;
whether you sent a Prohibited item; or a Restricted item without complying with our specified conditions of carriage;
whether:
1. the loss or damage is the result of an event beyond our reasonable control;
2. the item is seized or confiscated by Customs or any other government agency or border control authority, regardless of whether it is a Prohibited or Restricted item or not;
3. the loss or damage occurred before or after delivery;
what you disclosed as the value on the customs declaration form or consignment note, when sending internationally;
whether the item was new or second-hand (for example, cover for second hand goods that have been sold online (e.g. through online auction sites) is based on the sale price of the item);
whether you are a consumer or a business as defined by the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, and/or whether you have a NZ Post Account (for example, cover for business customers (regardless of whether you have a New Zealand Post Account) who have sold an item is based on the cost price of the item to the sender, not the retail price of the item);
whether your actions contributed to the item going missing or being damaged or you did not mitigate your loss, including by:
1. not correctly addressing the item;
2. sending a Prohibited item; or a Restricted item without complying with our specified conditions of carriage;
3. choosing an inappropriate service (for example, one where you have exceeded the contents value restriction – noting that this would have made your item a Prohibited item);
4. not completing any required documentation fully and accurately when sending the item;
5. not packaging the item adequately;
6. giving us an item for delivery to a country where no postal or courier service exists;
7. not complying with any other relevant part of the Public Contract and Postal Users’ Guide;
the type of loss or damage incurred – we are not liable to you for any indirect or consequential loss, or for any loss of profits, revenue, goodwill, business or anticipated business or anticipated profits or savings; and
whether you are able to prove the sending of the item and its loss or damage.

Please note that no cover will be available if you send a Prohibited item; if you send a Restricted item without complying with our specified conditions of carriage; if the circumstances described in 3(a)-(c) above occur; if you send the item as a ‘letter’ (as defined in the Postal Services Act); if you are a business and your loss is indirect or consequential; or if you cannot prove the sending of an item or its loss or damage.

Compensation cover limits

The following are the compensation cover limits for sending within New Zealand and internationally.

It is important that you understand that these limits are subject to the dependencies listed above – if your item is lost or damaged in transit, you do not automatically have access to the compensation cover limit for the service you purchased.

Sending within New Zealand

	Compensation Cover Limit (NZ$) (including GST)
Parcels
Economy	$250
Courier (including Signature required service)	$2,000
Letters and postcards
Letters and postcards	Under the Postal Services Act 1998, no compensation is payable
PrintPost Sample	$250

Sending Internationally

	Purchaser	Compensation Cover Limit (NZ$) (including GST)
Express	Consumer	The disclosed value*, provided: it is under $10,000
	Business with NZ Post Account	The disclosed value, provided: it is under $2,000; or if it is between $2,000 and $50,000, then compensation of $2000 is payable, unless Additional Compensation Cover is purchased and the disclosed value does not exceed $50,000
	Business without NZ Post Account (or with one but not using a business consignment note)	The disclosed value*, provided: it is under $2,000
Courier	Consumer	The disclosed value*, provided: it is under $5,000
	Business with NZ Post Account	The disclosed value, provided: it is under $2,000; or if it is between $2,000 and $5,000, then compensation of $2000 is payable, unless Additional Compensation Cover is purchased and the disclosed value does not exceed $5,000
	Business without NZ Post Account (or with one but not using a business consignment note)	The disclosed value*, provided: it is under $2,000
Economy Letters (incl. postcards and aerogrammes) and Economy Registered	All types	Under the Postal Services Act 1998, no compensation is payable
Economy#	All types	The disclosed value*, provided: it is under $250
Economy Tracked	Consumer	The disclosed value*, provided: it is $250 or under
	Business with NZ Post Account	The disclosed value, provided: it is under $250; or if over $250 but less than $500, then compensation of $250 is payable, unless Additional Compensation Cover is purchased and the disclosed value does not exceed $500
	Business without NZ Post Account (or with one but not using a business consignment note)	The disclosed value*, provided: it is under $250
Economy Plus	Consumer	The disclosed value*, provided: it is under $2000
	Business with NZ Post Account	The disclosed value, provided: it is under $250; or if it is between $250 and $2,000, then compensation of $250 is payable, unless Additional Compensation Cover has been purchased and the disclosed value does not exceed $2,000
	Business without NZ Post Account (or with one but not using a business consignment note)	The disclosed value*, provided: it is under $250

*The “disclosed value” is the value you disclose on the customs declaration form, consignment note or label, when sending internationally.

# Economy includes Economy, Economy Bulk, Economy Tracked and Economy Plus. All customers can use Economy and Economy Plus. Economy Tracked is only available for consumers via Print Postage Online. Customers with a NZ Post business account can use Economy Tracked and Economy Bulk services. Please refer to the International Commercial Postal Users' Guide at nzpost.co.nz/icpug for terms and conditions for business customers sending on our international services.

Lodging an enquiry or making a claim

Checks you can make first

If your postal or courier item has not arrived as expected, there are a number of things you can check before you contact us:

our delivery targets, to see when the item should have been expected;
if the item was sent using a service that has tracking, use our online tracking tool to check its status;
contact the recipient, check that you correctly addressed the item, that no card to call has been left or that someone else at the address has accepted the item.

Who can lodge an enquiry or make a claim

The purchaser of the postal or courier service (that is, the sender) must lodge the enquiry or claim with us. If you are the intended recipient of an item, and something is amiss, please contact the sender and have them raise the matter with us.

How to lodge an enquiry or make a claim

For all domestic and international postal services:

complete the assistance form online; or
call the Customer Care Centre on 0800 501 501.

For all domestic courier services:

call the Customer Care Centre on 0800 268 743.

For all international courier services:

complete the assistance form online; or
call the Customer Care Centre on 0800 73 63 53.

Timeframe for lodging an enquiry for loss or damage

Subject to the application of the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, an enquiry must be lodged for loss or damage within:

Damage:

Damage to a delivered item or missing contents - 10 days after delivery

Non-delivery:

Service used	Timeframe for lodging an enquiry (from the day of posting)
Domestic postal or courier service	21 days
International courier service	30 days
International postal service	90 days

Once we have investigated your enquiry and requested a completed claim form for loss of, or damage to, a postal or courier item, you must provide us with all relevant information to enable us to investigate the matter within 6 months after we sent you the claim form.

Information you will need to provide

When lodging an enquiry or making a claim for loss of, or damage to, a postal or courier item, you must provide us with all relevant information within 6 months after we sent you the form, to enable us to investigate the matter fully. The information you provide must be accurate and will include the following:

time, date and place of posting
sender and addressee details
whether you are a business or a consumer (as defined by the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993) and whether you have an NZ Post Account
proof of posting (receipts or invoices)
evidence of the value of the item, such as the cost or replacement price, receipts or valuation notice
tracking number (where applicable)
sender's copy of the consignment note or customs declaration (where applicable);
GST number (where applicable)
evidence of loss and any damage - if the item is damaged or some of the contents are missing, you must take the item and its packaging (as near as possible in the same condition as when it was delivered) to your nearest NZ Post retail outlet. We may keep the
item while we make inquiries. In the case of an item sent overseas, the addressee should take the item to the postal authority in their country.

Processing times

We individually investigate each enquiry and claim. Because of this, resolution of your case may not be immediate and some international investigations may take several months to complete. For domestic matters, please expect one to two weeks to pass from your initial interaction with us
before we make contact again, and longer if the issue is complex.

Claim payments

Please note:

We usually pay compensation to the sender, but the sender can waive this right in favour of the addressee. An addressee will receive the same amount of compensation as we would have paid to the sender if the sender had made the claim themselves.
Payments are made via internet banking and will be made in accordance with our payments cycles – usually on a Friday evening.
If compensation for damage to an item has been paid in full, then we may dispose of the damaged item as we choose.
If we pay you compensation in full for a lost item and the item later turns up, the item will be our property. If you want to have the item returned to you, you must refund the compensation payment you received in full.