Airmail Service

Any idea what is the period post office must compensate sender of registered airmail if the mail is lost?

Recently I have sent a registered airmail parcel to France and the recipient has not received the parcel despite more than 5 months. I have submitted a claim to the local post office but they refuse to compensate me until they receive the reply from the France postal services that the parcel is lost. Any idea what is the period under Universal Postal Regulation the local post office must compensate the sender of the registered airmail parcel if it is lost? Are the sending post office allow to wait for the receiving post office reply before they make the compensation?

Public Comments

1. Since everyone who has responsibity for a registered piece of mail, they are probably trying to determine where the piece went missing. Someone had custoady of the mailpiece, and knowing regulations, they should be in a fairly large amount of trouble. That does not help you, I realize. But because it was passed through more than one jurisdiction, there will certainly be a delay. Normally registered mail carries a hefty fee, sometimes in the hundreds of dollars. The Postal Service would indeed require verification from the French authorities before giving a refund. The important thing for the Postal Service is that the mailpiece was not delivered, not that a refund may be due.