An estimated 16 million UK adults experienced post delays with Royal Mail over Christmas, according to a Citizens Advice report released this week. The figure represents 29% of UK adults and marks a 50% increase from December 2024, when 10.7 million people faced similar issues.
The delays led to 5.7 million people missing vital correspondence regarding health appointments, fines, and benefit decisions. Citizens Advice described this as the highest number of people experiencing delivery issues over the festive period in five years, excluding 2022 when strike action disrupted services.
The charity's head of policy, Anne Pardoe, said: «The company's dreadful festive slump is about much more than late Christmas cards. People are left distressed after missing health appointments, fines and benefit decisions.»
The survey, conducted by Yonder between January 5-6 with 2,095 UK adults, revealed 34% of respondents reported not receiving post for one to three weeks, then receiving five or more letters at once. Among those affected by delays, 22% felt anxious or distressed about benefits, bills, losing money, and missing financial information.
Rising costs amid declining service
The delivery failures come as stamp prices have more than doubled since 2020. A first-class stamp now costs £1.70, with 36% of Royal Mail users saying they sent fewer Christmas cards in 2025 due to the cost.
Royal Mail has failed to meet its first-class annual delivery target since 2017 and its second-class target since 2020. Ofcom announced cuts to Royal Mail's second-class delivery days last July, reducing service to every other weekday with nationwide rollout set for this year.
Regulatory response
Ofcom has fined Royal Mail £37 million in recent years for poor letter delivery performance. An Ofcom spokesman said: «Last year, we modernised the obligations imposed on Royal Mail, to reflect what people need, put the service on a more sustainable footing, and enable the company to invest more in improving its delivery performance.»
A Royal Mail spokesman defended the company's Christmas performance, stating: «Independent data shows that more than 99% of items posted by the last recommended dates arrived in time for Christmas.» He attributed this to teams working during peak volume periods when deliveries more than double.
Pardoe called for stronger regulatory action: «This is a worrying trend, and with cuts to delivery days looming, Ofcom must start cracking down even harder on missed targets before things go from bad to worse. Any future stamp price increases should be conditional on Royal Mail meeting these targets.»
She added: «We're afraid there's no light at the end of the tunnel for consumers struggling with Royal Mail's persistent delivery failures. When people have no other postal provider to choose from, the sheer volume of delays is simply unacceptable.»
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
