The difference between your interpretation and mine is that I have spoken to and received emails from Sean O'hara the Director of PostComm. It was PostComm that wrote the Act.

Please confirm what you are telling me, your interpretation is right but PostComm (the body that WROTE THE ACT) is wrong.

'Tis you that have it wrong, as I stated in the beginning. Why don't you phone PostComm to find out yourself?

I do see your point about about the Duty being paid and not actually due anymore but I'm afraid this is covered by a separate charter with HMRC and Royal Mail.

RM have put in a very confused defence to my small claim. However, they have written down in black and white that they will release packages without the £8 or £13.50 clearance fee being made and invoice for it later. Perhaps they should make this clear on their misleading invoice letter and also "train" their staff accordingly! Spread the word.

Cracked Chap:I do see your point about about the Duty being paid and not actually due anymore but I'm afraid this is covered by a separate charter with HMRC and Royal Mail.

Please provide proof of said charter.

See first page - I think it is my seventh post but it is this one - Thu, Sep 27 2007, 6:15 PM

If you have any queries, I suggest you start phoning and writing to the apropriate agencies instead of bothering me about stuff I have already covered.

Unfortunately once again Royal Mail legal services have sent me a cheque for the full amount of the small claim. They are quite understandbly, like with bank charges in the early days, scared of this issue going before a court, even one which will have no bearing on other customers other than they may choose to follow a similar course of action.

In summary:

Despite what I have noted as Royal Mail operators writing or speaking, they have confirmed in their court pleadings that you do not have to pay the £8 or £13.50 to have your parcel delivered. They will invoice their portion of their customs fees later. I advise you to pay the actual customs owing.

Several people have taken them to court for this including me twice, and they have paid. Even if they don't charge you, a debt invoice from them for the £8 or £13.50 is sufficient for you to sue them to "cancel" the debt. In reality, it may end up that you are £8 or £13.50 better off since do not under any circumstances pay this fee. There's not a lot you can do about this as otherwise they will send your debt to debt collectors. I am actually still waiting on clarification they have cancelled it. My claim also including telephone call costs to phone their head office and 0845 number to get my parcel delivered.

Hello guys,
Firstly I want to thank you all for the utterly useful information amassed in this thread over two years.
I receive parcels from USA regularly and quite annoyed by Parcelforce clearance charge and the way it's being collected.
Inspired by your experience I decided to have a go at Parcelforce and share result of my efforts with you.

First of all I phoned London North West Depot (0844 209 6102) and told them I want to pay VAT for three of my parcels separetely from Parcelforce clearance fee. No surprise I was refused flatly. Moreover, the assistant I spoke to refused to provide his full name and Managing Director's Office phone number.

Having googled MD office's telephone number (0190 868 7249) I phoned them up and had a conversation with Lorrain Larkman. I explained her that bundling up 2 charges together is illegal and as soon as I pay VAT my parcels must be released. Judging by her reaction I can say she was fully aware of the problem but kept insisting that they have right to demand full payment first and it's well-established bussiness practice.

My next phone call was made to Consumer Direct (08454 04 05 06). The assistant I spoke to (Brian) confirmed that practice employed by Parcelforce is illegal, he also registered my complaint (CDN229976). I was also advised to call MD office again and make a formal complaint and demand its reference number.

Armed with the advice I gave another ring to the MD office and was very lucky to get connected with Lynn Gawthorpe.
Initially she also was reluctant to accept my point of view. However, as soon as I explained that it's not the amount of the clearance fee I question but the way it's being collected she agreed to call the depot and tell them to split up the bill.

Soon afterwards I received a phone call from London North West Depot and they took payment for the Customs charges (VAT) only. And though my quest turned up to be a success I have to admit that this is more like lucky escape than steady tendency. I am very surprised that assistants within Managing Director's Office at ParcelForce have contrary visions of the same situation and I doubt that problem would have been sorted unless I spoke to Lynn Gawthorpe.

However, it's not the end of my postal problems. I am having exactly same problem with the Royal Mail which holds another two of my parcels at Wood Green Delivery Office. The delivery cards clearly state "There's a Customs charge". In fact part of the charge is a clearance fee. I have visited the delivery office today asking to accept payment of VAT only and got a refusal despite them technically being able to split up the invoice.
Does anybody have any ideas who I can contact to persuade Royal Mail to accept payment of VAT only?
I am going to call Royal Mail Customer Services (08457 740 740) but afraid it's not going to be enough to get things moving. Please advise.
Many thanks