Whatever you think about the postal disputes, you'll want to minimise the effect the strike action has on you. Lots of personal finance documents are sent through the post, meaning the potential for the strikes to hit people in the pocket is high.
Many firms are taking steps to minimise the disruption to their services. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) reports that its members will be using email, telephone and fax whenever possible and making payments through bank transfers rather than posting out cheques.
So what steps can you take to protect yourself? Here are a few.
Late payments
There are 15.5million people in this country who have a regular credit or store card commitment but just 5.3million of those make use of a direct debit, according to the Bacs Family Finance Tracker.
If you're one of the remaining 10.2million people, are you confident the postal strike won't delay your bill or payment? With the average charge for late payment standing at £12, any mail backlog could cost consumers millions of pounds.
So, if you think you might be caught out, contact your credit provider and explain the situation to see if you can avoid paying a fee.
Insurance
It doesn't matter how much disruption is caused by the postal strikes, the police will not accept it as an excuse if you're caught driving uninsured. Do contact your provider as soon as you can if you aren't sure whether or not a payment or form has been received.
Check your renewal dates
Insurers will usually send out renewal terms 21 days before the policy ends, so check the dates on your paperwork. If your policy is due for renewal but you haven't received the new terms, contact your provider. They may be able to email or fax them to you in time.
Contact your insurer
If you are waiting for any urgent documents or payments, ring your provider to see if they can arrange delivery by alternative means.
Ask for an overdraft
If you're waiting on a cheque to arrive in the post, you might not see it until late next week. Contact your bank as soon as possible if this is going to cause you any financial difficulties and ask for a temporary extension on your overdraft if you need one.
Otherwise, you could find yourself hit by charges for using an unauthorised overdraft if you do spill over.
The tax man
The deadline for sending in paper returns to Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs is 31 October. Miss it and you risk paying a £100 penalty.
You could wait until next week and use the Royal Mail's special delivery service to make sure it reaches the tax man on time, or you could simply file your return online, giving you until the end of January to submit it.
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