Millions of pounds paid out in compensation for lost, delayed and damaged post

Royal Mail paid out more than £12million last year to angry customers whose post was lost, delayed or damaged.

New figures show that there were nearly 1,000 successful compensation claims each day for letters or packages that failed to turn up.

Another 74 claims a day were paid for damaged mail, as well as 200 a day for delays.

In total, Royal Mail paid £12,942,967 for all the complaints

Campaigners say the figures raise serious questions about Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier's generous pay deal.

It was revealed this year that his £633,000 salary had been pushed up to £843,000 with a bonus and benefits.

He also took home £1.99million relating to a long-term incentive plan covering three years and £208,000 cash in lieu of pension, according to its annual report.

A spokesman for the TaxPayers' Alliance said: 'This is another lamentable failure at the Royal Mail.

'It is becoming harder and harder to see Adam Crozier's bonus as anything but a reward for failure and an insult to hard-pressed families who foot the bill.

'We need to see improved Royal Mail standards so that these compensation bills can be brought down.'

The Federation of Small Businesses claims the decline in services is damaging the economy.

Spokesman Stephen Alambritis, said: 'Ninety per cent of small businesses rely on the Royal Mail.

'If goods are delivered in a poor state or do not arrive at all this rebounds on the business.

'We do not blame the individual postmen and postwomen.

'We put this down to too much chopping and changing within the Royal Mail and we would urge it to get back to its universal ethic of delivering parcels and packages the next day in good order.'

For lost or damaged items, customers can claim compensation up to 100 times the cost of a first class stamp or the market value, whichever is lower.

A breakdown of the figures showed that £8,821,616 was paid out for lost items alone  -  after 349,055 of 594,572 complaints were upheld.

Just 60 of the 5,468 customers who made a formal complaint about the rudeness of Royal Mail staff were awarded a combined total of £464.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: 'The complaints equate to about one for every 15,000 letters and packets posted out of the 20billion items Royal Mail handled last financial year.

'They covered a range of issues in a year when there was a prolonged period of industrial action but quality of service has since improved with the large bulk of mail now being delivered at target levels or above.'