Dear LPG,

I wonder how many of your readers have received a card like this one in the post.

I was expecting a parcel from my daughter who lives in America.  Her friend makes costume jewellery ,and she sent me a piece that she thought I would like.  She told me that the office in the US who prepared it for sending had assured her that the price was calculated correctly, so you can imagine my shock when I received a postcard, much like the one pictured, which informed me that I would have to pay over £20.00 before my parcel could be delivered!

There was a handling charge of £8.00, an administration fee of £1.00 and then there was the customs fee that I was really not prepared for. 

Can you find out why?

SP, Catford

LPG made a few telephone calls.

We firstly called the Royal Mail, tel: 0345 777 7888 (►►►), who told us that if the parcel is not claimed, after 21 days it will be returned, without incurring any extra charge, to the address it was sent from.  If accepted and the custom charge is over £15.00, VAT will be added.  They also suggested that we contact the Inland Revenue. 

The Inland Revenue Tel: 02920 501 261 (►►►), told us that items that are sent have to be labelled correctly. Agencies helping people to send such items internationally often show the item to be worth a little more than the reality.  Stating that it is a present and adding a realistic value would have made a difference .  If the estimated cost of the item was less than £39.00 and it was described as a gift there would not have been a charge.  Finally we were advised that when sending something abroad it is a good idea to take a look at the customs and excise rules of the country that you are sending them to.  The UK’s is called the Inland Revenue Notice 143; a guide for international post users, and the relevant section is subtitled section 2.3.

This rule is also very relevant when items are bought over the Internet and are sent from abroad.