Certificate loss in post .

[HH1]

I've always sent certificates in via recorded delivery.

On several occasions certificates have come back unsealed, ready to fall out of the brown envelope...

[DL.]

My first ever issued license was lost in the post. The licensing department were very much of the opinion that I was responsible for having lost it even though I had never actually received it!

Why there isn't a photo card system I don't know.

[RDC]

I've had the postal order go missing from a variation before, but that's about it.

[bnz41]

After our renewals this January there was an error on one of the certificates wife and I both have the same firearms listed. So after phoning the liecencing office a new certificate was posted out. The certificates normally are inside a sheet of A4 paper which has our address printed on it the replacement did not, so you could see the certificate inside through the envelope window with the word AMMUNITION visible. I phoned the office not at all happy the reply was "well it's too late now to do anything it's been seen" so how many postal workers know ammo is at our address. CCTV installed since.

I always hand deliver (an hour round trip) any paperwork to do with our FAC's renewals/variations but they will not let us collect it when completed, so this could happen again.

[bradaz11]

beds have their own envelopes specifically for posting out FAC's which have an odd shaped window to see the address, and anyone in the know would know exactly what it was.

I usually try to collect and drop off items with them, but I have now just been transferred to avon and somerset, so have no idea how they like to do things.

Just a thought........

When sending back a certificate for renewal etc, its going to be destroyed anyway. What about cutting out the address part from the certificate and mention in covering note.

Certainly the OP could not be criticised for doing it in future !!

the only issue I can see with that is what is on the back? depending how many conditions you have, the list of possessed might be on the back, might complicate checking what's what?

[breacher]

After our renewals this January there was an error on one of the certificates wife and I both have the same firearms listed. So after phoning the liecencing office a new certificate was posted out. The certificates normally are inside a sheet of A4 paper which has our address printed on it the replacement did not, so you could see the certificate inside through the envelope window with the word AMMUNITION visible. I phoned the office not at all happy the reply was "well it's too late now to do anything it's been seen" so how many postal workers know ammo is at our address. CCTV installed since.

I always hand deliver (an hour round trip) any paperwork to do with our FAC's renewals/variations but they will not let us collect it when completed, so this could happen again.

Letter to Chief Constable asking why his FEO insists that ammo storage be out of sight of casual visitors but his licensing staff seem content with advertising its address to all and sundry ?

[andrew375]

As I work 5 minutes drive from my local Police HQ, I always deliver my renewals and variations by hand, it saves a couple of days in the postal system and the risk of it getting "lost".

As stated, they're sent out by normal post, so thats the main risk for me...

I'm currently waiting for a varied FAC to appear on my doormat, if it doesn't appear in the next few days I'll be ringing to make sure it hasn't got lost somewhere.

A member of a club i belonged to used to hand deliver his paperwork to the licensing office. That was until they lost his certificates! Well they did have to travel up all the way to another floor. The pen tester who contacted him to ask him to fill in the forms again and write another cheque volunteered that they had managed to lose two others that way We now send everything recorded (signed for) so at least there is proof it got delivered in the first place!

Just how difficult can it be?

[Dark Skies]

I've always made a point of dropping my paperwork off at TVP's Kidlington HQ by hand - it's quicker and you know it has been delivered.

There was a time, not that long ago, relatively speaking, when being a postman or working in the postal service was a position of such high standing and responsibility that their names appeared in the London Gazette. Standards had to be maintained, recognizable uniforms had to be worn, properly worn mind, and delivery times were religiously adhered to. It was a trusted and well respected service. People knew their postie by name.

Now? I sometimes get my mail at six in the evening. The staff turnover is so high that I get a different postman / postwoman every day - and apart from the luggage trolley trailing behind them they're barely recognizable as postal workers. My mail goes missing all the time - oftentimes someone from a few streets over delivers my mail after it's gone into their letter box by mistake. Trust something important to them? You're having a laugh.

[huntervixen]

I always drop off my FAC for variation by hand at Police HQ, 20 mile drive, but I don't trust the post office. Every time I say I will pick it up when ready, they always post it back anyway!

[Polchraine]

The Met Police will NOT accept any items that are delivered by hand/personally or by a courier! They will only accept them if delivered by Royal Mail.