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Access Services

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What services are offered under the Access Letters Contract?

Our full range of Access Services are listed in Figure 1 of the Access User Guide below. The price you pay for each Access Service will differ according to the service level (D+2, D+3 or D+5), sortation level, format, weight and processing option (Mailmark or Manual) of your mailing items, and the price plan you are on as part of your Access Contract with us. 


The Royal Mail Service List also  provides a list of all access services and their corresponding DocketHUB and SAP codes. You can access the Service List via Dockethub, in the 'Reports' section under the 'Service Status List' category.  

What is Standard D+3 Access?

With our Standard D+3 Access service you are able to handover your mailing items at our mail centres between 7:30am - 12:00pm*. The Standard service is a Monday to Friday delivery service.   

Our service aim is to deliver 95% of your mail within 2 week days from the day the mail is handed over to us, as long as your mail meets the presentation requirements as set out in our Contracts and User Guides.

*Some mail centres accept handover from 6.30am. 

What is Economy D+5 Access?

The Economy D+5 service is designed for customers to defer delivery of their non-critical letters. The Economy service is a Monday to Friday delivery service.   


The aim under the service is to deliver 97.5% of Economy mail within four weekdays after handover to us, as long as your mail meets the presentation requirements as set out in our Contracts and User Guides. This service standard is 2.5% higher than the target we are required to meet for our other Access services, as we have a greater window within which to deliver the item compared to our Standard and Priority Access Services. 

Find out more about our Economy quality of service and how we are performing here.

What is Priority D+2 Access?

The Priority D+2 service is designed for customers who have more time critical letters which they need to reach the recipient quicker. The Priority service is a Monday to Saturday delivery service.   


The aim under the service is to deliver 95% of Priority mail by the next working day after handover to us, as long as your mail meets the presentation requirements as set out in our Contracts and User Guides. 

What is Premium Access?

Our Access Premium Service offers a later handover window than our Standard Access service, enabling you can hand over your mailing items at our mail centres between 10:30pm - 12:30am, Monday to Saturday (and Sundays 8.00am - 10.00am).

The service is offered under a separate Premium contract which has different terms to the standard Access contracts. The prices charged on this contract are more expensive than the standard Access contracts due to late evening access to our mail centres. Eligibility starts for customers who post more than 25,000 items a day and prices are detailed on our pricing page. 

Our service aim is to deliver 95% of your mail the next working day (or same day in the case of handover after midnight). Some geographical areas, including Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, are excluded from the 95% aim owing to the later times allowed to customers for handover to our mail centres.