surcharges

Surcharges are additional fees that are charged by couriers for services that are out of the norm or changes during transport, or collection costs. Not all couriers charge the same fees for everything and some charge for things that others don’t. When shipping with us, whatever the surcharge is, it will added to your final quoted price, to avoid any unexpected bills.

Below is a list some of the surcharges that might occur:

• Remote Area Surcharge: If a delivery destination is hard to get to or remote (i.e. Highlands or islands) then an additional fee will apply

• Extended Area Surcharge: if the delivery destination is classified as “extended” area then an additional fee will apply. These vary a little between couriers and you would need to check each couriers website to find out more

• Over-Weight Pieces: each courier has weight limit over which the over-weight surcharge applies. For instance DHL is 70kg. Again each couriers website needs to be checked for specific details

• Over-Sized Pieces: this charge applies when goods go over certain dimensions. This varies between couriers and would need to check the specific website for the one you are using

• Address Correction: if when booking the shipment an incorrect delivery address is entered, a fee will be charged to correct it whether a delivery attempt has failed or not. Again this charge varies between couriers

• Duty Reversal: If you opt as the shipper to pay for the customs duties and tax instead of the receiver a fee will apply. If shipping through us the fee is £13.90, plus of course the duty and tax.

• Residential Delivery Charge: Some couriers including UPS charge an additional fee for delivering to residential addresses. The UPS definition is somewhere that is not publicly accessible. So even a school would come under this definition so know where you are sending.

• Failed Collection: if the courier fails to collect and it is your fault, i.e. the business was closed, the parcels were not ready or any other reason, expect to be charged be charged an additional fee

• Return to Shipper: if you’ve sent parcels that are being returned to you because they are prohibited or the delivery attempt failed multiple times or for other reasons, the courier may charge you extra for its return especially if it has left the country and then been returned

• Signature Required: most couriers will obtain a signature on delivery, but not always. If one is requested then a small additional fee may apply

• Northern Ireland: certain couriers classify Northern Ireland as outside the UK mainland and therefore the shipping cost will change accordingly. You would need to check each courier or if shipping with us you can see the price difference when getting a quick quote.

• Additional Handling: this fees applies for multiple reasons. These can include:
• Cylindrical items are not encased in a cardboard shipping container (i.e. drums, barrels, tyres).
• Sometimes if packages are not cardboard boxes and are in metal or wooden cases.
• If the weight of the package exceeds a certain limit, i.e. for UPS this 32kg.
• If one of more or the sides exceeds a certain a size (this varies between couriers, for UPS its 122cm.