General terms and conditions of use in force on 06/06/2025

The Products available on the Website are intended for customers residing outside metropolitan France (including Corsica) and the French overseas départements and territories (DROM-COM). More specifically, the franking Products are sold as collectors' stamp products.

If franking Products sold on the Website are used from Metropolitan France (including Corsica), the Customer is hereby informed that the current Terms and conditions of sale applicable to La Poste's Mail and Parcel services will apply to him.

For your information, below are some of the provisions of the Terms and Conditions of Sale applicable to La Poste's Mail and Parcel services.

The full version of these terms and conditions is available on www.laposte.fr/conditions-generales-de-vente .

 Article 1: Purpose of the terms and conditions of sale

These terms and conditions of sale apply to all products and services offered by La Poste in connection with its processing and distribution of addressed postal items, subject to the specific terms and conditions of sale applicable to certain products or services or to any specific agreements applicable between La Poste and the customer.

(...)

These terms and conditions of sale apply to national and international mail items dropped off by a customer, whether an individual or a legal entity.

The fact that a customer entrusts a mail item to La Poste implies unreserved acceptance of these terms and conditions of sale. The applicable terms and conditions of sale are those in force on the date on which La Poste take charge of the sending.

(....)

Article 5: Liability of La Poste

Generalities

La Poste may be held liable under the conditions provided for in the French Postal and Electronic Communications Code (Code des postes et des communications électroniques) and in accordance with the provisions in force of the Universal Postal Union.

La Poste may be held liable for delays where it made a contractual commitment as to time.

The liability of La Poste may not be sought in the event of a failure to comply with these terms and conditions of sale, including those relating to packaging and to the content of the postal items.

In any event, La Poste shall not be liable if the damage results from:

§  The actions, negligence or errors of the customer or third parties, or non-compliance with the obligations resulting from these terms and conditions of sale;

§  an event of force majeure, such as: flood, fire, requisition by a public authority, etc. 

§  a cause beyond the control of La Poste.

La Poste is not liable for indirect or intangible damage such as loss of profit, loss of contract, loss of opportunity, reputational damage.

5.1 Liability for national mail items

La Poste may be held liable for the loss of or damage to a mail item entrusted to it under the conditions set out in Articles L.7 and L.8 of the French Postal and Electronic Communications Code.

In accordance with the liability regime applicable to postal service providers, the amount of compensation is set within the following limits:

§  for all postal items sent with a contractual time commitment, compensation in the event of delay may not exceed the amount of the postage rate paid by the sender;

§  in the event of loss or damage, La Poste will pay, upon request and upon the production of evidence of the date of deposit and the amount of postage, compensation not exceeding:

- twice the price of postage paid by the sender or, if more favourable, 23 euros per kilogramme (including postage) for ordinary postal items, except postal parcels;

- three times the price of postage paid by the sender or, if more favourable, 23 euros per kilogramme (including postage) for tracked postal items, except postal parcels;

- 16 euros for postal items subject to formalities proving their deposit and delivery, except postal parcels;

- 23 euros per kilogramme (including postage) for postal parcels

A postal item sent is considered lost if it has not been delivered to its recipient within forty days of the date of posting.

5.2 Liability for international mail items

La Poste's liability for international mail items, both import and export, is governed by the current provisions of the Universal Postal Union.

Under these provisions, La Poste is exempt from all liability in the event of loss, damage, theft or delay for ordinary mail items.

5.3 Limitation periods for bringing liability claims

Limitation periods for bringing liability claims are:

§  one year from the day following the date on which La Poste accepts responsibility of the postal item for sending it in metropolitan France, within and in between the French overseas départements, as well as for postal items exchanged between metropolitan France and the French overseas départements;

§  six months from the day following the date on which La Poste accepts responsibility of the postal items for international mail and mail to be delivered in the French overseas communities (COM).

Article 6: Handling of complaints

(....)

6.1.2 Admissibility of complaints

Complaints are accepted within a period of one year from the day following the date on which the postal items was picked up for shipment in metropolitan France, within and between the French overseas départements, as well as for postal items exchanged between metropolitan France and the French overseas départements, and within a period of six months for international shipments and shipments destined for the French overseas communities (COM).

Compensation presupposes that the complainant brings evidence, by any means at his disposal, of the date of deposit as well as of the amount of postage (for example, by means of the proof of deposit of the item in the postal service).

Supporting evidence (notes, invoices, etc.) may be requested to probe that the loss has actually occurred.

6.1.3 Handling times

The submission of a complaint will result in the issue of an acknowledgement of receipt which is proof of the date of the complaint.

La Poste undertakes to respond to the complaint:

§  within 21 calendar days for domestic shipments in metropolitan France;

§  within 40 calendar days for postal items sent from and destined for the French overseas departements, and those destined for certain European countries[1];

§  within 90 calendar days for postal items sent to the rest of the world and to the French overseas communities (COM).

After informing the complainant, La Poste may, if it considers it necessary, carry out an in-depth investigation. The aforementioned processing times are then suspended.

The implementation of the complaints procedure does not suspend the limitation periods set out in Article 5.3.

6.2 Appeals

6.2.1 Internal appeal bodies

Any complainant who wishes to have their case re-examined following their initial complaint may appeal:

-          preferably by telephone by dialling 3631 for private individuals (free service + call charge) and 3634 for businesses (free service + call charge);

-          by e-mail to the following address:

instance-recours.laposte@laposte.fr if the appeal concerns a letter;

-  by e-mail to screcours.clp@laposte.fr if the appeal concerns a parcel;

-         by post to the following address: SERVICE CONSOMMATEURS 99999 LA POSTE

Any appeal sent by e-mail or post must quote the file reference mentioned in the reply to the initial complaint.

This appeal will be handled by the appeal bodies set up by La Poste.

Referral to the internal appeal body is a prerequisite for referral to Groupe La Poste' Ombudsman.

The implementation of the internal appeal procedure does not suspend the limitation periods set out in Article 5.3.

Article 8: Applicable law

These terms and conditions of sale are governed by the laws of France, without prejudice to the application, in relation to international shipments, of the Acts of the Universal Postal Union, including the Universal Postal Convention - in its latest version adopted by the Congress and on the effective date provided for in the Convention -, and the texts adopted in application of the Convention.

(...)

[1] The countries concerned are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Great-Britain, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.