The dangers lurking behind the bin (home re-delivery)
As home deliveries gain in popularity, carriers are having to find ever more ingenious ways to avoid redelivering when the customer is not at home. Legal correspondent Owen Keane warns of the pitfalls of impromptu measures, and urges carriers to establish clear criteria
Businesses often find that daytime deliveries to domestic addresses result in wasted journeys because there is no one home. Whether in an attempt to help the ultimate recipient, or to avoid the time and costs of repeat journeys, consignments are frequently left behind trees or other sheltered places nearby, or with people other than the addressee. Inevitably, these non-standard deliveries can cause problems and disputes.
Deciding the legal position for all such situations is beyond the scope of this column, but some of the relevant factors can be highlighted. As a rule, most delivery agents will wish to develop guidelines for their employees to help them decide how to act if they find themselves in this position.
Where the delivery company is acting for another company the terms of reference should ideally be agreed with the principal company. However, this can be complex, as deliveries are often undertaken for more than one supplier. The interests of suppliers will be different from those of end customers, and also from those of the delivery agent.
At one extreme the situation is clear; if the parcel is delivered to the wrong address, the delivery company is likely to be in breach of contract. It may also be negligent unless it can show that it used reasonable skill and care. Similarly, if a parcel is delivered to the wrong person this would not be within the contract either, unless the contract specifically makes provision for substitutes.
However, if the parcel goes to the correct address but is delivered to someone other than the consignee, this is arguably not negligent if the address is a home (or even an office) unless the goods are clearly personal in nature. Regardless of whether or not this is within the terms of the contract for the delivery agent, it will not affect the position between the supplier of the goods and the consignee, although will help the supplier to warn customers that parcels may be left with neighbours. Much the same will be true for goods left behind a bush, although this is clearly less safe, and so will not be considered reasonable in as many circumstances.
Where the consignment is known to be valuable, small or identifiable as coming from a well-known vendor and is therefore arguably more likely to be stolen this may well affect how a court determines whether the delivery agent was negligent. Agents may be able to help answer criticisms by noting a few details of their actions and the reasons for them for instance, why they chose to leave the item on the doorstep and not behind the bin. Another safeguard could be putting a card through the door saying the parcel was left at a noted time with a named person at a named address, and not simply with "a neighbour" or "next door." Although the position may seem bleak for delivery agents, there are several factors on the side of the carrier. Perhaps the most powerful is the simple fact that these practices have been in existence for many years; the traditional Post Office postman probably set the benchmark for such behaviour. Custom and practice in an industry play a large factor in deciding the standard of care to be expected.
However, simply saying "because it has always been done like this" will not be an answer if the court considers the standard of such behaviour to be unacceptable. Naturally the court will consider each case on its individual merits and will give due weight to accepted norms. Ultimately, the court will be unwilling to tolerate practices which were once appropriate but have not moved with the times, and so are no longer reasonable in today's circumstances. Thus when developing guidelines for their agents, companies should consider whether their technology can offer new possibilities or how it can help secure them against criticism at a later date.
