Terms and Conditions of Carriage

FDL Terms and Conditions of Carriage

This is the current version as of these Terms' publication date. The latest version, which shall always be the applicable one for new shipments, may be found

at https://fastdespatch.com/en/terms-and-conditions-of-carriage

1. Introduction

FDL Parcel services are subject to different conditions of carriage depending on the nature of the particular services.

These terms and conditions (“terms”) set out the basis on which FDL will transport packages, documents and envelopes (“packages”)
The Domestic Parcel Conditions (the “Conditions”) apply to all FDL services where Shipments are both collected and delivered wholly within territories forming part of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland and are intended to be read in conjunction with any additional terms set out either in a rate agreement, Bespoke agreement, and / or letter of agreement (the “Customer Contract”).
Where carriage by air involves an ultimate destination or stop outside the country of origin the Warsaw Convention may apply. The Warsaw Convention governs and, in most cases, limits the liability of carriers in respect of loss of or damage or delay to cargo. (For the purpose of these terms the phrase “the Warsaw Convention” means (i) the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air signed at Warsaw on 12th October 1929 or (ii) that Convention as amended or supplemented by any protocol or supplementary convention or (iii) the Montreal Convention 1999, whichever is applicable.) Notwithstanding any clause to the contrary, international carriage by road may be subject to the provisions of the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road signed at Geneva on 19th May 1956 (“the CMR Convention”).
A shipment may be carried via any intermediate stopping places that FDL deems appropriate. FDL may engage sub-contractors to perform services and contracts both on its own behalf and on behalf of its servants, agents and sub-contractors each of whom shall have the benefit of these terms.
In these terms, “Delivery Label” shall mean the order raised by the sender through FDL systems, or the entries recorded against the same date, address and service level on a collection record. All packages or pallets covered under a Delivery Label shall be considered a single shipment.

2. Scope of Service

Unless any special services are agreed, and subject to these terms, the service to be provided by FDL is limited to the collection, transportation, customs clearance where applicable, and delivery of the shipment. The shipper acknowledges that shipments will be consolidated with those of other shippers for transport and that FDL may not monitor the inbound and outbound movement of individual shipments at all handling points.

FDL is not a common carrier and reserves the right in its absolute discretion to refuse carriage to any shipment tendered to it for transportation.

3. Conditions of Carriage

This section sets out various restrictions and conditions which apply to the carriage of shipments by FDL. It also explains what the consequences are of the shipper presenting shipments for carriage which do not meet these requirements.

Service Restrictions and Conditions

Shipments must comply with the restrictions in paragraphs (i) to (iv) below.

Packages must not weigh more than 25 Kilograms, exceed 120 centimeters in length or a total of 150 centimeters in length and girth combined.
The value of any package may not exceed the local currency equivalent of £30,000. In addition, the value of any jewelry or watches, other than costume jewellery or costume watches, in a package shall not exceed the local currency equivalent of £500 unless such a shipment is tendered under specific contract conditions agreed in advance.
Packages must not contain any of the prohibited articles listed in the Guides and the latest applicable version on fastdespatch.com iincluding (but not limited to) : articles of unusual value (such as works of art, antiques, precious stones, stamps, unique items, gold or silver), money or negotiable instruments (such as cheques, bills of exchange, bonds, savings books, pre-paid credit cards, share certificates or other securities), firearms and dangerous goods.
Packages must not contain goods which might endanger human or animal life or any means of transportation, or which might otherwise taint, or damage other goods being transported by FDL, or the carriage, of which is prohibited by applicable
The shipper shall be responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the particulars inserted in the Delivery Label and for ensuring that all packages set out adequate contact details for the shipper and receiver of the package and that they are so packed, marked and labelled, their contents so described and classified and are accompanied by such documentation as may (in each case) be necessary to make them suitable for transportation and to comply with the requirements of the guides and applicable
Perishable and temperature sensitive goods will be transported provided that the shipper accepts that this is at its risk. FDL does not provide special handling for such
Refusal and Suspension of Carriage If it comes to the attention of FDL that any shipment does not meet any of the above restrictions FDL may refuse to transport the relevant shipment (or any relevant part thereof) and, if carriage is in progress, FDL may suspend carriage and hold the shipment (or any relevant part thereof) to the shipper’s
FDL may also suspend carriage if it cannot affect delivery, if the receiver refuses to accept delivery, if it is unable to effect delivery because of an incorrect address (having used all reasonable means to find the correct address)
Where FDL is entitled to suspend carriage of a shipment (or any relevant part thereof), it is also entitled to return it to the shipper at its own
The shipper must pay and indemnify FDL for any reasonable costs and expenses (including storage), incurred by FDL, any losses, taxes and customs duties FDL may incur, and all claims made against FDL because;
a shipment does not meet any of the restrictions, conditions or representations in paragraph 3.1 above,
of any refusal or suspension of carriage or return of a shipment (or part thereof) by FDL which is allowed by this paragraph 3, or
of a failure by the shipper to comply with these In the case of the return of a shipment (or part thereof), the shipper will also be responsible for paying all applicable charges calculated in accordance with the prevailing commercial rates of FDL.
If the shipper tenders to FDL a shipment which fails to comply with any of the restrictions or conditions in paragraph 3.1 above without FDL’s express written consent, FDL will not meet any loss howsoever arising which the shipper may suffer in connection with the carriage by FDL of such shipment (regardless of whether that failure to comply has caused or contributed to the loss and notwithstanding any negligence on the part of FDL or its employees, contractors or representatives) and, if FDL does suspend carriage for a reason allowed by these terms, the shipper shall not be entitled to any refund on the carriage charges it has paid. FDL may bring a claim in respect of such non-compliance.
If, having suspended carriage of a shipment (or any relevant part thereof) in accordance with these provisions, FDL is unable within a reasonable time to obtain the shipper’s instructions on its disposition or to identify the shipper or any other person entitled to the goods (having if necessary, opened the shipment), FDL shall be entitled
to destroy or sell the shipment (or any relevant part thereof), at its absolute The proceeds of any such sale shall first be applied to any charges, costs or expenses (including interest) outstanding in respect of the shipment or otherwise from the shipper concerned. Any balance shall be held to the shipper’s order.
Unless prohibited by law, FDL reserves the right, but is not obliged, to open and inspect, or scan by means of X-ray, any shipment tendered to it for transportation at any

4. Customs Clearance

When a shipment requires customs clearance, it is the shipper’s obligation to provide, or to ensure that the receiver will provide, FDL with complete and accurate documentation for the purpose but FDL will, unless instructed otherwise, act on behalf, at the expense and at the risk of the shipper or receiver in obtaining customs clearance.

Provided that, in the case of shipments whose points of dispatch and destination are both within the same customs area, FDL only performs customs clearance if instructed to do so. The shipper also agrees that FDL may be considered as being the receiver of the package or the shipment for the sole purpose of appointing a customs broker to carry out any customs clearance insofar as is allowed by law.

5. Payment

The rates for carriage and other services are set out in the contract and unless paid before shipment, all the invoices will be downloaded from the FDLL portal and must be paid within 14 days of receipt of invoice or within such other period as the shipper may have agreed in writing with FDL may verify the actual and/or dimensional weight of shipments and, if greater than the declared weight, invoice on such basis. Unless proved otherwise, an invoice shall be considered for this purpose to have been received three business days following the date of invoice.
If (a) FDL is required to pay any taxes, duties or levies on behalf of the shipper, receiver or a third party, (b) the selected billing option indicates that the receiver or a third party should pay any charges, or (c) any taxes, duties, penalties, charges or expenses are imposed, rightly or wrongly by government authorities, or incurred by FDL due to any circumstances, including any failure by the shipper or the receiver to provide correct information and documentation or any permits or licenses required in connection with carriage, the shipper shall be jointly and severally liable to FDL with the receiver and such third parties for such amounts. In each case where the selected billing option indicates payment is to be charged, at first, to the receiver or any third party, FDL will (without prejudice to the shipper’s contractual liability for payment), first demand payment of the relevant amount from the receiver and/or the third party. If the amount in question is not immediately paid to FDL in full by any of the above parties, the amount will be payable by the shipper on first written demand. In any other cases, the shipper hereby undertakes to pay the mentioned amounts to FDL at first request. FDL shall not be obliged to separately file a claim against the receiver or any third party for payment. In case of doubt, the burden of proving that the amount has been paid lies on the
Any sum payable to FDL which is overdue will bear interest at the rate specified on the invoice (currently 8%) from the due date to the date FDL receives payment whether before or after judgment. In addition, FDL reserves the right to charge a late payment administration fee of up to a maximum of £ 40
All invoices shall be deemed to be accepted as issued unless requests for invoice adjustment are received in writing by FDLL within ninety (90) days from the invoice date.
FDL shall have:
- a particular lien on the Consignment; and
- a general lien against the Customer and owner for sums unpaid on any invoice, account or contract whatsoever.

If such lien, whether particular or general, is not satisfied within a reasonable time, the Carrier may sell the Consignment, or part thereof, as agent for the Customer and/or owner and apply the proceeds towards any sums unpaid and the expenses of the retention, insurance and sale of the Consignment and shall, upon accounting to the Customer for any balance remaining, be discharged from all Liability whatsoever in respect of the shipment FDL may exercise its lien on its own behalf or as agent for any assignee of its invoices at any time and at any place at its sole discretion whether or not sums have become payable in accordance with Condition 5.1 hereof and whether or not the contractual carriage has been completed and these conditions shall continue to apply during the period of exercise of such lien. If any sum is not paid by the shipper, receiver or some other party under these terms, FDL may hold any shipments it is carrying (or part thereof) until it receives payment in full or may sell them and use the proceeds to make good the debt to it in accordance with applicable local law. Any unpaid balance will remain payable.

FDL’s rates for carriage set out in the Contract are calculated only for the carriage of shipments which do not exceed in value the amounts set out in paragraph 3.1(ii) (or other applicable value, if lower). In the event that FDL becomes aware that it has carried a shipment which, without FDL’s express written consent, exceeds this value, then, in addition to the otherwise applicable rates and charges and any other remedies under these terms, an additional carriage charges equivalent to 5% of the value of the shipment in excess of the relevant amount set out in paragraph 3.1(ii) is applicable.

6. Interruption of Service

If FDL is unable to start or continue with carriage of the shipper’s shipment for a reason beyond its control, FDL will not be in breach of its agreement with the shipper but will take all steps that are reasonably practicable in the circumstances to commence or continue the carriage. Examples of events beyond FDL’s control are disruption to air or ground transportation due to bad weather, fire, flood, war, hostilities, civil disturbance, acts of government or other authorities (including, without limitation, customs), labour disputes or obligations affecting FDL or some other party, delays in customs clearance and/or delays or other issues arising out of or otherwise related to the UK ceasing to be a member of the EU.

7. Liability

Where the Warsaw or CMR Conventions or any national laws implementing or adopting these conventions apply (for convenience referred to as Convention Rules) or where (and to the extent that) other mandatory national law applies, the liability of FDL is governed by and will be limited according to the applicable
Where Convention Rules or other mandatory national laws do not apply, FDL will only be liable for failure to act with reasonable care and skill and its liability shall be exclusively governed by these terms and (save in the case of personal injury or death) limited to proven damages not exceeding the greater of either:

(a) £20 per shipment in the case of goods presented in the UK to FDL for carriage

7.3 If the claimant (or any person from whom he derives his right to claim) has caused or contributed to any loss, damage or delay to a package or pallet, any liability FDL may incur in respect thereof (limited as above) may be reduced or extinguished in accordance with the law applicable to such contributory negligence.

Subject to the provisions of paragraph 7.5, the shipper may obtain the benefit of a greater limit of liability than FDL provides under paragraph 2 above or than may be provided by Convention Rules or other mandatory national law.
FDL shall not be liable to any party for any actual or alleged: indirect or consequential damage or loss arising from breach of contract, tort or otherwise; or any loss of profits, anticipated profits, anticipated savings , loss of goodwill or loss of business or opportunity, whether such losses are direct or
FDL automatically protects every shipment against loss or damage, up to a certain value, as described in Liability. With Declared Value for Carriage, you may increase FLD’s limit of liability for proven losses by declaring a higher value for carriage on the FDL shipping documentation. The value of the goods declared shall not in any event exceed £2,500 per package. FDL will charge a fee of 5% of the declared value with a minimum of £10.

8. Delivery

FDL may deliver a shipment to the receiver or to any other person appearing to have authority to accept delivery of the shipment on the receiver’s behalf (such as persons at the same premises as the receiver). If no such person is available the package may be left in another appropriate place including but not limited to the receiver’s letterbox or similar safe place, delivered to the neighbour, unless the shipper has excluded such delivery options specifically stated in the Contract. The receiver shall be informed of any alternate delivery arrangements by a note left at their premises as appropriate.

Notwithstanding the previous paragraph, and unless otherwise agreed with the shipper, FDL may apply any alternative delivery methods chosen by the receiver. Such alternative delivery methods include, without limitation, redirecting delivery of a package to an alternate address, authorizing the driver to leave a package at the receiver’s premises, modifying a service selected by the shipper or, rescheduling delivery. The shipper also agrees the receiver may receive delivery information regarding a package. The shipper expressly waives any claim it may have against FDL arising from FDL following any such instructions provided by the receiver.

FDL may use an electronic device to obtain proof of delivery and the shipper agrees that it will not object to FDL relying on a printed copy of this as evidence merely on the grounds that the information concerned is obtained and stored in electronic form.

Save where Convention Rules or other mandatory national laws require otherwise, FDL accepts no responsibility in any circumstances to suspend carriage, redirect delivery (whether to a different receiver or address from that named on the Delivery Label) or return a shipment to its shipper and, if it should attempt but fail to do so, shall have no liability for any losses thereby occasioned.

9. Data Protection

FDL has the right to process data provided by the shipper or receiver in connection with carriage by FDL, to transfer such data to other group companies and contractors of FDL, including in other countries which may not have the same level of data protection as the country where the shipment is presented to FDL, and to have it processed there if and to the extent the transfer and processing of the data in such countries is required for performing the agreed shipment The shipper warrants that it (i) has obtained personal data the shipper provided to FDL for the shipment lawfully, (ii) is authorized to provide such data to FDL, including if and to the extent the transfer and processing of the data in such countries is required for performing the agreed shipment services, and (iii) has obtained informed and specific consent from such receiver that FDL may send e-mail and other notifications related to the agreed shipment services to the receiver. FDL uses the shipper’s personal data provided by the shipper in accordance with the FDL Privacy Notice published on FDL’s website.
Furthermore, the shipper warrants that he has duly informed the receiver that FDL may use the receiver’s personal data in accordance with the above FDL Privacy Notice in effect at the time of shipping with regard to uses other than those specified in subsection 9.1

10. Claims Procedure – Prescription

All claims against FDL must be notified in writing as soon as reasonably practicable and in any event within 14 days of receipt in the case of damage (including partial loss of a shipment), in the case of loss within 14 days of the goods being consigned with FDL for carriage. In addition, all claims against FDL in connection with any shipment shall be prescribed and barred by expiration of time, unless legal proceedings are brought and written notice of them is given to FDL within eight months after delivery of the goods concerned or, in the case of non-delivery, within eight months from the scheduled date for delivery. This term shall not affect any rights the shipper may have under Convention Rules or other mandatory national laws.

11. Entire Agreement & Severability

It is the intention of FDL that all the terms of the contract between it and the shipper are contained in this document and in the Contract. If the shipper wishes to rely on any variation to these terms, it must ensure that that is recorded in writing and signed by the shipper and on behalf of FDL before the shipment is accepted for carriage by FDL. If any part of these terms is not enforceable, this will not affect the enforceability of any other part.

12. Governing Law

These terms shall be governed by the laws of the country where the shipment is presented to FDL for carriage.