I recently used Royal Mail's oversea tracked and signed for service to Israel to send a valuable collector banknote to a friend in Israel. The web site informed me I was insured up to £50 in value and the counter staff where I mailed the letter confirmed this. After a few weeks my Israeli friend informed me no letter had arrived. Check tracking and it had disappeared at Heathrow - probably stolen. A claim form was duly filled inand send off claiming £50 compensation (the banknote was probably worth double that but I self insured the excess). a wekk or so later I get a derisory cheque forjust over £7 which was roughly equivalent to the postage paid. Does Royal Mail seriously think I would use one of their premium services to send a valueless item?? It was lost in their care and they seem to do their usual trick of evading responsibility when something goes missing in their care. I have written to them asking how they assessed the compensation they paid. It looks like a Small Claims Court case which has become very expensive and time consuming in order to get Royal Mail to pay a lvel of compensation that was covered in the fee paid to them - unless , of course, the actually pay the claim I submitted!! A very poor and time consuming experience trying to get compensation for an item Royal Mail admit they are at fault in losing.