Postal_Guide_September_1963 — Page 33

Insurance services 29

is used. No erasure or other alteration of the inscription on the letter, box or parcel, or on the despatch note is allowed. If the amount is entered on the despatch note in the wrong place, a fresh despatch note must be prepared,

A letter, box or parcel cannot be insured for more than the actual value of the contents and packing, or for more than the sum entered under the country of destination shown in Section II of this Guide, but it may be insured for part of its value, and a letter, box or parcel of which the contents have no pecuniary value may be insured for a nominal sum in order to obtain the safeguards of the system. An insured letter containing documents which are of value because of the cost of preparation, for example, plans, estimates or contracts, may not be insured for an amount exceeding the cost of replacing them in case of loss. Over-insurance is an obstacle to compensation.

ADVICE OF DELIVERY

The sender of an insured letter, box or parcel may obtain an advice of its delivery on application at the office of posting, either at the time of posting or subsequently within a year of the date of posting. The fee is 40c. at the time of posting or 50c, thereafter. If return advice by airmail is required a further fee of 50c. is payable and the form provided for the purpose must be clearly endorsed "Retour par Avion" (return by air) and bear a blue air mail label.

INQUIRIES ABOUT LOSS OR NON-DELIVERY

Inquiry about loss or non-delivery of an insured letter, box or parcel, made after posting, must be accompanied by a fee of $1.00 unless the sender has already paid the special fee for an advice of delivery. If possible a facsimile of the envelope or of the address of the packet should be furnished with the inquiry. This fee provides for the quickest means of transmission either air or surface and will be refunded if it is found that the postal service is at fault. One fee of $1.00 covers inquiries concern- ing several packets of the same category (insured letter, box or parcel) posted at the same time, by the same sender, to the same addressee.

INSURED LETTERS: SPECIAL CONDITIONS

Insured letters may be sent to the countries shown as participating in the service, see under country of destination in Section II of this Guide, up to the maximum indicated.

In addition to ordinary correspondence, they may contain paper valuables such as bank-notes, currency notes, bonds and securities (provided permission, where necessary, has been obtained for the exportation), valuable documents of any kind such as plans, estimates and so on; but if the contents are dutiable in the country of destination they can only be sent to countries which admit dutiable articles by letter post, see Section II. Letters containing articles other than those mentioned above, postcards, Small Packets, printed papers, commercial papers and samples cannot be insured.

Before posting bank notes, currency notes and so on, the sender should make sure that the Exchange Control Regulations are complied with, as failure to do so in this respect may lead to a return or confiscation of the article.

MAKE-UP

An insured letter must be enclosed in a strong cover made up in one piece, which must be securely fastened by means of identical seals in fine wax, with spaces between, reproducing a private mark of the sender, and affixed in sufficient number to hold down all the folds of the envelope. An envelope with a black or coloured border or a transparent panel must not be used. The make-up of every letter must be such that its contents cannot be reached without external and visible damage to the envelope or the seals.

Space must be left between the postage stamps on it and between the postal labels, if any, so that they cannot serve to hide injuries to the envelope. They must not be folded over the two sides of the envelope so as to cover the edge.