Hello, Being based in Eastern Europe, I recently asked a UK-based relative to send me an expensive mobile phone which is not on sale here. She used Royal Mail's International Signed For service, with additional insurance of up to GBP 400 which was roughly the cost of the phone. The item never arrived, she reported the loss, only to receive a formal answer refusing to pay on the grounds that the item is on the recipient's country's list of items prohibited from posting. I am working with the post office here to clarify the meaning of 'valuable item' as I had never had problems receiving items of value before. However, I feel that RM should never have sold us the insurance in the first place if it did not intend to honour it. They do state in a remote corner of their website that no compensation will be paid for lost items which are prohibited in the destination country, and suggest that the sender consults RM as to the respective country's regulations. However, this information was not offered to the sender at the counter, and the issue remains open: if RM is charging for a signed for service and effectively guaranteeing delivery, is it not their duty to check the shipment for admissibility? I know this is done - at least by asking the sender - here. There are more unclear questions here (e g shouldn't the recipient's postal service have returned the 'prohibited' item to the sender's postal service upon finding out its contents) but the main is - do the experts here believe my claim has a chance against RM? Thanks, toli