Overseas Insured (Valeur Déclarée) Rates 1899-1993
Introduction
Although insurance had been available in the overseas parcel post since a service to India in 1875, it was not until the 1897 Washington UPU Conference that changes were agreed to the UPU insured letter mail service that allowed Britain to adhere to the agreement.This service was completely separate from the inland insurance that was an integral part of the registration service, as evidenced in the various peevish notes in the Post Office Circular over the years reminding staff of this fact. Overseas insured mail paid a higher fee with different compensation steps. In the British implementation it was treated as registered mail and the overseas registration fee was included in the price, which meant that price increases generally tracked the increases in that fee.
It is worth noting that this was a service intended for valuable paper, not items of intrinsic value. Not all countries accepted insured mail, and some of those that did had lower limits for the amount that could be insured for or limits on acceptable contents. The sender was required to write the exact amount to be insured for on the cover in both figures and words. Special labels with "INSURED" and the international name for the service (Valeur Déclarée, i.e. declared value) were normally used, mostly in shades of red, latterly in pink.
As with the inland services, the overseas registration and insurance services were rebranded in 1993, and further developments come under "Priority Services".
Rates
Date | Fees and Cover | Date | Fees and Cover | Date | Fees and Cover | Date | Fees and Cover |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1899 (1 Jan) |
5d - £12 7½d - £24 10d - £36 1s 0½d - £48 1s 3d - £60 1s 5½d - £72 1s 8d - £84 1s 10½d - £96 2s 1d - £108 2s 3½d - £120 |
1907 (1 Jul) |
4d - £12 6d - £24 8d - £36 10d - £48 1s - £60 1s 2d - £72 1s 4d - £84 1s 6d - £96 1s 8d - £108 1s 10d - £120 2s - £132 2s 2d - £144 Each addl. £12 or part thereof to £400 - 2d |
1921 (13 Jun) |
5d - £12 7d - £24 9d - £36 11d - £48 1s 1d - £60 1s 3d - £72 1s 5d - £84 1s 7d - £96 1s 9d - £108 1s 11d - £120 2s 1d - £132 2s 3d - £144 Each addl. £12 or part thereof to £400 - 2d |
1949 (1 May) |
6d - £12 8d - £24 10d - £36 1s - £48 1s 2d - £60 1s 4d - £72 1s 6d - £84 1s 8d - £96 1s 10d - £108 2s - £120 2s 2d - £132 2s 4d - £144 Each addl. £12 or part thereof to £400 - 2d |
1952 (1 May) |
8d - £12 10d - £24 1s - £36 1s 2d - £48 1s 4d - £60 1s 6d - £72 1s 8d - £84 1s 10d - £96 2s - £108 2s 2d - £120 2s 4d - £132 2s 6d - £144 Each addl. £12 or part thereof to £400 - 2d |
1957 (1 Oct) |
1s 2d - £12 1s 4d - £24 1s 6d - £36 1s 8d - £48 1s 10d - £60 2s - £72 2s 2d - £84 2s 4d - £96 2s 6d - £108 2s 8d - £120 2s 10d - £132 3s - £144 Each addl. £12 or part thereof to £400 - 2d |
1961 (1 Feb) |
1s 8d - £24 1s 10d - £36 2s - £48 2s 2d - £60 2s 4d - £72 2s 6d - £84 2s 8d - £96 2s 10d - £108 3s - £120 3s 2d - £132 3s 4d - £144 3s 6d - £156 Each addl. £12 or part thereof to £400 - 2d |
1963 (1 Jul) |
1s 11d - £24 2s 1d - £36 2s 3d - £48 2s 5d - £60 2s 7d - £72 2s 9d - £84 2s 11d - £96 3s 1d - £108 3s 3d - £120 3s 5d - £132 3s 7d - £144 3s 9d - £156 Each addl. £12 or part thereof to £400 - 2d |
1966 (3 Oct) |
3s 2d - £24 3s 4d - £36 3s 6d - £48 3s 8d - £60 3s 10d - £72 4s - £84 4s 2d - £96 4s 4d - £108 4s 6d - £120 4s 8d - £132 4s 10d - £144 5s - £156 Each addl. £12 or part thereof to £400 - 2d |
1968 (16 Sep) |
3s 2d - £28 3s 4d - £42 3s 6d - £56 3s 8d - £70 3s 10d - £84 4s - £98 4s 2d - £112 4s 4d - £126 4s 6d - £140 4s 8d - £154 4s 10d - £168 5s - £182 Each addl. £14 or part thereof to £400 - 2d |
1971 (15 Feb) |
16p - £28 17p - £42 18p - £56 19p - £70 20p - £84 21p - £98 22p - £112 23p - £126 24p - £140 25p - £154 26p - £168 27p - £182 Each addl. £14 or part thereof to £400 - 1p |
1971 (1 Jul) |
21p - £28 22p - £42 23p - £56 24p - £70 25p - £84 26p - £98 27p - £112 28p - £126 29p - £140 30p - £154 31p - £168 32p - £182 Each addl. £14 or part thereof to £500 - 1p |
1974 (24 Jun) |
34p - £72 37p - £108 40p - £144 43p - £180 46p - £216 49p - £252 52p - £288 55p - £324 58p - £360 61p - £396 64p - £432 67p - £468 70p - £500 |
1975 (17 Mar) |
40p - £72 44p - £108 48p - £144 52p - £180 56p - £216 60p - £252 64p - £288 68p - £324 72p - £360 76p - £396 80p - £432 84p - £468 84p - £500 |
1975 (29 Sep) |
50p - £70 55p - £105 60p - £140 65p - £175 70p - £210 75p - £245 80p - £280 85p - £315 90p - £350 95p - £385 £1.00 - £420 £1.05 - £455 £1.10 - £490 £1.15 - £500 |
1977 (13 Jun) |
70p - £100 80p - £150 90p - £200 £1.00 - £250 £1.10 - £300 £1.20 - £350 £1.30 - £400 £1.40 - £450 £1.50 - £500 £1.60 - £550 £1.70 - £600 |
1979 (20 Aug) |
75p - £100 85p - £150 95p - £200 £1.05 - £250 £1.15 - £300 £1.25 - £350 £1.35 - £400 £1.45 - £450 £1.55 - £500 £1.65 - £550 £1.75 - £600 £1.85 - £650 £1.95 - £700 £2.05 - £750 |
1980 (4 Feb) |
85p - £100 95p - £150 £1.05 - £200 £1.15 - £250 £1.25 - £300 £1.35 - £350 £1.45 - £400 £1.55 - £450 £1.65 - £500 £1.75 - £550 £1.85 - £600 £1.95 - £650 £2.05 - £700 £2.15 - £750 |
1981 (26 Jan) |
£1.00 - £100 £1.20 - £200 £1.40 - £300 £1.60 - £400 £1.80 - £500 £2.00 - £600 £2.20 - £700 £2.40 - £800 £2.60 - £900 £2.80 - £1000 |
1984 (3 Sep) |
£1.10 - £100 £1.30 - £200 £1.50 - £300 £1.70 - £400 £1.90 - £500 £2.10 - £600 £2.30 - £700 £2.50 - £800 £2.70 - £900 £2.90 - £1000 |
1986 (2 Jan) |
£1.10 - £140 £1.30 - £280 £1.50 - £420 £1.70 - £560 £1.90 - £700 £2.10 - £840 £2.30 - £980 £2.50 - £1120 £2.70 - £1260 £2.90 - £1400 |
1986 (20 Oct) |
£1.20 - £140 £1.40 - £280 £1.60 - £420 £1.80 - £560 £2.00 - £700 £2.20 - £840 £2.40 - £980 £2.60 - £1120 £2.80 - £1260 £3.00 - £1400 |
1988 (5 Sep) |
£1.40 - £140 £1.60 - £280 £1.80 - £420 £2.00 - £560 £2.20 - £700 £2.40 - £840 £2.60 - £980 £2.80 - £1120 £3.00 - £1260 £3.20 - £1400 |
1989 (2 Oct) |
£1.55 - £150 £1.80 - £300 £2.05 - £450 £2.30 - £600 £2.55 - £750 £2.80 - £900 £3.05 - £1050 £3.30 - £1200 £3.55 - £1500 |
1990 (17 Sep) |
£1.75 - £150 £1.95 - £300 £2.20 - £450 £2.50 - £600 £2.75 - £750 £3.00 - £900 £3.30 - £1050 £3.55 - £1200 £3.85 - £1500 |
1991 (16 Sep) |
£1.90 - £150 £2.15 - £300 £2.40 - £450 £2.65 - £600 £2.90 - £750 £3.15 - £900 £3.40 - £1050 £3.65 - £1200 £3.90 - £1500 |