Parcel problems reach record as 15 million people are let down on the doorstep

• More than a third of people (37%) faced issues with their most recent parcel delivery. 

• Royal Mail bag the top spot in the league table with 3.25 stars while Yodel trail behind in bottom place, failing to improve on last year’s score of 2 stars out of 5.

• Half a decade since it first launched, Citizens Advice’s parcel league table lays bare how broken this market is.

A record 15 million people experienced a problem with their latest parcel delivery, new research by Citizens Advice has revealed. 

From chasing missing parcels, battling arduous complaints systems to even having accessibility requests ignored, Citizens Advice found that more than a third of people (37%) faced issues with their most recent delivery. The research, carried out in a snapshot one month period, reveals the rate of parcel problems remains at the highest levels seen in half a decade.

Now in its fifth year, the parcel league table shows Royal Mail scored the highest this year with an overall score of 3.25 out of 5 stars, while Yodel slip to the bottom with just 2 out of 5 stars - not making any improvement since last year. 

The charity’s league table looks at the top five delivery companies by parcel volume and measures their performance against criteria including customer service, delivery problems and how well they meet accessibility needs, such as people needing louder knocking or longer to answer the door.

Stuck in a rut of poor performance 

While Citizens Advice's research shows there have been marginal shifts in scores over the last five years, the overall picture is one of consumers being persistently failed by parcel companies.

The charity found:

• Accessibility is the worst performing area - despite Ofcom’s new condition requiring firms to give disabled consumers the opportunity to report their accessibility needs, scores this year have actually worsened, with Yodel placing last. Citizens Advice also found that three million people who have an accessibility requirement they would like to share (37%) are still unable to share their needs. Reasons include not being aware of where to share, or their accessibility need not being given as an option when placing an order. 

• Complaints and customer service rankings remain stagnant - of the people who had experienced a problem with their delivery, almost half (47%) had a further issue trying to resolve the problem, such as a slow response, issues with automated systems (such as a chat bot) and having to contact a firm multiple times to get a response.

• Frequent failures hitting people - the most common problems people faced with their last delivery include the driver leaving before they had time to get to the door (29%); their parcel being left in an insecure location (24%) and parcels arriving late (24%). 

The overall scores

“I’ve had some leave parcels in the recycling bins on recycling day” - Mike’s story

Mike, in his 70s, has muscular dystrophy and uses two walking sticks, making it difficult to move quickly or bend down. He consistently asks parcel companies not to bring deliveries to his front door as he is unable to get there in time. Instead, he asks them to deliver parcels to his back door, which is closer to his home office and easier for him to get to.

But despite repeatedly telling retailers and parcel companies about his accessibility needs, firms still ignore his requests. As a result, parcels are often misdelivered, left exposed to the weather, not put in a designated safe space or with neighbours, or delivered to entirely wrong addresses.

“The biggest problem is just getting companies to deliver according to my instructions,” Mike says. 

“If nobody is in, delivery drivers are supposed to leave my parcels in a designated safe space. I chose that spot because it’s dry, out of the way, and I don’t have to bend down to pick anything up. But parcels rarely get left there. Instead, they just leave them outside, whether it’s raining, dry or otherwise. I’ve had some leave parcels in the recycling bins on recycling day. 

“It makes you awfully frustrated, and it makes you really fed up, to the point that I’m beginning to stop buying from retailers that use certain delivery companies. 

“I actually had one delivery agent chuck a parcel over the back gate onto the concrete floor, who said he’d handed it to the resident. I had the video showing him throwing it over the back gate then taking a picture saying he’d delivered it.”

Passing the parcel of responsibility

Ofcom introduced guidance on complaints and accessibility in 2023, but Citizens Advice says its research and Ofcom’s own findings show many parcel firms are still ignoring the rules. This isn’t a guidance problem - it’s a compliance one, and the charity is calling on Ofcom to monitor performance and fine the worst offenders.

Five years of league table analysis also shows repeated failures across the sector. Royal Mail, subject to stricter regulation, consistently performs well overall in the league table but the company offers consumers access to an independent dispute scheme (ADR) unlike other parcel providers. Citizens Advice says all consumers should have the same right to redress, no matter who delivers their parcel.

Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said:

“Ofcom has passed the parcel of responsibility for long enough. We’ve been doing the work of the regulator for five years now by holding parcel companies to account and speaking up for consumers who are bearing the brunt of persistently poor service. 

“Our league table has tracked parcel problems from warehouse to doorstep. We continue to see millions of people chasing lost parcels, having their accessibility needs ignored and hitting a brick wall when they try to complain.

“The question now is whether the regulator will take tougher action to improve the parcel market once and for all.”

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Notes to editors:

1.  Notes for the league table: Parts of the accessibility metric are from data on consumer perception and as such should not be seen as a judgement on whether or not these options or services are actually available. *Evri and DPD are tied in third place. Where scores are the same, we’ve used unrounded scores to decide where to place each company in the table. 

2. Opinium Research conducted an online survey between 29th August and 27th September 2025 of 8,000 UK adults who have received a parcel in the last month from one of: Royal Mail, DPD, Yodel, Amazon Logistics or Evri. The data was weighted to be nationally representative of those that had received a parcel from one of those five companies in the last month. The same amount of respondents associated with each parcel company was collected to ensure comparability. 

3. To create the league table, the five top parcel delivery companies by volume of delivery were measured against four criteria: delivery problems, accessibility, customer service and trust. Each rating was out of five stars, and each criteria has been weighted to calculate the overall score. 

4. Our full methodology of the league table can be found here.

5. Citizens Advice commissioned research from Apex Insight to find the top 5 companies by volume estimate calculations. 

6. Citizens Advice’s inaugural league table in 2021 found that 36% of people experienced a problem with their last delivery. Since then, there were brief signs of improvement in 2023, but this trend didn’t last with the rate of delivery problems now back up to 37%.

7. Population estimates are taken from 2024 ONS mid-year estimates of the UK 18+ population: 55,022,253. The proportion of adults that received a parcel from Royal Mail, Amazon Logistics, Evri, Yodel, or DPD in the last month: 74.80%. Number of adults that received a parcel from Royal Mail, Amazon Logistics, Evri, Yodel, or DPD in the last month: 41,156,645. The proportion of adults that had an issue with their last delivery: 37.35%/ This equates to the number of adults that had an issue with their last delivery as 15,372,007.

8. Citizens Advice is made up of the national charity Citizens Advice; the network of independent local Citizens Advice charities across England and Wales; the Citizens Advice consumer service; and the Witness Service.

9. Our network of charities offers impartial advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free. 

10. Citizens Advice helped 2.68 million people face to face, over the phone, by email and webchat in 2023-24. And we had 51.7 million visits to our website. For full service statistics see our monthly publication Advice trends.

11. Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 19,000 trained volunteers, working at over 1,900 service outlets across England and Wales.

12. Citizens Advice is the statutory consumer advocate for energy and postal markets. We provide supplier performance information to consumers and policy analysis to decision makers. 

13. You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 or 0808 223 1144 for Welsh language speakers.