Royal Mail Signed For is the middle ground between standard 1st or 2nd Class post and a fully tracked service — it adds proof of delivery with a signature, at a smaller price premium than Tracked or Special Delivery Guaranteed, but with meaningfully less compensation cover. From 1 July 2026, here's exactly what that premium costs across formats.
Signed For 1st Class pricing
A Letter up to 100g costs £3.77 on Mailmark franking or £3.80 on Account — a premium of roughly £2 over standard 1st Class postage for the added signature confirmation. Large Letters run £4.86 (franking) or £5.00 (Account) at 100g, climbing to £5.30 by 750g on either channel. Small Parcels up to 2kg cost £7.05 on franking or £6.75 on Account. Medium Parcels start at £9.65 (franking) or £8.95 (Account) at 2kg, rising to £17.05/£16.35 at 20kg.
Signed For 2nd Class pricing
2nd Class Signed For follows the same structure at a lower base rate: Letters up to 100g cost £2.88 (franking) or £2.91 (Account). Large Letters run from £3.52/£3.55 at 100g up to £4.50/£4.50 at 750g. Small Parcels cost £5.85 (franking) or £5.55 (Account). Medium Parcels range from £8.55/£7.85 at 2kg up to £14.75/£14.05 at 20kg.
The compensation cap that makes or breaks the value case
Signed For's inclusive compensation is capped at £20 — a fraction of what Royal Mail Tracked (£150 inclusive) or Special Delivery Guaranteed (£750 inclusive, purchasable up to £2,500) offer, covered in our compensation guide. This makes Signed For genuinely good value for low-value items where proof of delivery matters more than financial protection — an invoice, a contract, a low-cost replacement part — but a poor choice for anything with real resale or replacement value, where the compensation gap alone justifies paying more for Tracked or Special Delivery Guaranteed instead.
Signed For vs Tracked: proof of delivery isn't the same as tracking
It's worth being clear on what Signed For doesn't include compared with Royal Mail Tracked: no SMS or email delivery notifications to the recipient, no predicted delivery window, and no in-flight ability for the recipient to redirect to a Safeplace or neighbour. Signed For confirms delivery happened with a signature; Tracked keeps both sender and recipient informed throughout the journey, covered in general terms in our service comparison guide. For most online retail parcels, Tracked's extra visibility is worth more to customers than Signed For's lower price.
Franking vs Account for Signed For
Unlike Special Delivery Guaranteed, where franking and Account prices diverge sharply due to VAT treatment, Signed For prices on franking and Account sit close together across every format — generally within a few pence, and in some cases Account is marginally cheaper (Large Letters, Medium and Small Parcels) while franking is marginally cheaper on Letters. Neither channel offers a dramatic saving over the other for this specific service, unlike the sizeable gaps covered in our 1st and 2nd Class pricing breakdown.
When Signed For is the right call
Signed For makes most sense for business-to-business post where proof of receipt matters for record-keeping — contracts, legal correspondence, invoices — rather than for consumer parcels where the customer expects tracking updates and where item value typically exceeds the £20 compensation cap by a wide margin.
Frequently asked questions
Does Signed For include SMS or email notifications like Tracked does? No — Signed For confirms a signature was obtained on delivery, but doesn't provide the delivery-window predictions or in-flight notifications that Royal Mail Tracked services include.
Is Signed For worth it for a £50 item? Generally no on compensation grounds alone — Signed For's £20 inclusive compensation cap falls well short of a £50 item's value, making Royal Mail Tracked or Special Delivery Guaranteed a better-matched service for anything above roughly £20 in value.
Can I add Signed For to 2nd Class as well as 1st Class? Yes — Signed For is available on both 1st and 2nd Class at their respective price points, giving a lower-cost signature-on-delivery option for less time-sensitive items.
For items where value exceeds Signed For's cap
Once an item's worth more than Signed For's £20 compensation cap, our 100 × 150mm labels are just as at home on a fully tracked service instead.
Shop 4×6 Labels