Parcel Delivery to Properties with Dogs: The Legal Situation
Are postal or parcel delivery personnel obliged to deliver parcels to properties where dogs roam freely? The short answer: No. However, the situation is usually more complicated. This post clarifies the legal situation regarding parcel deliveries to properties with dogs.
Duty to Deliver vs. Strict Liability
In principle, a courier service is obliged to deliver items directly. Although shipping services such as DHL, Deutsche Post or DPD have individual T&Cs (General Terms and Conditions), this obligation applies across the board.
Delivery personnel are not allowed to simply leave the parcel outside in the case of a property with a dog. The post must reach its destination: the mailbox or, for large parcels, the house or apartment door.
However, dog owners are subject to so-called strict liability, which complicates the legal situation. As soon as it comes to a question of fault, this will most likely be attributed to the dog owner; they own an animal that is potentially dangerous for the delivery person.
Warning signs are usually counterproductive
Some dog owners put up signs on their property such as “Beware of Dog”. Some use this only as a deterrent against burglars. Others assume that this exempts them from liability if someone enters the property without permission and is bitten by the dog.
Due to the aforementioned strict liability, such notice or warning signs are usually legally useless. Worse still: if the dog actually injures someone on the property, a sign reading “Warning of biting dog” is incriminating evidence against the dog owner. This implies that they are aware of their dog’s aggression.
Theory and Practice in Delivery
How does all this look in reality? Here, theory, practice and case law sometimes clash strongly.
Obligation to deliver despite warning signs: The delivery person is obliged to make the delivery. This means that they are “forced” to enter the property, even with warnings about guard or biting dogs.
Liability for injuries: If a dog injures a delivery person, the owner bears the fault in almost all cases due to strict liability. Such incidents count as workplace accidents for delivery personnel. Case law often awards corresponding pain and suffering or injury compensation as well as compensation for loss of earnings. These costs are imposed on the dog owner.
Practice of substitute delivery: In practice, it is often observed that couriers deliver mail directly to the branch or a neighbour instead of to the dog owner. The latter then receives a notification to collect it at the respective location. This is theoretically not permitted as long as the courier has not even attempted to reach the correct recipient (corresponding terms and conditions would be legally invalid). In the event of a legal dispute, however, the courier has good chances in court if they cite fear of the dog as the reason for obstruction.
Loss of packages: Disputes frequently arise when a package is lost, i.e. does not arrive with the addressee. If the courier has not made a delivery due to the dog, e.g. left the package outside the property or delivered it elsewhere, in practice the courier and sender must resolve the matter between themselves. The burden of proof lies with them and not with the recipient.