Parcel thefts: the rise of ‘porch pirates’

“Father Christmas is more likely to arrive by delivery van than sleigh and reindeer these days,” said The Times. But with our increasing shift to online shopping comes one “not-so-Christmassy treat”: “falling prey” to the “porch pirates”, who swipe parcels from doorsteps.

How big is the problem?

Parcels worth a total of £666.5 million were stolen across the UK last year – up 77% from 2024, according to data obtained from UK police forces by tech company Quadient. Nearly five million households suffered at least one parcel theft – and that’s only counting those that were reported to the police.

Delayed and missing parcels are “not a new phenomenon but their impact is felt more acutely during the festive season”, said This is Money. December is the peak month for thefts, with November coming in a close second.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

What are your legal rights?

Under UK law, it is the responsibility of the seller, not the courier nor the customer, to ensure the safe delivery of an item. As a result, the seller is legally bound to provide a replacement or refund of the contents of a parcel that is lost or stolen before the customer takes physical possession of it.

This may seem clear-cut but “things get a little more complex” if you have selected a specific “safe place” for the delivery to be left in, said The Independent. By nominating a neighbour to take charge of a package, or permitting the courier to tuck items away behind bins or a garden wall, you are “essentially accepting the risk of any potential loss”. Of course, this doesn’t apply if the parcel was left somewhere other than your safe place (chucked behind your bin, for example).

If you do opt to specify a safe place – or ever have in the past – do carefully check your instructions before buying, and be aware that, if you use the same seller again, those safe place instructions can easily be carried over from previous orders.

What to do if your parcel is stolen?

Your first move should be to contact the seller to arrange a replacement or refund, citing Section 29 of the Consumer Rights Act. If you made the purchase with a debit card, you can ask for a “chargeback” from your bank, said The Times. This means that the bank “steps into your shoes” and raises a dispute with the seller on your behalf.

Purchases made with a credit card have more extensive protections: for any purchase over £100 and under £30,000, the credit card company is “jointly liable with the retailer and will refund you the full amount if your items do not arrive”.

What can be done to protect parcels?

A prominently displayed video camera doorbell is a popular way to deter porch pirates, said The Guardian. Some people have gone further, though, and taken “justice into their own hands”, leaving out decoy parcels, filled with “anything from dirty nappies to glitter explosions” and uploading the doorcam footage to social media.

Big brands could do more to “anonymise” their parcels, removing branding and making them “less attractive”, Quadient executive Gary Winter told the paper. The could also exert pressure on couriers to “try knocking the door a bit harder and waiting a few seconds” and to make sure parcels are not left “visible from the road”. But it goes without saying that delivery drivers are “under massive pressure to deliver such high volumes, particularly at this time of year”.