Terms and Conditions

1. You (the account holder) agree that:

1. You agree to comply with these terms and conditions and our Privacy Notice by using our services.
2. To enter a relationship of mutual trust, we trust you to use our address responsibly and safely. In return, you trust us to receive your mail and handle sensitive information with discretion and confidentiality.
3. You are always responsible for the items sent to your Private Box.
4. You will use the Private Box address we provided correctly and in its entirety. A mail search fee may apply if the address is incomplete or the mail item could be returned to the sender.
5. We will open your mail when scanning it, when receiving a parcel, when sending a parcel, or when we cannot identify to whom it is addressed. Occasionally, we make a mistake and open the wrong letter, and you accept that this might happen occasionally. We, of course, do our best to avoid this!
6. Please note that New Zealand law also allows us to open your mail if we receive a suspicious package. We are required by law to investigate the contents and may report the matter to the authorities. Alternatively, a law enforcement agency (like the police) may ask to open letters on their behalf as part of an investigation. For more information, please see our Privacy Notice.
7. When placing orders with us, you will take care to request that your mail be forwarded or destroyed. We cannot recover destroyed mail.
8. Parcels may incur an additional charge for disposal.
9. You are responsible for import and export restrictions and any applicable fees. For example, you may be required to pay customs fees, tariffs, or taxes for imports and exports of your mail.
10. To complete the identity verification.
11. To use our services, you must keep a valid payment method (like a credit card or an authorised direct debit) on file with your account. You give us permission to automatically charge the payment method you provided for your subscription and any other charges you incur. Services will be withheld if payment is not received.
12. Your account will be suspended if payment is not made. You will still receive mail; however, you will not be able to place any orders with Private Box.
13. After a month of non-payment, the account will be closed. If suspended for other reasons, it may happen sooner. Any letters held will be returned to the sender, except for scanned mail, which will be destroyed. We will hold parcels for 7 days before they are disposed of.
14. Contact Private Box in writing if you have any issues or concerns about our services, and give us 20 working days to remedy the problem before taking further action.  
15. All items held are “at owner's risk”.
16. For lost or damaged mail, we must be alerted within a specific period to have NZ Post (or other carriers) conduct an investigation. This must be:

1. Within 7 days of delivery, if your claim is for damage to a delivered item or missing contents;
2. Within 21 days of sending, if your claim is for non-delivery of an item sent using a domestic postal or courier service;
3. Within 30 days of sending, if your claim is for non-delivery of an item sent using an international courier service, or
4. Within 90 days of sending, if your claim is for non-delivery of an item sent using an international postal service.

17. Only Courier services compensate if the item is lost or damaged during transit.
18. If you close your account -

1. You will action this online from your login; otherwise, send written permission from yourself (the account holder).
2. We will destroy any scanned mail from our files. Any unopened mail will be returned to the sender. Any future mail that arrives will be returned to the sender.
3. Any refunds incur a $2 transaction fee (unless it's a bank transfer, where the transaction fee is $15).

19. Refunds can only be returned to the source of credit.
20. We can suspend and close your account if it is used for misleading, improper, or illegal purposes.
21. If you operate a Company or a Trust, read the sections below. Please note we only allow Limited Companies and Overseas company types to use our addresses.
22. If you are operating a personal mailbox, you can only use it for private use.  If mail arrives in your account that is non-personal (e.g., business name or trust), or if we determine that your address is being used for non-personal purposes, we will upgrade you to a business mailbox without notification.
23. Our liability is limited to the total service fees paid by the account holder. This limits our liability under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and the Fair Trading Act 1986 to the extent permitted by law.
24. We may occasionally change our Prices, Terms and Conditions, and Privacy Policy. We will dispatch email notifications to inform you that this has occurred. To receive this notification, your account must have “notifications” turned on.
25. Not to send prohibited items, including perishable items such as organic substances or plants. For more information, please see Prohibited and Restricted Items | NZ Post.
26. You must be at least 18 years old. By registering as a member, you warrant that you are capable of forming a legally binding contract (e.g., this agreement).
27. Keep your contact details up to date with us, including your email address, mobile number and forwarding address.
28. When we send your high-value items (over $ 2,000 NZD) using an international courier or express courier, insurance will be charged at 1.08% of the total value of the item(s). For Economy Plus, the fee is a flat $15.
29. When adding new people to the account and flagging them as Account Administrators, you authorise them to Act On Behalf of the Account Owner. All persons authorised to act on behalf of the account owner must verify their identity.
30. You must use the carriers provided by Private Box for shipping (currently NZ Post and DHL) only. The use of alternative shippers requires written authorisation from Private Box.
31. Private Box will declare the true and accurate value of all goods based on supplier invoices, receipts, or reasonable market value. We will not alter, understate, or misrepresent item values for customs purposes under any circumstances.

2. We (Private Box Limited) agree:

1. To operate a physically and digitally secure service that places the safety of your mail and personal information at the centre of everything we do.
2. To take the opening and inspection of your mail seriously and take care when doing so.
3. To apply the principles of the Privacy Act 2020 and our Privacy Notice.
4. To provide high-quality service. All incoming items will have a sender, mail type, and estimated or measured weight. We will record the parcels' dimensions (to the nearest cm, rounded up). We may record the contents of incoming parcels if a packing slip is present.
5. To challenge our suppliers to provide lower prices.
6. To do our best to identify who the incoming mail is to. We will return the item to the sender if we are unable to determine its owner. If no return address is provided, we will dispose of the item after 90 days.
7. We will take steps to honour our commitments under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act while protecting the privacy of our customers. Our commitments include

1. Conducting risk profiling of our customers
2. Reporting suspicious activities to the Financial Intelligence Unit of the NZ Police

8. To report any wrongdoing to the appropriate authority.
9. We will explore ways to improve our business for the benefit of our customers.
10. We are not responsible for the content of any information received/opened/stored, and our only association with property acquired is as an independent service provider.
11. We have no obligation to offer or to continue to offer the Private Box service to anyone.

3. Companies
   

1. This section applies to members who have a company registered at one of our addresses.
2. You must have a business mailbox to use a Private Box address as the postal contact address for your company.
3. Private Box provides a registered office service. We provide this service in good faith. If the customer fails to comply with the requirements set out in the Companies Act 1993, the contract may be suspended or cancelled without notice.
4. All company documents required for our Registered Office service will be stored digitally (as allowed by the Companies Act 1993). We will destroy the originals.

1. Please note that if your account is closed and you request access to digital copies of previously filed company records, a $25 administration fee will be required.

5. All directors and shareholders must provide identity information within 30 days of the Registered Office service.
6. Private Box does not provide services for organisations in the following categories:

1. Adult entertainment (Pornography, Escort services, Sex toys, etc.)
2. Gambling
3. Financial service providers (at our discretion)
4. Misleading invoices
5. Multi-level marketing companies
6. Political parties
7. Religious cults
8. Any business that could reflect poorly on others who use the same address
   

7. We will apply a $500 fee to your account upon receipt of court documents or statutory demands. We will contact you using the contact information we have on file. If we can contact you within 48 hours, we will refund $400 of this fee.
8. If we are required to obtain evidence of company ownership ourselves, any costs will be passed on to the customer plus a $15 administration fee.
9. We must verify all ultimate ownership of companies and as such, we only onboard companies with public company records - like New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

4. Trusts

1. This section only applies if you wish to receive mail for your trust at Private Box.
2. Due to our AML obligations, we are required to identify all trustees. To this end, the Trust Deed must be provided (or a certified copy). If this is not suitable, a lawyer may be used as an intermediary to summarise this detail.
   The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 requires us to identify a trust's beneficial owner and effective controller. We must identify all parties to our satisfaction. Otherwise, your account will be closed.
3. You must have a business mailbox to operate a trust at one of our addresses.