Change of Address: 7 Common Mail Forwarding Errors to Avoid

7 Common Mail Forwarding Errors to Avoid

There are a lot of tasks to take care of when you are moving and it seems like one of the last thoughts to cross a person’s mind is making sure that they fill out a USPS Form 3575 (change of address). This delay to file tends to fuel the fire around post office delays and efficiency problems when in fact, many times it’s the consumer that failed to act in a timely fashion. We put together a list of 7 common mail forwarding errors below:

File your change of address BEFORE you move if you want to be sure to avoid service disruptions. For whatever reason, it’s very easy to procrastinate or simply forget to change your address with the post office when you move. This is important as well due to the confirmation that will be sent to the old address to verify that indeed you are moving. This is the most common source of frustration especially when people rely on their mail for social security or other critical checks coming to them.
Remember to confirm receipt of the change of address from the USPS. The USPS sends out a notification to the old and new address that acts as a notice to people at those addresses that the change has been started and that unless they contact the USPS, the change will go through. If you follow the advice above you should know that your mail is going to get forwarded before you leave your old home. When you get the form look it over carefully and make sure it is 100% correct, if not get it fixed as soon as possible.
Call immediately or go to your local post office if you get a change of address confirmation that you didn’t request. For whatever reason when the USPS sends out a change of address notice if people didn’t place the order they choose to ignore it. Don’t ignore a change of address notice that you didn’t initiate. It could easily mean that someone is scamming you and/or trying to steal your identity.
Forwarding the mail for the whole family when only one family member moved. Another common mistake is when one person moves out of the house whether it is a child going to college or the result of a spouse or roommate deciding to leave, they may inadvertently check the box for “Family” so that all mail goes to their new address.
Forwarding the mail for one individual when the whole family moved. Just like the scenario above, it’s also common for people to select to only forward the mail for one person instead of the entire family (that is the first selection and people tend to select the first checkbox). If your whole family is moving you can do this with one form as long as you check the box that represents all people at the address.
Not providing the post office with contact information. In this age of protecting addresses, email, and phone numbers sometimes people choose to not provide contact information to the USPS. That’s a bad idea because if a problem or concern arises with your change of address, the USPS won’t be able to reach you.
Lots of people will use other “FREE” online services that simply turn around and prints the change of address card (most of the time unless they lose the request or card) and delivers it for you to a postal carrier. It’s much better if you do this yourself and/or leave it in your mailbox for your mail carrier.

Changing your address shouldn’t normally lead to problems but it can if you don’t allow enough time or if the process is tampered with in any way it can take a long time to resolve. Your snail mail is more important to you then you might think so act accordingly and stay diligent.