Hold mail requests are basically a service implemented to enable customers to stop mail delivery in situations where they are not around to pick up the mail order or they are concerned about their mail orders deteriorating in the mailbox.
If you wish to submit a hold mail request to the USPS, you can do that by going to the USPS office by yourself, or you can place a hold mail request online by just following a few steps. Below are a few procedures on how to go about placing an online hold mail request:
- Create a USPS account if you don’t have one already or sign in to your account if you have one.
- Head to the Hold Mail section and carry out your identity verification.
- Upon verification of your identity, you do need to complete these steps for your current address.
To know how this service operates, let’s look at a few procedures:
- First things first, you need to check and make sure that the hold mail option is available for you. Try inputting your information on the form provided for you online on the USPS website..
- Secondly, you are required to select how long you want your mail held by the postal service. It is important to note that the hold mail option is not intended for change in your living space or even beyond 30 days. If you will need an extension or you will want your mail held for more than 30 days, like a college student or summer home, an option like the forward mail service will be a good option. If you now happen to have relocated, the USPS premium forward mail service should do it.
- The third point is that if you have picked the hold mail service and the time length has elapsed, you need to make a decision on how you will want your mail to get to you. In this case, you are entitled to two options. You may either go get your mail directly from the local post office or request your postal carrier to deliver the accumulated mail to your residence.
It is important to note that operations will resume the following day when your hold mail date has been reached.
What does it mean to put your mail on hold?
Basically, if you are on vacation, out of town for business trips, or going for anything outside your home and you will be spending over three days, you are at liberty to direct the USPS to hold your mail order or letters for a length of time, usually about 3 to 30 days, prior to your return.
You can also request to hold your mail longer or reroute your mail as soon as the due date for scheduled delivery. The hold mail request can hold your mail, including letters and packages, for all personnel that are allowed this service at a particular location.
Note that the United States Postal Service Hold Mail Request can be filed by anybody at a worthy location or an approved personnel. Also, another person may be eligible to stand in for the customer to submit the hold mail requests as long as the customer is able to supply the required information for the authorization of the request.
Is USPS hold mail free?
Of course, the USPS hold mail service ensures that no mail, letters, or packages are delivered to your address within the specified time frame. You can issue the hold mail request when you are going to be unavailable within a period of 3 to 30 days, whatever the reason may be.
This USPS hold mail service is 100% free, as there are no additional charges expected of you during this period, so feel at ease to use this opportunity whenever necessary.
When you place this request, the USPS will retrieve your mail and place it safely in their custody pending when you get back. Aside from safely guarding your mail, this also prevents your mailbox from overcrowding.
Should you stop your mail when you go on vacation?
There are a few services implemented by the USPS to help secure your mail as well as reduce the rate of overcrowding in your mailbox. These services offered include informed delivery, temporary forwarding, and mail holding.
Whereas the informed delivery service is a good option as you know what’s coming in, the hold mail service might be preferable as the USPS will be in possession of your mail order pending your arrival, especially when you are not around for a long period of time.
Sometimes your mailbox gets so full that the carriers have no option but to take it back to the office as a result of having no space for additional mail. At this point, you may have no idea about incoming mail, and if it’s not claimed within a 10 day time frame, the mail is returned to the sender, so it’s a very good idea to place a formal hold mail request.
Residents are eligible to schedule a hold on mail for up to 30 days before the hold starts as set by the United States Postal Service. Even if you procrastinate till the last day, you are still eligible to place a hold mail request until 3 a.m. Eastern standard time on the day you wish to begin the hold.
So if you were contemplating what to do with your undelivered mail while you are on vacation, you can pick the informed delivery on a short trip. If you expect to spend a longer time, the hold mail order is best as it reduces mail theft. But for trips longer than 30 days, the forward mail option should be applied to enable the mail to be delivered to your new but temporary location.
How long does USPS hold mail before returning to sender?
The United States postal service’s hold mail service is available to customers who are not physically available to receive their mail orders and do not want the mail man to keep them in the mail box as a result of plagues of mail pirates or to prevent overcrowded mailboxes.
When you place your hold, the hold will last for a period of 3 days minimum and 30 days maximum. At the end of your hold date, the mail carriers will deliver the mail to your address, or you can choose to pick it up yourself from the post office.
If the mail carriers go to deliver the mail to your address and you are not around to pick it up because you or the sender specifically requested a signature at the pick up or you have an overcrowded mail box without space to fit in your held mail, the mail carriers take the mail back to the post office.
Your mail or package will be held for a period of 15 days after the first notice attempt was made. As for express mail, it will be held for five days. If you placed a hold on your package and went on vacation, it will be held during the vacation period. It can be held for up to 30 days.
When your mail hold date has ended and you have yet to pick up your mail, the office will hold it for a period of 10 days before returning it to the mailer. Hence, with a signatory request, it will be held for 25 days, or might be less if the sender requests a return sooner.
Is mail delivered on last day of mail hold?
When making a hold mail request, you should know that your mail will be held for a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 30 days. During this hold period, all mail coming to that address, irrespective of the name on it, will be placed on hold for the inputted address.
The only thing needed to stop mail from going to a particular address is to hold mail requests.
Once the request is placed, the post office will stop all mail delivery heading to your address. Immediately after the hold mail date is reached, your mail carrier will begin mail delivery to your address. That is, if your hold mail due date is September 30th, mail activities will begin on the 1st of October.
Can you stop mail delivery over the phone?
The vacation mail hold service helps safeguard your mail packages while you need to be away. So basically, this service is implemented to safeguard mail as well as introduce flexibility in order to balance your time. It must not be a necessity that you must come from a far location on your vacation to get your mail once delivered due to fear of theft, or that it will be returned to sender, or even an overflowing mailbox.
To match the flexibility, you can set up the hold mail service in person, online or even over the phone. Over the phone, you can set up mail hold service by calling 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777), then inform the receiving agent about your request. This may not be the easiest of ways, as there will be a need for identity verification.
You can also visit the post office to place a hold in person or carry out this request online through their website. To do this, you must have a USPS.com account.
What happens when a mail hold expires?
At the end of your hold mail request date, you can pick up your mail by yourself or have your mail carrier deliver it to your mailbox. Make sure that you must present a valid and acceptable identification form if you choose to pick up your mail yourself. However, if the mailman is delivering accumulated mail, only mail that fits in your mailbox will be put there.
In situations where the bulk mail is more than your box can carry, a PS Form 3849-We ReDeliver for You! The package will be dropped off for you, and the excess mail will be sent back to the post office. Your mail will be held at the post office for a period of 10 days before it is sent back to the mailer.
How do you restart mail delivery?
Going on vacation does bring up the need to place mail on hold, but in an event whereby you return earlier than expected, you will need to restart mail delivery, thereby avoiding the hold request. Here’s how to do it.
The first step is to log in to usps.com and go to the hold mail site, tap on edit or cancel hold mail requests.
Select “cancel,” hold mail requests and input your confirmation number where necessary. The confirmation number is the number given to you when placing the hold mail request. You will be directed to enter your address and zip code, then tap on continue.
A cancellation verification code will appear. You can tap Yes on the page to confirm your request. You will get a confirmation that your hold is canceled, so mail delivery will return to normal.
In the event of a lost confirmation code, you will need to visit the post office with your identification so that the postal personnel can confirm your identity as well as help to cancel your mail hold.