NEW POSTAL REGULATIONS

List Hygiene Being Taken to a New Level

In an effort to reduce the almost $2 billion that the US Postal Service estimates it spends annually on handling Undeliverable as Addressed mailpieces, it will begin tightening its address standards this Fall. Effective November 23, 2008, mail lists being used for standard mail class will need to be updated through an approved Move Update method within 95 days of the mail date. This means that a mailing scheduled to go out on November 23 will need to have a list that has been updated since August 20.

Approved methods for updating lists are National Change of Address (NCOA), Address Change Service (ACS), and Ancillary Service Endorsements (ASE) such as Address Service Requested. The cost to NCOA your list will vary depending on the size of the list, but the minimum cost is $35.00.

Keep in mind that even if you are using a list that you have used before, it will need to be updated within 95 days of the mail date to ensure that any address changes are incorporated into your list. After updating the list, it will be good for 95 days as long as you don't make any changes to it. List owners will be required to keep documentation proving that their lists were processed through an approved Move Update process.