Learn About Bulk Mailing and Tracking → Move Update

Complying with the USPS Move Update (NCOA) Requirement

 Scott
 Postage $aver Software


Not sure whether you need to do Move Update? Check our quick Move Update & CASS checklist.

It costs USPS millions of dollars to handle mail that is addressed to people or organizations that have moved. To reduce this expense, USPS requires most bulk mailers to make sure they have an up-to-date address for each recipient. This requirement is called the "Move Update" requirement. There are a bunch of different ways to comply with this requirement. Some are free.

You need to know:

• Move update is required for:
  √ Marketing Mail letters, flats and parcels (commercial and nonprofit).
  √ Presorted First Class Mail.
  √ Parcel Select Lightweight.
  
  Move update is not required for:
  X Regular First Class Mail.
  X Nonpresorted First Class Mail with indicia.
  X USPS Ground Advantage.
  X Bound Printed Matter.
  X Periodicals class.
  
  
• Here are free (or almost free) ways to comply with the Move Update requirement:
  
  
  The simplest way is to use "Or Current Resident" in your addresses. If you do that, then USPS can leave the mail even if the recipient has moved away, so they don't care if you have the correct name in the address. But some mailers think this looks impersonal. And, if you use "Or Current Resident", you can't also request to be sent address changes or have the mail forwarded.
  
  If you recently got the names and addresses directly from your recipients, then you don't have to do anything else. Let's say you went to a trade show and got a bunch of leads, and you are mailing to them within 95 days of when they gave you their addresses. That's good enough for USPS. But that doesn't work if you bought the list from someone else. See Directly Acquired Addresses.
  
  If you mailed to these same recipients within the past 95 days, and you requested address corrections on that mailing, and made those corrections to your list, you have complied with the Move Update requirement. See Address Change Service. Address corrections are free if you are using full-service barcodes on your mail. Otherwise, there's a small cost for each correction.
  
  
• If none of those free options work for you, then you must match your list to the National Change of Address (NCOA) data base. That's a list of all the change-of-address forms submitted to USPS. You can't buy the NCOA list, but there are companies that will match your mailing list to it for you. See NCOA Matching for more details and links to some companies our customers use for this service.
  
  
• Your signature on your postage statement is your promise that you complied with Move Update. There is not a separate "Move Update" certification form. But you must check the correct "Move Update Method" box on the postage statement. I'll show you below which one to check for each option.
  
  
• Move update is not the same thing as "CASS certification". CASS is a different requirement that applies to barcoded letter-sized and flat-sized mail. But, if you are using the NCOA matching method to comply with the Move Update requirement, you get CASS certification free as part of the NCOA matching process.

Here's more detail on each option (plus some unusual ones):

Using the "Or Current Resident" exemption.

Using addresses that customers recently gave you.

Using Address Change Service.

Checking the NCOA database.

Claiming your list is 99% accurate.

When the law prohibits address updates.

Here's an easy way to comply the move update requirement. You can give USPS permission to leave the mail at the address on the piece even if the person or company has moved.

You do this by adding "OR CURRENT RESIDENT" (or similar wording) under the person's name or company's name in the address. Like:

This also works if you are just mailing to "POSTAL CUSTOMER" (or similar wording) without using any person's name or company's name.
If you are using Presorted First Class, be aware that if you put "OR CURRENT RESIDENT", or a similar line, on your mail, your mail will not be forwarded or returned to you if the person or business has moved, as it otherwise would be.

If you use this method, you should check "n/a Alternative Address Format" as your move update method when you fill out the postage statement.


You may not want to use something like "Or Current Resident", perhaps because it looks too impersonal. Then you must meet the Move Update requirement by one of the other methods.

Your mailing complies with the move update requirement automatically if a person gives you his or her address, and you mail to that person within 95 days. USPS assumes that if the recipient just gave you the address, it's very likely the address is still good. But be careful:

• The recipient must have given the address directly to you or your company, not to someone else who gave or sold you the address list.
  
  
• You must have actually have received the address, or at least confirmed the address, within the past 95 days. "We talked to them and they didn't say they had a new address" doesn't cut it, unless you specifically confirmed the address, and kept a record that you did so.

If you are mailing to your list at least once every 95 days, your mailings can comply with the move update requirement by using one of the USPS address correction options, such as "Address Service Requested", on your mailings and updating your list with all the address changes you receive.

This works for all address correction options except "Forwarding Service Requested" (since that option does not provide you with the new address). For a good summary of the various address correction services and options, look at a good guide to address correction services.

But note this important restriction:

This method only complies with the move update requirement for your current mailing if you used address correction on a previous mailing to the same addresses within the past 95 days. This method does comply with the move update requirement if it's the first time you are mailing to an address. That's because "Address Correction Requested" doesn't give you an updated address until USPS tries to deliver the piece that you're mailing.

So, the first time you mail to your list (or the first time in the past 95 days), you must use another method to comply. If the addresses meet the "directly acquired" method, then you're ok. Or, you can use NCOA matching. Either way, if you then use an address correction option on your mailing, you'll be good for all subsequent mailings within 95 days. Then each mailing with address correction within 95 days of the last mailing extends compliance for another 95 days forward.

If your mailing complies because you used an address correction method on a previous mailing, you should check one of three boxes on your postage statement, depending on which USPS address correction option you used.

Your mailing complies with the move update requirement if you have a list processing service check your list against the USPS National Change of Address (NCOA) data base, using a service called NCOA18. This will tell you if anyone on your list has filed a change of address notice with USPS within the past 18 months, and will give you the new address, if available.

You can also use NCOA48 service, which goes back 48 months. It's usually a little more expensive than NCOA18.

This is the easiest option for most mailers, if you don't want to do "or current resident". And you get a bonus: NCOA18 and NCOA48 include CASS certification, which is required if you want to add barcodes to your letter-sized or flat-sized mail to save additional postage.

List processing companies typically charge less than $2/1000 addresses to run NCOA18 on your list. (Some have a minimum charge per job.)

Here is the company we use for NCOA when we do a mailing:


They are especially good for smaller lists as they do not have a per-job minimum charge.

Yes, there is a way to do that for Presorted First Class Mail only, but it's only practical for very large mailing lists.

USPS will check your list against their National Change of Address (NCOA) data base on request. If USPS finds that less than 1% of your addresses need updating, they will let you use the list for one year without further checking.

But, USPS charges a minimum of $160 to check your list, so the other methods usually would cost you a lot less, unless your list is very large. And, if you add or change more than 1% of the addresses during the year, you have to start the process over. So this is not a good option for most small mailers.

For details of this process, contact the move update department at the USPS National Customer Support Center, at 800-238-3150, and ask about the "99% accurate" move update method.

On rare occasions, a law might prohibit you from changing an address without permission from the recipient. For example, some banking regulations and voter registration laws prohibit making address changes without the recipient's permission.

USPS allows an exception to the move update requirement in such cases, but first requires the mailer to run the list through NCOA and then contact each addressee that shows a changed address.

The mailer must apply for the exception and receive permission from USPS. For details of this process and to apply for the exception, contact the move update department at the USPS National Customer Support Center, at 800-238-3150, and ask about the "legal restraint" move update method.

Get the latest USPS Move Update Guide.

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