What happens if stamp is not enough

After you place the letter in the mail collection box, it goes to a post office department where it gets sorted using automated equipment. If there is no stamp on your envelope, a special scanner will detect it , and the letter will be attributed to a separate category of mail. It will then be sent to a dedicated employee who also checks for the missing postage stamps. The price the receiver will have to pay depends on the post office.

In most cases, the receiver will pay a fee that equals the price of the stamp, but it can also happen that they need to pay a surcharge for insufficient postage for the unstamped letter.

If the receiver refuses to pay, the letter will be returned to you as sender. You, as the initial sender, will then have to cover the required fees. The length of delivery back to the sender depends on the destination. Usually, it may take up to a couple of days for the unstamped envelope to be returned to the sender.

There is no guarantee that the matter will be solved with success, but you can explain the situation to either of the suggested and ask them to return the letter to you so you can put a stamp on it. Generally, there is no law forbidding you from sending unstamped letters.

If you send an unstamped letter without a return address, the envelope will be delivered to the destination address marked on the envelope. Then, the receiver will have to pay the postage fee. Investor centre. Privacy centre. Holidays Act portal. Report a scam. Resources for journalists. Media releases. Returning the ballot to the sender may mean that there's not enough time to send it again. For this reason, the post office makes an exception and will deliver all absentee ballots, even if they do not have enough postage.

Either the sender or receiver is required to pay the remaining postage, depending on the circumstances — with the exception of absentee ballots.

Maggie McCormick is a freelance writer. She lived in Japan for three years teaching preschool to young children and currently lives in Honolulu with her family. She received a B. Individual such pieces or quantities fewer than 10 are delivered to the addressee on payment of the charges marked on the mail.

For quantity mailings of 10 or more pieces, the mailer is notified so that the postage charges may be adjusted before dispatch.

For an Express Mail Next Day, Second Day, Military, or Same Day Airport Service item received at the office of mailing without sufficient adhesive or meter stamps, the mailer is contacted to correct the deficiency before dispatch. For a Custom Designed Service item received at the office of mailing with an incorrect weight listed, and if postage is paid with adhesive or meter stamps, the mailer is contacted to correct the deficiency before dispatch. If shortpaid registered mail is found in ordinary mail, with only the First-Class rate of postage paid, the piece is delivered to the addressee as ordinary First-Class Mail.

If the amount of postage and fees affixed indicates that the piece was intended to be registered, the piece is rated as postage due and forwarded to the addressee through the registered mail. If shortpaid registered mail is found in the registered mail, the piece is delivered without the collection of postage due.

The additional postage is collected from the sender. Shortpaid nonmachinable First-Class Mail is returned to the sender for additional postage. Mail with insufficient postage that is refused by the addressee or otherwise undeliverable is:.

The sender may affix the additional postage, cross out the reason for nondelivery, and remail the piece. Returned to the sender and delivered when the sender pays the total deficient postage and additional postage for forwarding or return if other than First-Class Mail and with a return address. Postage stamps or meter stamps originally affixed to insufficiently prepaid mail are accepted in payment of postage to the amount of their face value when the mail is again presented for mailing.

At the following rates if only a minor part of the contents is nonpermissible written matter:. Except for limited use by newspapers under D , any mailable matter not bearing postage found in, upon, attached to, supported by, or hung from private mail receptacles described in D is subject to payment of the same postage if carried by mail.

If there is a distribution of pieces to some, but not all, addresses on a route, pieces are returned to the delivery unit for use in computing the postage due. For other matter, if the piece weighs less than 16 ounces, the applicable single-piece First-Class Mail or Priority Mail rate based on the weight of the piece is applied, or an applicable Package Services rate is applied, whichever is lower. If the piece weighs 16 ounces or more, the Package Services rate is applied.