Certified Mail - Supporting Evidence of Mailing
Sometimes Certified mail will go un-delivered. This can happen for a multitude of reasons, and hopefully the USPS does a good job of providing the details as to why a letter was not able to be successfully delivered.
Keep in mind also that the USPS doesn't guarantee delivery for certified mail, as they can't force anyone to sign and accept certified letter. If they are unable to deliver a letter for any reason, there will not be a signature file available. In the same way, if you were to take your letters directly to the USPS yourself, they wouldn't be able to send back a physical green card for any undeliverable mail pieces.
With that said, we've listed several ways below that will help you show proof that your documents were indeed mailed out through our website. Keep in mind that some of these items only apply to letters have been delivered, while some apply to letters that have not been delivered.
- Mailing History - Our website provides a snapshot of each letter on the History page, which can be accessed by clicking the green History button in the upper right-hand section of your account. That page shows a list of the letters you have sent through your account, along with specific details for each letter such as the tracking number, date, address information, letter proof, and more.
- USPS Tracking Information and Proof - the proofs within your OnlineCertifiedMail account shows the tracking number included on the letter that was sent out, along with the documents for that letter. It can be accessed for any letter by clicking the "View Letter" link to the right. The USPS tracking information also shows the tracking number for that particular letter. So, both pieces of information have the same tracking number which allows them to correspond together, meaning the proof can be shown with the tracking information to see exactly what the USPS did with the corresponding letter in the proof.
- The USPS Signature File (this option is only available if it was paid for and the letter was successfully delivered) - the USPS Certified Mail Signature File (Electronic Return Receipt, ERR) is a great way to show that the letter was not only sent out, but it also acts as proof that the letter was delivered to the recipient or returned to the sender.