01/02/2026
IMPORTANT CHANGE in how the POST OFFICE will handle putting postmarks on your mail. This began on 12/24/25 ~ A USPS postmark used to indicate the date when mail was dropped in a mailbox or submitted at the post office counter. Now, USPS is clarifying in a new rule that the postmark will reflect the date an envelope is first processed by an automated USPS sorting machine, potentially days after it was dropped off – not the actual drop-off date. This will affect the insurance payments you put in the mail as it no longer will be postmarked when you put it in the mail but whenever it gets to their sorting machine. Many insurance companies will accept late payments in their office as long as it is postmarked on the required due date. This change is going to mean that you can't drop your payment at the post office on the required due date as it may not be postmarked till days later, which means that your insurance may cancel for non-pay or if it's an installment payment, you may now have a late fee applied!
https://about.usps.com/newsroom/statements/082625-federal-register-notice-of-additional-postmarking-information.htm
