Change of Address: Three Reasons to Do a COA

Whew! The change of address, notifying all the people, fatigued me! So many people want to know my new address! It’s more than just filling out a United States Postal Service card. 

The Three Reasons

Here are three reasons, personal finance reasons, to change an address: 

• Avoid Fraud
• Keep track of funded accounts
• Avoid annoying people

Avoid Fraud

We know that filling out a card at USPS is necessary because they will forward the mail for six months. While my experience has proven to me that that’s a soft deadline, my bank was one of the first institutions to request my new change of address from me. 

How’d they know I moved? When I changed my address with the Post Office, my bank found out immediately. Why? It’s hearsay, but because the bank is supposedly synced with the Post Office, they know when there’s the slightest change in a customer’s address, the bank sends out a notice asking for a new address. Incredible? Of course, it’s just hearsay.

Banks fight fraud

If it’s credible, it’s probably best because the bank fights fraud and a change of address is one way to defraud institutions. That possibly means a bank customer, too. So, along with checking on various accounts’ statuses daily, sending them a notice of address change is a good idea. If they email you about a change of address that you didn’t authorize!?! Please get to the bottom of it immediately!

In addition, gas stations can ask for a zip code associated with a credit card when customers make a purchase, so you may want to update your address just to be able to enter a current zip code at the pump.

Keep Track of Funded Accounts

So many people need to find their old tax-deferred accounts, like a missing 401K, that institutions offer to find them for you if you pay them a fee. Forget that! All it should take is to notify my old employer of any changes. 

I will notify them if I don’t see a statement when it’s supposed to arrive. Maybe they misplaced my first attempt. My old employer is one of the institutions I must notify about my change of address, even if it’s so easy to slip my mind. Who contacts an old employer about a change of address? Well, to be sure, I wouldn’t necessarily contact an old employer about it, except that I have an old 401K savings account there, and I want to keep getting statements. 

If you’re receiving Social Security and/or Medicare when you change address, you should also change your address with Social Security and Medicare. Your payments may not arrive, and you don’t want that service interrupted.

Avoid Annoying People

The IRS, State and local Governments, banks, and insurance companies want to know where you live. Some can levy fines too. Notifying the IRS and state and local governments is often a matter of law.

For instance, my car insurance company must have been the first to want to be notified. Still, I forgot about changing the address with the car insurance company up until the date of renewal, almost four months later! 

In truth, your car insurance company wants to know where your car is all the while they insure it. If you change address, they may want to know. It could affect your rates. Failure to Notify the car insurance company may cause them to cancel your account. 

Your State Wants to know where you live

Regarding taxes, You can fill out a form at the IRS to change your address or contact them on the phone. Lately, that’s been kind of laughable. Good luck.

Your State wants to know where you live, and they get it off a car’s registration, so not notifying your State of a change of address could also cause fines, albeit I’ve never known anybody who suffered that. It’s just the law in most states.

Social Security, Medicare, Veterans Administration, and Immigration

If you get veterans benefits, you should also change your address with the Veterans Administration. It updates your VA benefits and services. These benefits include pensions and disability. It also makes communicating about appointments, prescriptions, and communications with your health professionals easier. 

In the case of immigration, it’s essential to keep your immigration status up-to-date, including any change of address with immigration officials. 

Is it Better to Change the Address at the Post Office or Online?

When changing your address at the post office, the best way to do so may be at USPS.com, the online solution. It stands to reason that an online change will touch on all relevant issues without visiting your zip code’s brick-and-mortar post office. 

Of course, changing your address at the Post Office is a formality. The Post Office does not notify any of your contacts of services about your change, so you should inform people who regularly correspond with you of a change of address to give them a new address and because the change might affect other stuff. 

As the gossip goes, if a bank gets it off sync with the Post Office, that’s just the bank’s action. The Post Office only forwards your mail to your new address. That’s it. They don’t do a change of address with your contacts. 

Visit USPS.com

To visit your Post Office, you must first locate the Post Office that serves your address. The most obvious way to do this is to go online and enter “Post Office Nearby” in the Google search. Or go to the Post Office’s website, USPS.com, find the “Quick Tools” toolbar, Drop down the menu below “Receive” and click “Change of Address.”

You can opt-in to change your voter registration by clicking a box and even choose to connect to receive advertisements from Bed Bath Beyond, for example. Then, follow the prompts to fill out your information. They want a nominal fee of $1.10 to change your address and forward your mail. 

Or, to find your Post Office and change it there, click “Send” on the Quick Tools toolbar, then click “Find USPS Locations.” When your list comes up, click on the nearest Post Office address. The USPS’s map app will isolate that address on a map. You can print it out or enter the address into your map app on your smartphone for directions. Bring two forms of ID to permanently change your address at the Post Office, just in case your photo ID isn’t the greatest form of ID.

At the Post Office, you fill out a change of address form. While online COA is the most convenient way, can you do it for free by entering the physical form at the Post Office? You could save a buck! 

A List of People and Institutions to Notify

People who bill you for various services will want to know and may provide a “change of address” space on their bills or mailings. 

So, in the end, here is a list of People who want to know your new address: 

• Your Bank(s)
• Your Lawyer
• Your Health Provider
• Your dentist
• Your eye-doctor
• IRS
• Insurance Providers
• Subscription services
• Business Associates like partners, etc.
• Employers
• Retirement accounts, tax-deferred accounts, and pension managers
• Utility providers
• Schools at which you or other family members attend
• Your State’s Driver’s License Bureau and vehicle registration

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