Examples of how to address your mail
Our examples use suite number 1234, with Joe Doe as the addressee. You will need to replace it with your own name and Suite number.
All of these addresses are valid ways of presenting your address.
Street Address
John Doe # 1234
Level 1, 6 Johnsonville Road
Johnsonville
Wellington 6037
John Doe
Care of 1234
Level 1, 6 Johnsonville Road
Johnsonville
Wellington 6037
John Doe
Suite 1234, Level 1, 6 Johnsonville Road
Johnsonville
Wellington 6037
John Doe
C/O 1234
Level 1, 6 Johnsonville Road
Johnsonville
Wellington 6037
PO Boxes
John Doe
Reference #1234
PO Box 83000
Wellington 6440
New Zealand
John Doe
Mailroom 1234
PO Box 83000
Wellington 6440
New Zealand
What is a suite number, and why is it important?
On our standard Personal and Business plans, you get a sorting number. This number ensures we can identify your mail as yours, and as long as the number is on your mail, we will know it is yours. This number can be seen as a suite, apartment, “care of” or unit. In our office, we usually refer to this number as your suite number.
What happens if the suite number isn’t on your mail
These suite numbers are essential as they allow us to know that the mail belongs to you easily. If you don’t have your suite number included on your address, you could incur an inadequately addressed fee of $4.00NZ per letter without a suite number.
If we can’t identify who the mail belongs to
When a suite number is missing, we search our database. If we can’t determine who the mail belongs to, it will be returned to the sender.
Things get very difficult if more than one person with the same name is using our services. Without a suite number, we may not be able to determine who the mail is for.
For example –
Let’s say we have three customers who have similar names.
James Charles Smith
Jacob John Smith
Jeremy Jameson Smith
A letter arrives addressed to “J C Smith.” In this case, we have a fair idea that it is probably for James Charles Smith. Provided there are no other customers with the same initials and surname, we will add this mail to his account.
A letter arrives, addressed to “J J Smith.” In this case, we can assume it’s either for Jacob John Smith or Jeremy Jameson Smith, but there’s still not enough information to tell us who it should be. This mail could be returned to the sender.
A letter arrives addressed to “J Smith.” In this case, there is no way to know who the mail is for. We may contact the addressees in question, or return the mail to the sender.
If your mail does not have a return-to-sender address
If we cannot return mail to a sender because there is no return address, it will be held in our office for three months to allow collection. If uncollected or unclaimed after three months, it will be destroyed.
I think I’ve been charged the badly addressed fee in error
We always waive the first time we detect a missing Suite number. This gives you a chance to contact the sender and get it corrected.
Contact us if you feel we have unfairly charged you the bad address fee.
Alternate methods of addressing your mail
Some organisations have specific formats for addressing your mail. You can replace the # with the following examples: Care of (c/o), Suite (ste), Apartment (apt), or Member.
IMPORTANT – some places will not have any ability to use a suite number with a PO Box address. If you come across this situation, try switch over to the street address here at Private Box with the suite number attached.
Many places will have a line on addresses reserved for a ‘building name’ or ‘company name’ or other similar reference. If these fields are available, place your suite number there.
Related articles
- NZ Post Redirection – How to set up a redirection to your Private Box address
- Address format for NZTA – How to use your Private Box address on the NZTA website