Poste Restante

• Choose a Post Office branch to collect your mail from. This can be almost anywhere in the UK and in most larger towns abroad. Check if there’s Post Restante where you’re going.
• Any mail posted in the UK is kept for you in your chosen Post Office for up to two weeks. Anything posted from overseas is kept for one month.

 

How to set up Poste Restante

1. Go into the branch

• If you're resident in the UK or already travelling in the UK, just pop into the branch you'd like your post sent to. (Please note that the service may not be available everywhere).
• For people who are travelling to the UK but have not yet arrived, you can find out if a branch offers the service by contacting us at the email address: customercare@postoffice.co.uk . You can also write to us at:
  FREEPOST,
  POST OFFICE,
  CUSTOMER CARE
  
  Please allow 5 working days for a response.

 

You can also find the address details for Post Office branches in our Branch Finder.

2. Share the address

Let your friends, family and business contacts know the Post Office address you’ll be picking up your mail from. This is how it should be written:

Your name
POST RESTANTE
Post Office name
Full address of the Post Office
Postcode of the Post Office
Country (if applicable)

Your Poste Restante address will be active straight away. 

Don’t forget to ask them to include a return address on the back of the envelope.

3. Pick up your post

Just go to your designated Post Office branch to pick up your post.

If you’re visiting the UK from abroad, bring your passport as a form of identification.

If you live in the UK, you'll also need to show proof of your address as well as your passport.

• Choose a Post Office branch to collect your mail from. This can be almost anywhere in the UK and in most larger towns abroad. Check if there’s Post Restante where you’re going.
• Any mail posted in the UK is kept for you in your chosen Post Office for up to two weeks. Anything posted from overseas is kept for one month.

Small print

The Poste Restante service is operated at the discretion of the Royal Mail/Post Office Limited. 

The service cannot be used for more than 3 months within the same UK town

• An item will not normally be kept for more than: 14 days for an item posted in the UK and delivered to a UK Post Office one month for an item posted overseas and delivered to a UK post office
• Any mail uncollected after these timescales shall be treated as undeliverable and sent to National Returns Centre at Belfast
• The service will be withdrawn if it is believed to be abused (e.g. the recipient has a permanent address in the area).

 

If we suspect the Poste Restante service is being abused, we’ll withdraw the service immediately without notice. After this, we’ll return any items we receive to the sender.