Isle of Man Post Office is pleased to announce details of its last posting dates, and opening and closing times across its services for the festive period, along with other important information for customers.
Airmail bound for Africa and Middle East should be sent no later than December 1, while Cyprus, Asia and Far East (excluding Japan), Eastern Europe except Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia is December 5. Mail for the Caribbean, Central and South America is December 6. Friday 8 December is the last date for airmail destined for Greece, Australia and New Zealand, with Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and Poland by December 12. Those posting to Canada, Finland, Sweden and the USA should post items by December 13. Meanwhile, Austria, Iceland, Ireland, Portugal and Spain should be sent by December 14. Finally, December 15 is the last posting date for France, Belgium, Ireland and Luxembourg.
For friends and family of HM Forces personnel, mail must be sent by no later than December 8 for static BFPOs and November 24 for operational BFPOs. Don't forget friends and family can continue to send letters and parcels up to 2kg free of charge to any BFPO address.
The last posting date for sending letters, large letters and packets to the UK delivery is December 21; this is also the last posting dates for local mail and Parcelforce next day and Special Delivery next day guaranteed service. Special Delivery Saturday guaranteed to the UK, Channel Islands and local delivery is Friday 22 December. For full details of last posting dates visit iompost.com.
The Post Office network will be open as normal in the lead up to Christmas with the exception of Peel Post Office and the Southern Delivery Office which are both operating extended opening hours from November 27th and November 20th respectively. Opening hours for all Post Offices can be found at iompost.com.
Post Offices and delivery offices will be closed on Christmas Day (December 25th) and Boxing Day (December 26th) and January 1st, 2017. On January 2nd, Post Offices and delivery offices will be open as usual.
Customers that miss their parcel delivery are encouraged to use on online redelivery request service to arrange delivery of their item on a more convenient day. Or, to avoid missing any deliveries altogether, customers can sign up for our Safe Place service. This means if you are not at home when the postman delivers a package it can be left in a designated Safe Place as nominated by you. Details of redelivery and Safe Place services can be found at iompost.com, alternatively pick up a Safe Place form at your local post office.
Customers are also reminded of the Post Office’s self-service Pay & Post Kiosks which are positioned across the Island and offer convenient access to postal services out of working hours without the need to queue. The Pay & Post Kiosks assist those customers wishing to pay to send letters and packets, purchase postage and pay Government rates and rents, fixed and endorsable penalty fines and utility bills, and details of their locations can be found at iompost.com.
During the festive period the Department of Health and Social Care has advised of the early encashment of pensions and allowances for the convenience of customers, therefore pensions and allowances due for payment on December 25th and 26th can be collected on 22nd December and allowances due on January 1st and 2nd 2018 may be collected on December 29th.
Customers are kindly reminded to make sure any items being sent are safe to fly this Christmas. Many everyday items are classified as prohibited or restricted under transport legislation therefore some cannot be flown whilst with others there may be exceptions. For a full list of prohibited and restricted items visit iompost.com. Alternatively, if you are unsure about any items you wish to post to the UK or overseas this Christmas, please contact Customer Services on 664664 or ask at your local post office.
This Christmas we continue to offer a free reply service for all the children that write letters to Father Christmas. Father Christmas will endeavour to respond to each and every letter so these should be sent as soon as possible with a reply address to ensure they get there safely and timely.
Meanwhile, you can help us this Christmas by making sure you address your mail correctly with a return address and postcode included. Information about our Father Christmas letters and sending and receiving Christmas mail can be found on the Christmas page of our website iompost.com/Christmas.
This year’s Christmas stamps were designed by artist Catherine Rowe, The Twelve Days of Christmas issue consists of 12 delightfully illustrated 1st Class stamps, perfect for all your Christmas cards this year. Each stamp in the collection represents one of the verses in the song, from Twelve Drummers Drumming to the Partridge in a Pear Tree.
The stamps were issued on October 19th and the collection includes collectable stamp sheets, with gummed and self-adhesive options, a four-page presentation pack folder holding a mint set of the stamps and a First Day Cover, with a full set of the stamps cancelled with the first day of issue using a unique postmark. There is a decorative sheetlet with album – a perfect festive gift - and Christmas cards featuring the delightful stamp designs.
The stamp collection is available to purchase from across the Post Office network and online at iompost.com/Christmas.
Finally, ?500 of foreign currency is up for grabs with our Christmas competition. To enter all you need to do is complete the coupon featured in the Christmas door to door leaflet, distributed to all homes Island-wide and post your entry to IOM Post Competition, Isle of Man Post Office Headquarters, IM2 1AA. Entry forms are also available at iompost.com/Christmas. All entries must be with us by December 15th. Further terms and conditions apply.
