NCOA-National Change of Address

NCOA Address Service for Postal Automation Discounts

US Postal Regulations require First Class and Standard Mail to go through an approved Move Update® process to receive automation discounts. This process compares and updates each of your address records to the USPS National Change of Address File (NCOA).

The regulations require mailers to use addresses that are updated within 95 days of the date of mailing. Mail bearing an alternative address format, such as “Current Resident”, is not required to conform to these new standards, as this type of address is not person specific.

With GGP’s NCOA service, you’ll receive the following benefits:

  • Easy process. GGP’s Certified Mail Specialists will take care of the details.

  • Reduce the cost to print and pay postage for undeliverable mail.

  • Avoid needing to mail those undeliverable copies again.

  • Provide Faster product/service marketing through accurate mail delivery.

Here’s how it works:

Send your mailing list to your GGP Customer Service Representative at least 10 days before your mailing date to allow adequate processing time. We will provide an NCOA Processing Acknowledgement Form for you to sign before we can process your list. This form will be kept on file and is good for one year.

The mailing department updates your list by comparing it to the National Change of Address Database. Each record in your list is assigned a code related to its level of accuracy.

  • Records determined to have poor address quality are returned with codes 10, 11, 12, 13, 17 and 33. These records will be removed from your mailing list prior to mailing.

  • Records where the potential recipient has moved and not provided a forwarding address return codes 23, 26, 27 and 28. These records will be removed from your list prior to mailing.

  • Records that have a match in the NCOA database will be updated automatically.

  • Once the NCOA update is completed, GGP’s mailing department will send you a Mailing Authorization form confirming the names of the files we are using, the quantities found and the NCOA changes. We will also send you a file containing the removed records and a file containing the updated records.

  • Standard procedure is that if UAA (undeliverable as addressed) records do not exceed 5% of the total, the NCOA list will be mailed without notification. If the UAA records are greater than 5%, we will contact you for instructions.