How to File a USPS Complaint Form: Online, Mail, and Appeals

To file a USPS complaint, match your problem to one of three channels: service issues like late or missing mail go through the Email Us portal at emailus.usps.com, insurance claims for lost or damaged packages go through the online claims system at usps.com/help/claims.htm, and reports of mail theft, fraud, or postal employee misconduct go to either the Office of Inspector General or the Postal Inspection Service. Picking the wrong channel is the most common reason complaints stall, so identify the type of issue before you start typing.¹

Match Your Problem to the Right Channel

USPS splits complaints across three offices, and each handles a different kind of problem. A service complaint sent to the fraud team, or a theft report sent through the service portal, sits in the wrong queue while any filing deadline runs.

Service complaints cover late deliveries, mail not arriving daily, carrier professionalism, post office hours or conditions, and redelivery problems. These go through the Email Us form.¹
Insurance claims cover lost, damaged, or missing-contents packages sent with insurance, Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, Registered Mail, or COD. These go through the online claims portal or by mailing PS Form 1000.²
Criminal reports split by who committed the act. Mail theft or destruction by a postal employee or contractor goes to the USPS Office of Inspector General. Mail crimes committed by anyone outside USPS — identity theft schemes, fraudulent mailers, packages stolen from your box by a stranger — go to the Postal Inspection Service.³

The Email Us portal also handles categories beyond missing packages: technical problems with USPS.com tools like Click-N-Ship or Informed Delivery, questions about permits and bulk mail, and feedback about postal facilities. Providing your contact information through any channel is voluntary, but USPS cannot process or respond without it.¹

Filing a Service Complaint Online

For non-financial issues, the Email Us portal is the right tool. Your carrier skips your house. A package shows “delivered” but never arrived. Your local post office keeps unreasonable hours. Start at emailus.usps.com and pick the category that fits:¹

Where is my package — for a missing item with a tracking number (Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, Certified Mail).
Where is my mail — for daily mail not being delivered, redelivery issues, change-of-address problems, package pickup, or mail theft.
Personnel — for complaints or compliments about a postal employee’s behavior or professionalism.
Postal Facility — for issues with a USPS location’s access, signage, hours, or appearance.
USPS.com — for technical problems with online tools like Click-N-Ship, PO Boxes, or Informed Delivery.

After selecting a category, click the corresponding email link and fill in the details. Include your tracking number if you have one, the dates involved, and a clear description of the problem. The system generates a confirmation with a case number you can use to follow up.

Start With a Missing Mail Search Before You Claim

Before filing a formal insurance claim for a lost package, USPS wants you to submit a Missing Mail search request. This triggers an internal search at mail processing facilities and gives USPS a chance to locate the item without a full claims investigation. You can submit a search request starting seven days after the mailing date.⁴

To start the search at missingmail.usps.com, you’ll need the sender and recipient addresses, a description of the container (size and type of box or envelope), your tracking number or mailing date from the receipt, a description of the contents including brand, model, color, or size, and any photos that could help USPS recognize the item.

If tracking shows delivery but you never received the package, or if the search doesn’t turn up results within the service-specific waiting period, that is when you move on to a formal insurance claim.⁴

Filing a Domestic Insurance Claim

Insurance claims require more documentation than a service complaint. You can file online through your USPS.com account or by mailing a paper PS Form 1000. The online route is faster and lets you track the claim’s progress.

What to Gather First

You cannot submit the online form without these documents in hand:²

Tracking or label number, found on your online label record, package label, mailing receipt, or sales receipt. USPS tracking and label numbers range from 13 to 34 characters depending on the service.
Evidence of insurance, meaning your original mailing receipt, the outer packaging showing the insured label with sender and recipient addresses, or a printed electronic label record from the application used to purchase insurance.
Proof of value: a sales receipt, paid invoice, credit card billing statement, statement of value from a reputable dealer, or a printout of the online transaction showing the purchaser, seller, price, date, item description, and completed transaction status.⁵
For damaged items, photos clearly showing the extent of damage plus a repair-cost estimate from a reputable dealer. Keep the mailing container, all packaging, and any damaged contents. USPS may request to inspect them at your local post office, and throwing them away before the claim is resolved results in automatic denial.⁵

Filing Online

Log in to your free USPS.com account, or create one, and go to the claims page. The claim is tied to your account, so you can save your progress and return later if you don’t have every document ready in one sitting. Upload your evidence, fill in the package details, and submit. You can opt in to email notifications about status changes, and all submitted claims appear in your Claim History.²

Filing by Mail With PS Form 1000

If you prefer paper, pick up PS Form 1000 (Domestic and International Claim) at any post office counter.⁶ Complete the form, attach your proof of value and evidence of insurance, and mail everything to USPS Accounting Services. You can also drop the form at your local post office, which will forward it on your behalf.⁵

Deadlines by Mail Class

Every domestic insurance claim has a filing window that depends on the service used. Filing too early, before USPS has had time to locate the item, or too late, after the deadline, means rejection. For damaged packages or missing contents, file immediately but no later than 60 days from the mailing date. For lost packages, the windows are:⁵

Priority Mail Express: no sooner than 7 days, no later than 60 days.
Priority Mail Express COD, Registered Mail, Insured Mail (including Priority Mail), and COD: no sooner than 15 days, no later than 60 days.
APO/FPO Priority Mail Express Military Service: no sooner than 21 days, no later than 180 days.
APO/FPO/DPO Insured and Registered Mail: no sooner than 45 days, no later than 1 year.
APO/FPO/DPO Insured Mail (surface only): no sooner than 75 days, no later than 1 year.

Military mail gets longer windows because of the extra transit time to overseas bases. If you’re shipping to an APO or FPO address, don’t panic when 30 days pass without an update — the filing window accounts for those delays.

International packages use different forms and windows. Priority Mail Express International runs 3 to 90 days. Priority Mail International runs 10 days to 6 months for Canada and 7 days to 6 months for other countries. Registered Mail international runs 7 days to 6 months. Original mailing receipts are required for international claims; copies are not accepted.⁷

What Happens After You File

For domestic insurance claims filed online, USPS typically issues a decision within 5 to 10 days.² Check the status in your USPS.com account under Claim History. If USPS approves the claim, payment is issued for the lesser of the item’s value or the insurance coverage amount you purchased.

Service complaints filed through the Email Us portal don’t follow the same timeline. USPS routes these to local management or a Consumer Advocate, and response times vary. If you escalate a service complaint to the Postal Regulatory Commission, USPS has 45 days to investigate and respond to you directly.⁸

Appealing a Denied Claim

A denial is not the end. USPS offers two levels of appeal, and each carries a 30-day deadline from the date of the previous denial.⁹

For the first appeal, online filers log in to USPS.com, go to Claim History, select the denied claim, and click “Submit an Appeal.” Paper filers send a written appeal within 30 days to:

Domestic Claims Appeals
Accounting Services
US Postal Service
PO Box 80141
St. Louis, MO 63180-0141

Explain why the claim should be reconsidered and include any supporting documentation — proof of value, evidence of mailing, proof of insurance coverage — that was missing or unclear the first time.

If the first appeal is also denied, you can file one more appeal within 30 days, this time to the Consumer Advocate. Online filers submit through the same Claim History interface. Paper filers mail the final appeal to:⁹

Consumer Advocate
Domestic Claims Appeals
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW
Washington, DC 20260-2200

Missing the 30-day window at either level forfeits your right to that appeal. Mark the denial date on your calendar the moment you receive it.

Escalating a Service Complaint to the Postal Regulatory Commission

If USPS hasn’t resolved a service complaint to your satisfaction, you can escalate to the Postal Regulatory Commission. The PRC is an independent federal agency that oversees USPS. When you file a mail service inquiry with the PRC, they document it and may forward it to USPS for resolution, and USPS then has 45 days to investigate and respond to you directly.⁸

The PRC also accepts complaints about USPS policy changes such as postage rate increases.¹⁰ A formal complaint proceeding, which alleges USPS is violating specific laws or regulations, is a more complex legal process that typically requires an attorney, and the PRC has detailed rules about what must be included and how the complaint is submitted and argued.⁸

Reporting Fraud, Theft, or Employee Misconduct

Criminal matters bypass the regular complaint system. Which agency you contact depends on who committed the offense:³

For a postal employee or contractor, report mail theft, mail destruction, fraud, or misconduct to the Office of Inspector General through the online form at hotlineform.uspsoig.gov.¹¹
For anyone outside USPS — stolen packages from your porch, a mail fraud scheme, identity theft through the mail — report the crime to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

The OIG investigates internal waste, fraud, and abuse within the postal system. The Postal Inspection Service is the law enforcement arm that handles crimes committed by the general public. Filing with the wrong office doesn’t necessarily kill the report, since the agencies can redirect, but getting it right the first time avoids delays in an investigation.

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United States Postal Service. Email Us
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United States Postal Service. File a USPS Claim: Domestic
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Office of Inspector General. Contact Us
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United States Postal Service. Missing Mail and Lost Packages
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Postal Explorer. 609 Filing Indemnity Claims for Loss or Damage
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United States Postal Service. Postal Bulletin 22368 – Domestic Claims Update
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United States Postal Service. File a USPS Claim: International
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Postal Regulatory Commission. Consumer Assistance
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USPS.com. Domestic Claims – The Basics
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USAGov. How to File a U.S. Postal Service Complaint
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USPS Office of Inspector General. USPS Complaint Form