The new postal regulations have been causing chaos for some businesses, with hundreds of letters returned since the law went into effect.

According to a Belco spokesperson, unopened bills returned to the company have increased tenfold in the past two-and-a-half weeks.

"We send out more than 1,000 bills per day. Since the postal changes, we are getting more than 50 bills a day returned, and sometimes it's considerably more than 50.

"In the past, a handful, maybe five or so per day, were returned."

Before the legislation went into effect on September 1, bills were usually returned because PO boxes had been closed or the receiver had died, the spokesperson added. The reason stamped across returned envelopes today, is that either the customer doesn't have a mailbox or the mailbox is in the wrong location.

And despite the efficiency the new regulations were to have brought about, Belco said it has been receiving mail that should have gone to other companies.

Belco is now asking customers to contact them if they have not received a bill in more than a month.

"We will not penalise customers, but it is incumbent upon customers to call if they have not received a bill to ensure that we have the correct address, conforming to the postal regulations," said the spokesperson. "We want customers to contact us, but if we have not heard from them we will be calling."

The spokesperson said that the new regulations are causing extra work, taking customer service and mailroom employees away from other important functions.

Good customers will not be penalised, she added.

"We look at each account and customers in good standing, who normally pay their bills on time, will not lose the discount because of one returned bill."

Belco is not the only company affected. A Bank of Bermuda spokesperson said yesterday that they have received a "noticeable increase" since the new regulations have come into effect.

"The bank is unable to take action on most of the increased returned mail since it is addressed in accordance to customer instructions," the spokesperson said.

While the bank said it has not received any customer complaints yet, they have contacted the postal service to try to right the problems.

A Bank of Butterfield representative could not confirm how much mail had been returned, but said they had asked their customers to update their address information a month prior to the switch to reduce the impact.

A BF&M spokesperson said the insurance company has had some mail returned and they were monitoring the situation.

There is an upside, according to Belco the number of customers requesting online billing has increased dramatically with approximately 40 customers requesting the service every day.

Postmaster General George Outerbridge did not respond to questions by press time.

• Have you been affected by the changes in the postal code? E-mail your story to ojohnstonbarnes@royalgazette.bm.

The new mail regulations

New postal regulations came into effect September 1 requiring residents to comply with the following:

• Mailboxes must be as close to the main road as possible

• All boxes, or buildings must be clearly labelled

• Multi-storey buildings must have either a reception desk or cluster mailboxes on the ground floor

• All mail must be properly addressed

If any of the above conditions are not met, mail will be returned to sender as undeliverable.