08 November 2023
Isle of Man Post Office (IOMPO) is pleased to announce details of its Christmas arrangements for 2023. Details include last recommended posting dates, opening and closing times, and collection and delivery times across its services for the festive period.
Last Recommended Posting Dates
Isle of Man Post Office would like to remind all customers of the importance of ordering and posting early to avoid disappointment this Christmas.
Last recommended posting dates to international destinations including Australia and New Zealand start from Tuesday 28th November. A full list of posting dates for international destinations is available at www.iompost.com/christmas, with regular updates announced via our Facebook page.
For friends and family of HM Forces personnel, mail must be sent by no later than Friday 24th November for operational British Forces Post Office (BFPO) and for static BFPOs no later than Friday 1st December. Don't forget friends and family can continue to send letters and parcels up to 2kg free of charge to any BFPO address. Customers are reminded all items containing goods to be sent to destinations beyond the UK including the Channel Islands, need to be equipped with customs declaration forms. Details can be found on our website www.iompost.com/ecd.
The last recommended posting date for sending letters and parcels to the UK is Monday 18th December; the last posting date for Parcelforce48, Special Delivery (now a 2 Day Service) and Click & Dispatch Tracked48 to the UK is Wednesday 20th December. The deadline for our UK Special Delivery Next Day service, which is available to Click & Dispatch customers as well as over the counter at Postal Headquarters in Braddan, is Thursday 22nd December at 3pm.
The Deadline for local letters and local Parcelforce48 is Wednesday 20th December. The On-Island Special Delivery deadline is Thursday 21st December.
Customers are also reminded to make sure their letters and parcels are properly addressed, ensuring a postcode and return name and address is included along with correct postage applied to avoid any delays. For information about prices, packaging and addressing standards visit www.iompost.com/christmas.
Isle of Man Post Office Retail Network
The Island-wide Post Office network will be open as normal in the lead up to Christmas. On Saturday 23rd December all post offices will be open as normal except for Castletown, Foxdale and Kirk Onchan which will be closed. Sunday 24th December – Tuesday 26th December as well as Sunday 31st December and Monday 1st January 2024 IOMPO and all Post Offices will be closed, reopening on for their normal hours on Tuesday 2nd January 2024.
Customers are advised that any notice left cards received on Friday 22nd December can be collected on Saturday 23rd during 06.00-13.00 at Northern Delivery Office (NDO) and 09:00-12.30 at Post Office Headquarters (POHQ). Any notice left cards received on the 23rd December for NDO and POHQ are unlikely to be available for collection on that same day. Should customers receive a notice left card referencing an alternative collection site to NDO and POHQ, customers are reminded that all Parcel Collection Points might operate on slightly amended opening hours. IOMPO recommends that customers check with the individual sites for their opening hours.
For a full breakdown of opening hours across the Island over the festive period visit www.iompost.com/christmas.
Sending Mail
Customers are reminded to familiarise themselves with items that are restricted in quantity for safe travel through the post, particularly when it comes to sending Christmas presents to loved ones. For example customers can send items to the UK of up to 4 x bottles of perfume in one package at 150ml each. Further they can send toiletry aerosols up to 500ml x2 within one parcel. 4 bottles of Nail varnish up to 30ml are allowed per parcel. All must be correctly packaged.
For a full list of prohibited and restricted items visit www.iompost.com/restricted. Alternatively, if you are unsure about any items you wish to send to the UK or overseas, please contact Customer Services on 664664 or ask at your local post office.
Receiving Mail
IOMPO’s staff will seek to leave any parcels not requiring a signature in a safe place and put a notice left card through the letterbox to advise customers where the parcel has been left. Should no safe location be identified, the parcel will be brought back for safe keeping and a notice left card will advise customers of this.
Customers who miss their parcel delivery are advised that they can request a redelivery or direct their item to one of fifteen convenient Island-wide locations for collection by using our online redelivery request service www.iompost.com/collections. Customers will receive a text message notification when the parcel is at their requested location ready for collection. Many of these locations provide extended opening hours allowing customers to collect at a time that is suitable to them.
Isle of Man Post Office encourages customers to sign up for the Authority to Sign service. This allows the post person to sign for any items requiring a signature on behalf of the customer to post through the letterbox or leave them in a safe location on the property while customers are out. Details of Authority to Sign services can be found at www.iompost.com/ats or you can request a form from your local post office.
Christmas Stamps and Gifts
IOMPO is delighted to introduce the 2023 Christmas stamps Manx Winter Wildlife featuring festive illustrations by local artist Rowan Corlett. The self-adhesive stamps pay tribute to all that is Manx and festive and are a perfect way to celebrate Christmas and the joy of sending Christmas cards and presents to friends and family across the world. The stamp labels will be used for postage at all post offices and self-service kiosks. The collection includes a self-adhesive sheet (24 stamps) for local and UK letters which is the perfect solution for posting Christmas cards and is available to purchase online and at all post offices www.iompost.com/postal-shop
There are also a number of collectable items that would make wonderful Christmas gifts which are available to browse and purchase from iompost.com/christmasgiftshop. For those who prefer the option of a monetary gift or are going away for the festive period, IOMPO offers foreign currency, presented in a gift wallet and with free delivery, available to order at iompost.com/Forex or at your local post office.
Letters to Father Christmas
Isle of Man Post Office is pleased to continue its express letter service to the North Pole so that children of the Isle of Man can send their letters to Father Christmas and receive a free response. Father Christmas will endeavour to respond to each and every letter so these should be sent latest by Friday 15th December in an envelope with a first class stamp, so it reaches Lapland in a timely manner. Letters without a stamp will not reach Lapland. To avoid any disappointment, all letters should include a return address so Father Christmas knows who to send a reply to. Information about Father Christmas letters and sending and receiving Christmas mail can be found on the Christmas page of our website www.iompost.com/christmas.
Self-service kiosks
Customers are reminded of the Isle of Man 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 send letters and parcels, purchase postage and pay Government rates, fixed and endorsable penalty fines and utility bills. Details of all our service locations Island-wide can be found at https://www.iompost.com/tools-forms/post-office-services-finder.
All information is correct at the time of publication and subject to change. For up to date information please visit www.iompost.com/christmas or follow Isle of Man Post Office on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
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