How can I receive a bill by mail these days??

November 19, 2021 6:12 AM

I need to receive a bill or two by mail for a proof of address, but no one snail mails bills anymore!

Part of the problem is that I don't pay for utilities or internet right now. So those are out. I have a prepaid cell phone plan, which I thought I could start getting paper bills for, but it appears they don't do paper bills anymore unless you pay for it (I'm willing to, but apparently my plan doesn't have a paper bill option).

So I've been trying to find SOMETHING that I can be billed for in advance before purchase. I signed up for a few magazines via those no postage necessary post cards that are often found on the inside and checked the "bill me later" box. However it's been weeks and I still haven't received any bills in the mail, so I don't know if those post cards were even processed.

I've even tried setting up a doctor's appointment and asking if they can send me a bill (I have no insurance right now as I'm waiting until the end of 2022 for reasons I need not mention here). so that I can pay for the appointment in advance- but she said they "don't do that" and that I would have to pay when I came in for the appointment instead. I'm up to the end of my rope. Even when I look up signing up for a service the only options seem to be to pay via online or through an app. I've run out of ideas. How I can get a bill MAILED to me??

posted by fantasticness to Grab Bag (25 answers total)

Have you tried talking to whoever it is that's asking for the bill? Can they suggest alternatives? Will they take a printout of an online bill? It's a pretty old-fashioned way to ask for proof of address.
posted by pipeski at 6:15 AM on November 19, 2021 [3 favorites]

I apologize for answering indirectly, but if something like a bank statement would count, might you be able to order one from your bank? I have a Bank of America account and they offer the ability to have a copy of a paper statement mailed to me. There is a $5 fee but if this is a one-off need for residency, maybe there's something like that?
posted by andrewesque at 6:17 AM on November 19, 2021 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: They specifically want a bill that has been "post-marked in the last 70 days."
posted by fantasticness at 6:17 AM on November 19, 2021

I don't know what to do with the "post-marked" part, but I wonder if you could go online and print a PDF of a bill from, like, the electric company or your credit card and try to use that. The "post-marked" requirement is so random and difficult to enforce with precision -- i.e., half of mail does not have a real postmark, or an illegible one -- that I would be surprised if they are real sticklers about it. If that does not work, I would try to think of municipal services-sort of things (which are less online), like library fees or car parking stickers or the like. City/state bureaucracies are used to dealing with weird paperwork issues and a friendly clerk might be able to have something mailed to you, like a statement of the fees you paid for something.
posted by Mid at 6:30 AM on November 19, 2021 [7 favorites]

Does it have to be a bill for services, or will another official document do? Would it work to make a charitable donation, like to your local animal shelter, and get the receipt mailed to you? That's a fairly formal document, because you can use it for tax purposes.
posted by JanetLand at 6:32 AM on November 19, 2021 [2 favorites]

A local newspaper subscription might do this, especially if they are a smaller town or more rural county.
I was able to use a bank statement for this requirement back in 2014 (with the state of MN) and if you have a lease or tax return, it is worth asking about using those as well.

I see an issue with the "postmarked" requirement because often, business mail doesn't have any date on the envelope at all. I have two envelopes from my local food shelf here and one has postage and a postmark with a date on it. The other just has a stamp that says "postage paid" on it with a permit number and no cancellation stamp or date on it anywhere.
posted by soelo at 6:33 AM on November 19, 2021 [1 favorite]

Everyone who has asked for a "postmarked" bill from me has accepted a self-printed account statement from my bank/phone company. The important thing is that it has your name, address, and a date on it.

Weirdly, a lot of places do not accept a lease as proof of address.
posted by AndrewStephens at 7:01 AM on November 19, 2021 [13 favorites]

If the postmark is actually important, print out a bank statement, cc statement, or whatever they'll accept and mail it to yourself!
posted by mskyle at 7:05 AM on November 19, 2021 [7 favorites]

I just went through this trying to get a license in NY. I was in the same situation, no utility or rent bills. I did two things: I had friends send me mail, and I changed my credit card and bank account settings to send bill/statement by mail.
posted by mareli at 7:11 AM on November 19, 2021

Or, get a friend to mail you a "bill" for tech services they performed for you.
posted by JanetLand at 7:11 AM on November 19, 2021 [1 favorite]

A printed statement with your address is fine. I've never had an issue.
posted by tiny frying pan at 7:11 AM on November 19, 2021

Printed (by me) statements from bank, Social Security, and a state pension did not work for me at NY DMV but random letters from random friends did, rules are really really stupid. If you need a random person to send you a letter I'll be happy to do so.
posted by mareli at 7:15 AM on November 19, 2021 [5 favorites]

order something online to be shipped and "billed" to your house? Shouldn't matter that it was billed and paid for in the same day.
posted by domino at 7:16 AM on November 19, 2021 [1 favorite]

and if it is for real id, we ran into this with a parent who had very few bills in their name and were able to use a print out from the doctors office that had her address and ssn on it. she had been to the doctor in the last 90 days though
posted by domino at 7:21 AM on November 19, 2021

Just confirming that I also was not allowed to use a printout of a pdf bill for this. Some of it may come down to the individual who is evaluating it and their current mood. But it’s not a sure thing.
posted by primethyme at 7:50 AM on November 19, 2021 [1 favorite]

This seems excessive, but if you sign up for a store credit card and purchase something with it, that will get you a mailed bill in not too long.
posted by teremala at 7:54 AM on November 19, 2021

You could probably call your bank and get a monthly statement sent to you even if you usually get it electronically
posted by raccoon409 at 8:09 AM on November 19, 2021

I was in your same situation--I don't pay utility bills and needed proof of address. I was able to get my bank to send me my next month's statement by mail, but I had to ask (it was email by default). I also opened an online savings account with CIT, and they mailed me all the paperwork and my statement. You need to deposit $100 to open the account, but you don't need to leave it there forever.
posted by assenav at 9:09 AM on November 19, 2021

I was also going to say to get a bank statement. This might not be quick, though: I needed one of these recently, and I had to wait until the end of the month for the statement to be generated, there was apparently no way they could generate one and send it on the spot. There was also a monthly fee for the mailed statement, so if you go this route, make sure to cancel the statements after you get the first one!
posted by number9dream at 10:05 AM on November 19, 2021

Can they accept a printed PDF bill you can get off of websites from utilities or banks?
posted by kschang at 10:11 AM on November 19, 2021

You can request an IRS transcript and receive it in 5-10 business days, assuming you still have the same address. This is essentially a "bill" of what you owe the government based on your last return. Perhaps you can do the same process at the state/local level?

Another idea would be a Social Security Statement (not a bill, but easily recognizable as Official Mail). Unfortunately the wait time would be higher.
posted by veery at 10:33 AM on November 19, 2021 [1 favorite]

You may be able to request mailed statements or already receive mail from the following:
Banks, credit cards, student loans, health insurance, car insurance, renters or home insurance, doctors, tax information.
When in doubt, reach out to the entity asking for the information. This is likely a more and more common issue that they can have advice for.
posted by Crystalinne at 12:00 PM on November 19, 2021

Go to a library. Get a library card if you don't have one. Use their computer to access your accounts and for a very modest fee, like $.25 per page or less, print your payment receipts or bills or whatever you need.
posted by Oyéah at 8:47 AM on November 20, 2021

@Oyeah ironically many libraries require 2 proofs of address, such as recent bills, to get a library card.
posted by never.was.and.never.will.be. at 3:03 PM on November 20, 2021 [1 favorite]

Sigh. I've had to do this a stupid number of times, because the lower your income the more paper people want.

Everyone is right and there are a million strategies for accomplishing this, starting with printing out a bill from your cell service through the online account and mailing it to yourself in a business-size envelope. The petty officiants who require these things never question why the envelope doesn't have a company logo on it for some reason. If they do, it's because you had to request the local $cellcompany manager send you the bill mid-cycle so he charitably hand-addressed it and did so. But they won't ask. They never do.

I've had printed bank statements work, or you can Photoshop a bill and mail it, or hire someone online to Photoshop a bill, utility or any other kind. It's not expensive and would cost you far less than a doctor's visit. Sometimes tax statements work. If nothing else works, try to arrive when another person is at the counter and try again, especially if the first person hesitated and *thought about* saying yes to anything you tried. Just pick the thing that got the best reaction and try again. ~20% of the time that works. Be persistent, polite, friendly, and think outside the box.

The easiest thing that usually works for me is printing a bill like a cell bill (there's always an option to print yourself from the website) and mailing it to yourself. Print it in color, on nice paper. It looks more official. Try that first, because it's easy, cheap, and almost always works.

You can also try to get your landlord to give you a copy of the utility bill at the address along with a mailed note that says per our agreement you owe me x dollars for the utilities at your address (that has also worked for me in the past, even when it was included in my rent normally--the officials don't need to know that). If you don't have that kind of relationship with your landlord and you're just proving residency in a neighborhood/city, maybe a friend can do that for you. If you're friendly with any manager or shop-owners, buy them a coffee and ask for a favor.

Or if you have the money and feel like it post it as a Photoshop job on a gig website.
posted by liminal_shadows at 7:31 PM on November 26, 2021