Smith fights to require USPS to cover cost of late fees caused by bills getting delayed, lost in mail

WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Jason Smith announced on Friday, Feb. 7, he has co-authored the Pony Up Act, legislation to require the U.S. Postal Service, or USPS, to pay any late fees incurred on bills due to delayed delivery service.

“The USPS must be held accountable for the financial toll its poor service is taking on rural Missourians,” Smith said in a news release Friday. “Through no fault of their own, individuals have been hit with late fees and even had their utilities cut off because their mail is arriving late or not at all. It’s just one of many examples of how the USPS has shown a complete disregard for the harm caused by its poor service. I urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to support this legislation to hold the USPS accountable for the rural mail crisis.”

Mail delays, especially in rural areas, have resulted in individuals paying late fees and, in some cases, having their utilities shut off because their bills were lost in the mail or not delivered on time. In addition, multiple municipal utilities have voiced their frustration that bills sent to customers aren’t arriving in a timely manner.

The legislation would allow anyone who incurred a late fee because a bill didn’t arrive on time to file a claim for repayment through an online portal or in person at any post office. The legislation would also require a report on delayed mail, giving Congress relevant and accurate information to evaluate whether the USPS is taking action to improve delivery times.

The rural mail crisis is taking a major toll on the quality of life in communities across southeast and south-central Missouri:

— Seniors are struggling to make ends meet because Social Security checks aren’t arriving on time;

— Veterans aren’t receiving the benefits they earned for their service to our nation;

— Small businesses are taking a financial hit due to packages for, and payments from, customers getting lost in the mail; and

— Rural newspapers are frustrated because print editions are getting delivered to customers weeks – and even months – past the publishing date.

Ending the rural mail crisis has been, and will continue to be, a top priority for Smith.

In September, Smith sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to demand the USPS Office of Inspector General audit the Sorting and Distribution Center in Hazelwood, Mo., to determine why mail delivery is significantly delayed and inconsistent in communities across eastern Missouri, especially in rural areas.

In 2023, Smith demanded answers from DeJoy about unacceptably long mail delays in southeast and south-central Missouri caused by USPS’s decision to shut down the Cape Girardeau Processing and Distribution Facility and move mail sorting operations to the Saint Louis Processing and Distribution Center in February 2022.

In 2021, Smith and a bipartisan group of his colleagues sent a letter demanding DeJoy pause any additional postal facility consolidations as part of its flawed Delivering for America plan.