PostNL delays see many Dutch residents miss important government deadlines

Delays with mail delivery by PostNL have caused concern as Dutch residents receive mail from government agencies too late, resulting in missed deadlines that could lead to fines and other legal consequences.

Complaints as PostNL mail delays lead to missed deadlines

In a broadcast at Kassa, the National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen said that he has received complaints from residents about the late delivery of mail from several government agencies, including the Central Judicial Collection Agency (CJIB), the Public Prosecution Service (OM), the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND), offices of municipalities, the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV), and the Dutch tax office (Belastingdienst). Mail from the courts has also been affected.

According to van Zutphen, PostNL often delivers this type of mail too late or not at all. This can cause problems when residents do not have enough time to respond, for example if they receive a traffic fine in the mail after the deadline for payment, drivers could face consequences such as a licence block. If residents bring the issue up, these protests are often rejected or handled incorrectly.

The Judicial Council has stated that they do know about these problems. “Judgments by various judges show that they are aware of this. See, for example, a  judgment  by the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal in which it was determined that poor postal delivery is a justified reason for not meeting a deadline."

Dutch government remains responsible for postal delivery

While mail delivery in the Netherlands is outsourced to PostNL, van Zutphern points out that the government still holds responsibility for mail not being delivered in a timely manner. “Either the government ensures that the mail arrives properly, or the government helps the citizen who is in trouble because of this."

PostNL has also acknowledged the problems with the postal service. "We are really at the limits of what we can do ourselves, also when it comes to mail delivery,” said Noud Wegman, commercial director of PostNL. “That is why we are calling on the minister and the government to give us more space." The Dutch postal company wanted to change delivery targets from 24 hours to three days, but this was rejected. 

PostNL also requested financial support from the government - 30 million euros for 2025 and 38 million euros for 2026 - to keep the postal service running smoothly and sustainably, but the government turned the request down. 

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