What is Certified Mail?

Certified Mail is an add-on service that the United States Postal Service (USPS) offers for First-Class Mail.

When you send something via Certified Mail, you still need to pay for a First-Class stamp or postage and put your letter in an envelope.  Then you'll need to pay additional fees for the Certified Mail service

Certified Mail includes two things that you might need.  First, it provides proof that you mailed a letter.  Second, it provides a form of tracking so you can tell if the USPS is processing your letter.

Certified Mail does, generally, provide proof of delivery.  This means if your letter was delivered and the USPS employee did their job correctly, you'll see in the tracking information that your letter was delivered. (While the USPS is pretty good at this task, they aren't perfect.)

If you need a signature of the receiving party, you'll need to pay for an additional service.  You'll need to purchase Return Receipt (which is a green card that you fill out and attach to your letter) or Electronic Return Receipt (which is an electronic signature that you simply need to ask for).  LetterStream offers Electronic Return Receipt, but not the paper Return Receipt.

Why use Certified Mail?

Generally people send Certified Mail when they want proof that they mailed a letter or if they are required by law or contract to send Certified Mail.

Keep in mind, if you need to send something by Certified Mail it doesn't mean that the person must get it or sign for it, it simply means you must be able to prove that you mailed it by Certified Mail.  Read your contract carefully to make sure you only need to "send" notice by "Certified Mail".