The fastest and cheapest way to send letters
to and receive letters from someone in Prison.

Send letters electronically to someone you know in prison and have them reply straight to your email address. Because what’s the point of communicating with someone if they can’t communicate back!

Unfortuantely we have closed the e-Postman website at the end of October 2019. You can no longer write and send letters using this system and the prisons will no longer download or send letters out of the prison. Thank you for using our service over the last 6 years.

Why use e-Postman.co.uk

Thousands of people have signed up to use the e-Postman service.
These are the reasons why!

Cheaper cost of sending mail to someone in the prison

E-Postman currently provides the cheapest way to send a letter in or out of a prison in the UK. Sending a letter costs just 30p. And this price is the same I from anywhere in the world – so if you’re writing from another country then this benefit is even greater

Quicker delivery

When you write a letter and send it on e-Postman, it is immediately available to be printed in the prison. There is no transportation of the letter so depending on the prison schedule and efficiency, the letter could reach its recipient in hours. And again, if you’re writing from overseas the time saved is even greater.

No requirement for stationary and stamps

Everything is done in your web browser so there is no need to find paper and a pen and envelopes and then buy stamps and walk to the post office. Letters are quick and easy and can be written and sent from wherever you are.

Reducing your carbon footprint

No paper, no stamps, no mail vans – all the things that create a carbon footprint if you send a letter by normal mail. Each physical letter sent creates 26g to 29g of carbon dioxide which on its own is tiny, but over thousands of letters this starts to add up. So well done to you for contributing!

Pay for the recipient to send a letter back to you

It’s great to send a letter but even better to get one back. You can add a Free-Reply Code to any letter you send which allows the person receiving the letter to send one letter out of the prison for free. You pay for this with the same credits at the time of sending your letter.

Faster delivery of mail from the recipient

When someone in prison writes a letter to you it gets sent to the mail room and from there to our servers – and we then send it on to you. Ideally the sender will send it to your email address and you will get it in your email in quick time. Receiving by email is much quicker than the normal mail process of physical letters – and even more so if you live outside of the UK! If you don’t have an email address then we can send it to a physical address in the UK too.

“Thanks for being such a great service when we needed you. It made a real difference to an extremely unpleasant experience!”

RH Surrey UK

“Firstly, your service is fantastic...”

M. Hitchin, UK

“Having my son locked up in another country is my worst nightmare. Your website has made it a little easier. Thank you so much for what you do.”

Sarah Wollongong, Australia

“E-postman has been a life-saver while my friend has been in HMP High Down”

G.S. Alresford, UK

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I send a letter?

The process is quite straight forward but you need an account and to be logged in.
  • If you haven’t already done so, create an account which you can do here .
  • Once you are logged in, you can set up the person you’re writing to in your address book. Make sure you can do this and that we service the prison they are in.
  • Buy credits (Credits > Buy Credits) using a credit card or PayPal.
  • Go to the new letter page (Letters > Write New Letter), select your recipient and type away!

When a prisoner replies where will I see the letter? There is no “inbox”.

This isn’t an inbox mechanism on the site. When a person replies to you, the letter will automatically be sent to you like normal mail. If the sender used your email address, you will receive an email with the letter. Please make sure that e-postman.co.uk is on your approved domains list in your email so that these letters aren’t sent to your junk folder. It is also suggested that when you register you use the email address you’d like these letters to come to – because that email address is shown on letters you send and will likely be used to send letters back to you.

If the sender addressed a letter to you to a physical address, the letter will arrive in normal mail. This does take longer and we suggest you ask them to write to your email address next time.

I don't seem to be receiving replies…

When a person in prison write to you, you will either receive their letter by email or in the normal post – depending on how they addressed the letter. First see if you can check that they have actually written to you.
If they’re writing to email, make sure that the letter hasn’t gone to your junk mail folder. You should add e-postman.co.uk to your approved domains list in your email so that letters aren’t sent to your junk folder.

What does it cost to send a letter?

Sending a letter using e-Postman costs 30p (or less with purchase discounts). You need to buy credits and then use these to send letters.

I’m trying to log in but it says my account is locked.

If you try to log in several times with the wrong password, your account will be locked. This is to reduce the likelihood of someone being able to “hack” into your account.
If you’re having this issue then please contact us from the email address your account uses and we will reset your account.

The person I’m writing to has moved – how do I change their prison?

The first thing you need to do is check that we do operate in the new prison which you can do here . If we do work in that prison then you can just change the recipient’s prison in your address book.
If we are not operating in the new prison then we cannot send letters there. If you found this service valuable then it may be worth while contacting the new governor of the new prison suggesting that they talk to us about implementing there. Also contact us for further options.

More questions?

Get in touch