A correctly written C/O address ensures the smooth delivery of your letters and packages. What you have to pay attention to.
Anyone who can be reached at times at a different address than the registration address uses a C/O address for posting. We explain what C/O means, how to correctly format a C/O address and provide you with practical examples and tips for avoiding errors.
To correctly write a C/O address, proceed as follows:
Tip: If you want to make absolutely sure that nobody opens the letter apart from the actual addressee, you also write the note “personally/confidential” or “only to open yourself” via the address field.
A correctly written C/O address, in which Hans Mustermann is the actual recipient, looks like this:
Hans Mustermann C/O Erika Mustermann Hauptstr. 12 12345 Musterhausen
Be sure to pay attention well readership and complete address datato avoid errors in delivery. The best way to use important documents or valuable objects is to Registered mail or the shipment tracking and announce the arrival of the letter or package to the recipient.
Use a C/O address if you send mail to a person who is not officially registered at this address. The abbreviation C/O comes from English and means “Care of”. Translated freely, this means something like “living in”, literally translated “under the care of”.
The recipient of the post temporarily lives with someone else. In practice, for example, this could mean that the addressee …
C/O is not used in official correspondence with companies and authorities in Germany. If you address your correspondence to a specific employee of a company or an authority, it is better to use the abbreviation z. Hd. (For hands) according to the company or authority name.
