How should COBRA notices be delivered?

COBRA does not stipulate the manner in which notice must be delivered other than to require that it be timely and in written form. However, a plan administrator does bear the burden of proof to show that the notice was delivered, i.e. sent, but not that the notice was received. Courts generally allow a plan administrator to satisfy COBRA's notice requirement by sending the notice in a good faith manner reasonably calculated to reach a qualified beneficiary.

Accordingly, administrators have been held to satisfy the COBRA notice requirement where the notice was sent via first-class mail to the employee's last known address. Further, sending the COBRA notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, has also been found to satisfy the COBRA notice requirement. Sending the notice via first-class mail will create the presumption that the notice was received.

In order to comply with the COBRA notice requirement, the employer or administrator must send the notice to the last known address that has been provided by the employee.

The presumption that a letter is received if properly addressed and mailed in accordance with office procedures does not apply where the individual responsible for preparing the letter does not have personal knowledge that normal mailing procedures were followed, or where evidence of the plan administrator's procedures is not produced. It is therefore a good practice to have the procedure for sending notices documented in order to show that a particular notice was sent.