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Escapee's FL Mail Service


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Hi-- I flew in to Tampa yesterday. Today in Bushnell, I got my Drivers License, Voter registration, 2 Vehicle Registrations/Titles/Plates, and a Declaration of Domicile document notarized and filed with the County Clerk all within just 1 hour's time! The Tax Collector's Office (aka the DMV) was empty at 8:30am-- I was the only one there with 4 clerks.

 

For the DL, I provided my Passport, SS card, and Illinois driver's license. For the 2 documents to prove residency, she ignored the 2 provided by Ecapees (the "Welcome Letter" and "Confirmation of Address"), and wanted to instead use the 2 insurance quotes that were addressed to me at my Bushnell address. These had been emailed to me and I printed them-- that was fine for the DMV. No need to see a postmarked envelope.

 

For the 2 vehicles (motorhome and car), I brought my original Illinois titles, and 2 VIN Verification (form 82042) documents that I had signed by a law enforcement officer in New Mexico (where both vehicles currently are). I also had printed the Insurance Binder & temporary ID cards that had initially been emailed to me, but the DMV gal would not accept these as "Florida" proof of insurance. Thankfully, the day before I flew here, I had just gotten emailed links to print out my final-version Insurance Cards (which I did). This was what the DMV was actually wanting.

 

As to the address on my DL, she only gave me 2 options for the # -- Lot or Unit. I said Unit. So, my license now says 4602 County Rd 673 Unit xxxx , Bushnell, FL (xxxx = the 4-digit box number used on my Bushnell & Livingston addresses). FYI, I've been careful to never use the word "Box" when giving out my Bushnell address, so the 2 pieces of mail that I provided above only had it as #xxxx after the address.

 

As an aside, when my insurance agent, American Adventure (one of RVerinsurance.com's agents) did my final quotes for Progrssive, I asked if they could use Livingston as my mailing address and Bushnell as just the "garaging address." When she tried this, my quote prices actually increased! So, we ended up just using my Bushnell address. In the end, that was the right thing to do as these documents turned out to be my only "mail" showing proof of my Bushnell address. All my other potential "proofs of address" (i.e. Bank statements, Health Insurance) came back showing just my new mailing address (Livingston) on their documents even though they have Bushnell plugged in as my physical address.

 

I waited to fill out the 1-page Declaration of Domicile until after the DMV stuff was done. Conveniently, the Property Appraisers office next door to the Tax Assessor's Office notarized the document for free, and then I walked across the street to the County Clerk's office to file it ($10 fee).

 

All in all, a very easy day here in Bushnell to become an official Floridian!

 

Lynne

2007 Winnebago View 23J

2003 Chevy Tracker ZR2

Blog: WinnieViews

Facebook Page : WinnieViews

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Thanks for the awesome info, Lynne. We'll be using this as the bible for our trip to Bushnell in the spring. The only thing I might do differently is to give everyone the FL address as both physical and mailing until everything is official and then change over the mailing address to TX afterwards.

Thanks again.

Tom and Mare

The Breeze RV

https://thebreezerv.wordpress.com

2002 National Sea Breeze

2004 Harley Electra Glide Classic

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Do remember that you pay $1 per mail piece for items mailed to Sumter Oaks. While I loved the simplicity and cost savings of using Bushnell and Sumter county as my domicile, my initial perceptions of Escapees Mail Service has been somewhat muted. Just seems a bit clunky and convoluted compared to the other services in Florida. i really do hope that if more people sign up for FL Home, that Escapees can then afford to hire a mail service person or 2 in Florida to allow us to have 1 address.

 

An example of how crazy the current system is? I drove to Sumter Oaks after getting my new drivers license, etc and chatted with the office person there. I asked if they might have any mail for me and she said even if they did, that they could not give it to me! They are forced to mail everything to Livingston. Even if you're staying at Sumter Oaks, you still can't get you FL-addressed mail there until it goes to Livingston first! Yes, I know that's what we signed up for, and thankfully I don't plan to stay here very often so it won't be too much of an impact, but ugh, how painfully over-complicated compared to the other forwarders.

 

Lynne

2007 Winnebago View 23J

2003 Chevy Tracker ZR2

Blog: WinnieViews

Facebook Page : WinnieViews

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I wasn't aware of the $1 charge for mail arriving in FL. Hopefully the benefits will outweigh the hassle and it will get better with more of us making the move to FL. For me the need of a physical address for the CDL was the determining factor.

Tom and Mare

The Breeze RV

https://thebreezerv.wordpress.com

2002 National Sea Breeze

2004 Harley Electra Glide Classic

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It's all part of the "fun" of Escapees dual-address FL (and SD) domiciles. In reality, the amount of mail going to FL (or SD) should be limited to the bare essentials (state stuff and, in my case, vehicle insurance stuff that doesn't come to me electronically for some reason), so these $1 charges should hopefully be minimal. But it adds complexity and delays that I wish were not there.

 

But when doing overall cost comparisons between Escapees, MyRVMail, and SBI (including cost differences in vehicle and healthcare insurance), in my case, MyRVMail was about $140 more per year and SBI would have been $900 more! While the services themselves are all pretty close in costs, the insurance differences are significant between these counties and should not be overlooked.

 

Lynne

2007 Winnebago View 23J

2003 Chevy Tracker ZR2

Blog: WinnieViews

Facebook Page : WinnieViews

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Damn! I was so hoping to use The Sumter Oaks address for a FL Domicile but this whole two address/$1 per piece of mail system seems very excessive, confusing and completely unnecessary???? That NATO service in Sarasota is $80 bucks a year? What am I missing here?

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Damn! I was so hoping to use The Sumter Oaks address for a FL Domicile but this whole two address/$1 per piece of mail system seems very excessive, confusing and completely unnecessary???? That NATO service in Sarasota is $80 bucks a year? What am I missing here?

 

From what Lynne posted, there can be quite a difference in vehicle insurance rates from county to county. I don't know how Sumter County (Bushnell) rates compare to Sarasota County rates, but it's worth looking into before making a decision.

Dutch
2001 GBM Landau 34' Class A
F-53 Chassis, Triton V10, TST TPMS
2011 Toyota RAV4 4WD/Remco pump
ReadyBrute Elite tow bar/brake system

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Damn! I was so hoping to use The Sumter Oaks address for a FL Domicile but this whole two address/$1 per piece of mail system seems very excessive, confusing and completely unnecessary???? That NATO service in Sarasota is $80 bucks a year? What am I missing here?

I think that you need to read the materials on their website a little bit more closely! This is much more than any $80/year.

Each primary user is required to make a minimum $35.00 deposit (more may be deposited if desired or if you feel it is necessary) in advance, for postage. Charges debited to your account for mailings are actual postage plus a 40% service charge. Minimum service charge is $3.00. You will receive a monthly statement showing the activity on your account and any balance due to maintain the required postage deposit.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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Thanks for the replys.... All the services require postage deposit for forwarding mail.I get that... what confuses me <(and apparently others), is all the two address nonsense..... doesnt that just seem unecesarily cumbersome to you? No other servise that I have looked at requires this?

 

I joined Escappes with great anticipation ,but my first two interactions with them were both handled with less than stellar efficientcy??? Maybe I just lucked into employees having bad days....... we all do.....

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I drove to Sumter Oaks after getting my new drivers license, etc and chatted with the office person there. I asked if they might have any mail for me and she said even if they did, that they could not give it to me! They are forced to mail everything to Livingston. Even if you're staying at Sumter Oaks, you still can't get you FL-addressed mail there until it goes to Livingston first!

So besides the extra cost, there is also a remailing delay?

SKP #79313 / Full-Timing / 2001 National RV Sea View / 2008 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
www.rvSeniorMoments.com
DISH TV for RVs

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So besides the extra cost, there is also a remailing delay?

 

Yep... The worst case situation would probably be when someone is staying at Sumter Oaks when their domicile related mail is sent there and they have to wait while it's resent to Livingston, and then resent back to general delivery in Bushnell for pick up. Maybe if there's enough uptake on the Florida and South Dakota addresses, SKP HQ will consider establishing mail handling/remailing facilities at those locations. Capping the out of service pool at Sumter Oaks would give them enough room to get started there I think. :blink::D

Dutch
2001 GBM Landau 34' Class A
F-53 Chassis, Triton V10, TST TPMS
2011 Toyota RAV4 4WD/Remco pump
ReadyBrute Elite tow bar/brake system

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Yep... The worst case situation would probably be when someone is staying at Sumter Oaks when their domicile related mail is sent there and they have to wait while it's resent to Livingston, and then resent back to general delivery in Bushnell for pick up. Maybe if there's enough uptake on the Florida and South Dakota addresses, SKP HQ will consider establishing mail handling/remailing facilities at those locations. Capping the out of service pool at Sumter Oaks would give them enough room to get started there I think. :blink::D

We've been using a couple of mom-and-pop mail forwarding services. I'm failing to see the Escapees "advantage" here.

SKP #79313 / Full-Timing / 2001 National RV Sea View / 2008 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
www.rvSeniorMoments.com
DISH TV for RVs

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The advantage (for my situation, at least) is that Sumter county was cheaper than the counties where other mail forwarders were located for both vehicle and health insurance. My travel costs to Bushnell via Tampa were also less than the other options.

 

Yes, Escapees Mail Service is not as streamlined as the others, and a pain in the rear for the mail going to the Florida address, but keep in mind that mail addressed to Florida will be a very small percentage of mail received over the course of a year. So, even with the added hassle, right now it still seems worth it to me.

2007 Winnebago View 23J

2003 Chevy Tracker ZR2

Blog: WinnieViews

Facebook Page : WinnieViews

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I can not quote all the ins and outs but as I see it and understand it you would only have a limited amount of mail sent to the FL address and I would assume if you were there you could pick it up like you do in Livingston. The main purpose of this is to qualify as a FL resident. They may be able to forward what you get there directly to where you are but it is true that it would be expensive to have all mail go there and be forwarded. Most of your standard mail would still go to Livingston for forwarding. I would say this is the gist of it and I am sure if you talk to someone at Livingston they would be able to explain it better. Lets face it this is a work around so people have an alternative so can legally be a FL resident or a SD resident. There are alternatives available but I would prefer to use Escapees mail if I were going to do this. That is not to say I would not check in to other options so I could make an informed decision.

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.... All the services require postage deposit for forwarding mail.I get that... what confuses me <(and apparently others), is all the two address nonsense..... doesnt that just seem unecesarily cumbersome to you? No other servise that I have looked at requires this?

First of all, let me point out that postage is not all that is added to the charges of the place you are comparing to. There is also the matter of a fee that is $3 or 40% of the postage for every time your mail is forwarded. That is not added into things if you use Escapees services. The reason for the dual address is to keep costs down at Escapees, which is part of the reason they don't charge you the extra fees which your NATO service does. Even the few things which Escapees would be charging for cost $1, which is $2 less than each mail forwarding at your comparing service. With them if you get mail once each month the least you will pay is $80 + $36($3/mailing) or $116. If you choose to get mail every other week, it then goes to a minimum of $152/year, plus postage.

 

The two address thing is because of where the Escapee mail services are located. The size and automation of their service is the reason it costs less for more services. The service in Livingston has about 15,000 subscribers and the present system is one to allow members to use that service while legally having an address in SD or FL if they wish. What you are comparing to is services that have only one location and so use a mail room that is local to that location.

 

I have no idea what sort of problems you have been having with Escapees, but I can only tell you that having been a member since 1997, I believe the membership has been one of the best purchases that we have made in the RV community.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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Dual residency?

No such thing exists, if you are using that term as a substitute for domicile. Using a strict definition, you are residing at whatever location you currently stay but domicile is your permanent location as determined by a court.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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We've been using a couple of mom-and-pop mail forwarding services. I'm failing to see the Escapees "advantage" here.

 

I think the primary advantage is for current SKP mail service users that want a Florida or South Dakota domicile without having to change their mailing address for all of their current contacts. I'm using a specialized mail service in NY, and I'd hate to deal with changing my address for a couple of hundred contacts. Doable, yes, but easy? Hardly... :unsure:

Dutch
2001 GBM Landau 34' Class A
F-53 Chassis, Triton V10, TST TPMS
2011 Toyota RAV4 4WD/Remco pump
ReadyBrute Elite tow bar/brake system

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For anyone interested in the full step-by-step of moving my domicile to Bushnell, FL, here is my blog post-- http://winnieviews.blogspot.com/2015/12/how-to-move-to-florida-in-1-hour.html?m=1

 

Great info, Lynne.

 

You mention the FL "Declaration of Domicile" that you completed as part of the process. There are different "flavors" of this declaration in FL and, of course, in other states:

Careful what you sign.

SKP #79313 / Full-Timing / 2001 National RV Sea View / 2008 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
www.rvSeniorMoments.com
DISH TV for RVs

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