# Claim edit: Invalid billing provider ZIP Code

> Stedi now rejects 837I institutional claims that include an invalid billing provider ZIP Code. Institutional claims must include a nine-digit ZIP Code.

Published Dec 1, 2025

Product: Claim edits

Stedi now rejects [837I institutional claims](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/submit-institutional-claims) that include an invalid billing provider ZIP Code.

Institutional claims must include a full nine-digit ZIP Code – called a ZIP+4 – with no spaces or hyphens for the billing provider. For example: `100031502`. If you don’t know the full ZIP+4, you can look it up using the [USPS ZIP Code Lookup](https://tools.usps.com/zip-code-lookup.htm) tool.

If you submit institutional claims through Stedi’s [institutional claim submission JSON API endpoint](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/intro-to-claim-submission#api-claim-submission), this ZIP Code is provided in the [`providers.address.postalCode`](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/api-reference/post-healthcare-institutional-claims#body.providers.address.postalCode) field.

Payers reject claims that are missing a full ZIP+4 or that contain an invalid code, which can cause delays.

This edit – the industry’s term for an automated validation rule – prevents these claims from reaching the payer.

**Rejection errors**  
If you submit a claim that fails the edit using Stedi’s [institutional claim submission API](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/intro-to-claim-submission#api-claim-submission), you’ll get back an error message in real time. If you’re using the [JSON API endpoint](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/api-reference/post-healthcare-institutional-claims), the response includes an error in the [`errors`](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/api-reference/post-healthcare-claims#response.errors) array:

```jsonc
{
  "errors": [
    {
      "code": "33",
      "description": "The Billing provider ZIP Code, 11113527, is invalid. ZIP Codes must be a nine-digit number with no spaces or hyphens. Correct and resubmit",
      "followupAction": "Please Correct and Resubmit"
    }
  ]
}
```

If you submit an institutional claim that fails the edit using SFTP, Stedi will reject the claim with a [277CA claim acknowledgment](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/claim-responses-overview#277ca-claim-acknowledgment). The acknowledgment will contain a related claim status category code, claim status code, and error message. You can use the error message to correct and resubmit the claim.