Royal Mail PAF (Postcode Address File)
The definitive UK address database, maintained by Royal Mail. As one of their approved suppliers, Loqate are address data experts.
What is Royal Mail PAF data?
PAF is Royal Mail's Postcode Address File - a database of highly accurate and Postcode information containing 29 million residential and business addresses, and a total of 1.8 million postcodes.
Nationwide coverage
PAF covers the entire UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man, and includes BFPO (British Forces Post Office) addresses.
Address data updated daily
PAF constantly changes to reflect new builds, updates and deletions with between 3,000 and 5,000 updates every day.
How does the PAF file get updated?
The PAF file is kept up to date through daily updates made by Royal Mail's 90,000 postal workers and consumers informing Royal Mail's address management unit. Partners such as large retailers who deliver in vast quantities, also work with Royal Mail to make sure updates are captured when they notice repeated failed deliveries. At Loqate we make this data available to all our customers as soon as its ready, making the PAF the most up to date and complete address database for the UK.
Why is PAF data important to businesses?
Due to the speed at which addressing data changes, its difficult to keep clean and accurate. On average The Royal Mail say they get an average of 4000-5000 changes to individual address records daily. Therefore between businesses changing name, or people moving house, address data quality can quickly become inaccurate. At Loqate we update our address verification files on a daily basis to ensure our records match The PAF file, so that our customers receive the best quality data.
How is PAF integrated into address verification?
A benefit of using Loqate address verification services is that daily updates to PAF
are included as standard to all UK customers. Updates run seamlessly in the background meaning your service is never interrupted and you don't need to apply the updates yourself.
What changes are made to Royal Mail's PAF data?
Address changes
Someone moves into a house called 'Cherry Tree Cottage' and doesn’t like the name, they decide to change it and contact Royal Mail. Once the change is approved, it will be updated in PAF.
New addresses
A property gets divided into two. Property one keeps the address '12 Vine Street', property two gets given the address '12a Vine Street'. The developers inform Royal Mail of the change, who will then add the new address into PAF.
Deletions
An area of housing is being demolished ready for re-development. There are no longer any buildings in the area, therefore the postcode, and all addresses with that postcode will no longer exist. Royal Mail will be informed of the work and all applicable addresses will be deleted from PAF.
What is the Multi Residence File?
Multiple Residence data identifies and verifies premises where multiple households share a delivery point. This could be any shared-entry addresses such as flats, halls of residence, and buildings with more than one business in. We are also able to provide you with this data as part of your address lookup service.
Benefits of Royal Mail PAF
Additional business data from Loqate improves your checkout conversion rate by allowing your customers to quickly find business addresses in your eCommerce site. Perfect for customers who prefer to receive delivery of goods at their work address.
With business data you can improve field operations, productivity and efficiency, as well as optimise the business workforce according to customer demand.
Appending up to date and accurate business address information from Loqate will ensure your messages, services and products reach your customers and prospects, where ever they are in the UK.
By taking business data from Loqate you can gain greater insight into your customers by profiling your business records.