The Royal Mail PAF® is a dynamic file. New properties are constantly being built and other properties demolished to make way. Every new, deleted or changed address requires an update by the Royal Mail to maintain the integrity of the file. The figures to the right include the number of postcodes added and deleted over a three month period. Sometimes changes to the mail delivery system are required that result in reallocation or recoding of existing postcodes - so you can't always assume that once a postcode is allocated to an address it won't change.

At BPH we process monthly updates to our master postcode databases from Royal Mail change transactions and our major releases are quarterly in March, June, September & December. Depending on the application we usually recommend clients' take refreshes on a quarterly basis although we are happy to supply updates at whatever frequency is needed - from monthly to never.

Inevitably, with issues as complex as postcode data supply and licencing  there will always be questions. We have therefore attempted to answer as many  as possible on our FAQ's page. There is also a facility to send us a question - and we will endeavour to provide an answer.

At BPH, as you are now probably aware, we supply postcode data. This provides greater flexibility to software developers, or indeed anybody who wishes to integrate the data into any application. There is flexibility as to what level of data you need, how you store and access the data and, indeed, which geographical areas are required. All this amounts to significant reductions in both data supply costs and Royal Mail Licence fees.  

In addition, as there is no software support element, and the data copies can be administered through the developer, we are able to offer significant discounts for multiple site copies. More details can be found on our Data Integrators page. 

© BPH Data Ltd  2008