What is PAF and why is it vital to UK businesses?

The Postcode Address File, or PAF, is the UK’s definitive address database. Owned and maintained by the Royal Mail, the data is updated every day, as approximately 90,000 postal workers go about their deliveries and make note of any changes. These daily updates, which Fetchify include automatically in our address search and validation databases, will involve newly built houses, demolished houses, older buildings split into multiple homes or offices, etc. 


The first PAF database, containing every residential and business address in the UK, was put together in the 1980s. Although the address information was being collected digitally, the filing system was still on paper, making updates a laborious and infrequent process. Of course, as technology has advanced, the system has been steadily upgraded and these days, the Royal Mail gathers and disseminates 4-5,000 data updates every day. In recent years, the biggest change to PAF has been a collaboration with the British Forces Post Office to reformat BFPO addresses to match the standard PAF address layout, and to include these addresses in the PAF dataset. 


Why is PAF important? Gathering accurate customer data is vital to so many businesses, whether ecommerce, government organisation, financial services, etc. An inaccurate address can mean your deliveries go missing, a bill could go to the wrong house, you could waste money on paper marketing that doesn’t find its target. Any of these, or a plethora of other issues, will cost your business time in fixing the problem and speaking with angry customers on the phone, money in lost goods, lost packaging and wasted postage, and ultimately, lost customer loyalty. With Fetchify’s simple address lookup and validation API, you can avoid these pains before they even happen. 


Our API allows you to search for any UK address by typing in just a few characters. There are two different PAF-powered options for finding and validating UK addresses: Postcode Lookup and Address Auto-Complete. How do they work? 

 

With UK Postcode Lookup you type in the postcode and then select the correct address from the drop-down menu.


Address Auto-Complete is our global address search and validation solution and PAF is only one of many different data sources that we use. With Address Auto-Complete, you can start typing from any point in the address, whether street name or postal code. The type-ahead address search tool delivers address results from as little as four characters. Simply select the correct address when it appears. Another benefit to Address Auto-Complete is that you can find the right address even if you don’t know the postcode, for example when sending a gift.   


The Postcode Address File lists every deliverable point in the UK. For buildings that are subdivided into multiple homes or businesses which share a single letterbox, PAF can be enhanced by Multiple Residence data from the Royal Mail. The Mutiple Residence Enriched dataset is available as an addition to the Address Auto-Complete search. If you think this additional data could be useful for your business, get in touch at support@fetchify.com and our team will be happy to help. 


Our best in class address lookup and validation API, uses the most up to date and definitive UK and international data sources. This simple addition to your checkout increases conversion rates by substantially reducing the hassle of long forms, increasing your customer’s trust in your website and providing a smoother user experience. The validated address data also reduces failed deliveries caused by customer errors, saving you time and money, providing exceptional return on investment, and making sure you reach the right address every time.

About Fetchify


Fetchify’s address lookup and data validation platforms cover more than 250 countries, and increases customer conversion with the fastest, most accurate customer data capture. Fetchify’s flagship products – Address Auto Complete and Postcode Lookup – reduce friction at the checkout, and also significantly increase the number of successful deliveries. Founded in 2008, Fetchify processes millions of data transactions every day for clients ranging from startups to established high-street names, and offers a full suite of data validation tools, including phone, email and bank, too.

June 30, 2025
An article in Ecommerce News recently put a number to something every online retailer dreads: lost parcels. In Q4 2024 alone, European ecommerce retailers lost €500 million in revenue due to 3.72 million undelivered parcels. That’s roughly €145 per parcel in direct and indirect logistics costs. And while the official rate of “lost” parcels is just 0.06%, the reality – accounting for misdelivery, theft, and reporting gaps – is likely closer to 0.7%. That’s 1 in every 143 parcels. The Hidden Costs of a 'Lost' Delivery For enterprise-scale ecommerce operations, the implications scale fast: Lost product and packaging costs Repeat fulfilment and reverse logistics Customer service team time and refunds Increased churn and checkout abandonment Damage to brand reputation and online reviews So Why Are Parcels Going Missing? Many issues originate in the last mile of the delivery process. The root cause is often poor data quality: Incomplete or inaccurate delivery addresses captured at checkout Manual amendments to address fields by warehouse or courier staff Ambiguous delivery locations (e.g., "front porch") Lack of precise geolocation data for drop-off Inadequate or unverifiable proof of delivery Some losses are unavoidable, but most stem from gaps in ecommerce data validation and fulfilment process transparency. What Retailers Can Control with Smart Logistics Data While you can’t eliminate theft or accidents, you can reduce missed deliveries and failed first attempts through better data validation and delivery insights: Real-Time Address Validation at Checkout Fetchify’s ecommerce address validation tools connect directly with official data sources including Royal Mail PAF and the Multiple Residence dataset. This ensures accurate delivery details for apartment blocks, HMOs, student housing, and more. Unlike generic autocomplete tools, this is verified delivery point data. Rooftop-Accurate Geocoding for Pinpoint Delivery Fetchify’s Rooftop Geocodes assign precise latitude and longitude to verified addresses – helping carriers reach the exact doorstep, not just the postcode centroid. Proof of Delivery with Location and Time Stamping Our data solutions integrate seamlessly with POD technologies, supporting timestamped, geo-tagged delivery images. Customers can also submit geo-located photos during disputes, enabling faster, fairer resolutions. Map-Based Address Confirmation for Shoppers By embedding a zoomed-in map in the checkout process, ecommerce brands allow customers to visually confirm their delivery location. This prevents ambiguous or misentered addresses from the start. Audit Trails and Address Change Tracking Fetchify tracks address field edits and changes across the fulfilment chain, helping to pinpoint where a delivery went wrong and maintain data accountability. Marginal Gains. Major Ecommerce Impact. Smart logistics and address data validation might only reduce parcel loss by fractions of a percent – but the impact is huge: A 0.1% improvement = thousands of saved parcels = millions in recovered revenue Fewer failed deliveries = less pressure on customer support teams Accurate addresses = better first-time delivery success and lower last-mile costs Conclusion: Delivery Accuracy is a Data Challenge Lost parcels aren’t just a logistics challenge. They’re a symptom of poor data validation in ecommerce. From checkout to doorstep, the journey must be powered by precise, verified data. Fetchify helps online retailers solve this problem with address validation, geolocation, and enhanced fulfilment transparency. If you want to stop asking “Whose front door is this?” – start with smarter ecommerce data. Want to improve delivery success and reduce failed parcels? Contact Fetchify to book your free address data health check.
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