Address data, database rights and the cost of getting it wrong
What happened to GetAddress, and how does it affect the UK address data landscape?
On 4 February 2026, postcode lookup provider GetAddress unexpectedly ceased providing its services. The closure followed a High Court ruling that the address data used by the GetAddress service infringed the intellectual property rights of Royal Mail Group Limited and IDDQD Limited. As a result, many businesses relying on the GetAddress API were left needing to urgently reassess their address data strategy.
So what happened, and what does this mean for organisations using address lookup services in the UK?
The High Court judgment
On 10 October 2025, the High Court of England & Wales held that GetAddress's address data infringed both database rights and copyright belonging to Royal Mail Group Limited and IDDQD Limited. The court rejected claims that the data had been independently created using open or public sources.
If you're interested in reading more about the court case, there's a brilliant and accessible write-up by Quinn Liang of Bird&Bird, which explains how database rights apply to UK address data and why Royal Mail's Postcode Address File (PAF) is legally protected.
Licensed PAF data
Unlike GetAddress, Postcoder uses fully licensed Royal Mail PAF data. This data is refreshed daily, which means that websites and applications using Postcoder have the most accurate and up-to-date UK address data available.
Postcoder also incorporates additional Royal Mail datasets, including Multiple Residence and Not Yet Built. These datasets extend coverage beyond standard PAF to include subdivided properties, flats created within existing buildings and newly created addresses that may not yet appear in the core file. If you want to know why PAF is the gold standard for UK addressing, take a look at our guide to PAF.
What about free and open-source address APIs?
There are legitimate free and open-source address APIs on the market, and they can be useful in certain contexts. However, some addresses returned may be inferred based on surrounding data rather than sourced from an authoritative UK address database such as PAF.
We've written previously about the limitations of free address lookup APIs and why inferred address data can introduce accuracy issues for UK-focused businesses.
APIs that rely solely on open or publicly available datasets also risk being out of date or incomplete. That said, these datasets absolutely have value and are often used to enrich address databases. With Postcoder, we supplement PAF with multiple additional sources, including the ONS Postcode Directory.
However, for UK addressing, relying on non-PAF data alone risks introducing inaccurate addresses and jeopardising business processes. For regulated industries such as finance and insurance, that is rarely a risk worth taking.
Choosing certainty over shortcuts
The GetAddress ruling is a reminder that address data quality is not just a technical concern. It could have legal and commercial implications for any organisation collecting customer addresses.
As always, Postcoder customers can be confident they've chosen an API that uses official and fully licensed data and takes no shortcuts to ensuring an accurate address every time.