What is it like trying to get a Postcode changed? I have an interest in a building that used to have its entrance on the corner of two residential roads, and the Postcode was originally allocated to the north/south road. Since then, the entrance has been moved to the east/west road, and the Postcode now confuses delivery drivers who only look at the road which the Postcode tells them to, and go home saying they can't find the building.
Worth googling. This was discussed extensively a few months, maybe a year ago. IIRC the answer was that it is possible in particular cases, but not necessarily easy. It might have been in uk.legal.moderated.
You need to get the building renumbered to the east/west road through the council, who will then send the info to Royal Mail to issue the postcodes, send it back to the council, who put it into the national gazetteer which should then roll out to the satnav systems.
Owain
About 20 years ago I was doing some work for a large multinational pharmaceutical company when they were informed that the postcode of the main office was incorrect. It should have been something like XXnn 1AZ, and it had been given as XXnn 1ZA! Fortunately the wrong code hadn't been allotted to the "correct" address it should have referred to, as that address, which would have been several streets away, didn't yet exist.
The company dug into their files and found a copy of the letter from the Post Office showing that it was the PO who had given them the incorrect code. The PO said it had to be changed as it didn't fit with their system. The company replied that every licence it had for its products, and every piece of associated packaging, had, by law, to have the postcode on it. They said that if all those had to be changed it would cost millions of pounds (it really would have cost that), and the PO would have to pick up the full cost as it was their fault the original postcode was wrong. After a couple of days to think it over the PO relented and left the postcode as it was!
It might be easier to put up a large notice on the north/south road side directing people to the later entrance.
Lateral thinking! Excellent!
I used to work for an Address Management company and I think Owain's advice is spot on. It will take a while though to filter through.
I thought lateral was east/west :-)
That sounds like left-brain thinking!
I'll get my coat....
If you are left-handed, is it possible to have brain reversal as well?
though may lead back to the council for planning permission if larger than 0.3 m2 or if illuminated
Recently the Royal Mail with their "Address Management Unit" allocated a new postcode for us, and it was up to us to inform the local council of this change. However we were looking for a postcode change rather than a new address which the OP is looking for
Getting Google Maps and others to update is the real headache. Google is incredible unhelpful and rely on unpaid volunteers to do their leg-work.
Yes, I think step one would be to get the council to amend the location and the address. I did something similar a few years ago for a property in Caernarvon.
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You forgot the most important database, the Postcode Address File which is the underlying indentification of every property in the UK and updates are rolled out to paying business on a regular basis.
I believe it uses an internal coding that Postcodes as we know them, map onto.
sknaht
Be aware that , especially if a residential property, changing the address in any way can cause all sorts of problems with Credit Reference companies and in the transition with almost any online transaction !
Yes indeed. Parcelforce refused to deliver a parcel to 'Top Floor Right' (should have read 'Flat 3/2') on the grounds it was not properly addressed. When I complained I was told it is not the job of postal staff to go looking for addresses. I observed that any member of Royal Mail who did not know that top floor was the one nearest the sky and right was the hand without the watch should be dismissed. Bizarrely, the flats are not numbered anyway and top right should be easier to find.
Next time my brother drew a diagram on the envelope to show where my flat was to be found :-)
Well, actually, it is numbered and named as on the east/west road, it's just the Postcode which doesn't know where it is. It probably stems from the fact that originally, the entrance to the building was at the corner of the two roads, and somebody chose the wrong one when they allocated postcodes. Later, the property was developed, and the entrance was moved. It is now on the road where the address says it is, but drivers who can't be bothered can't find it on the "Wrong" road, per TomTom.
Are you in Edinburgh?
Edinburgh flat numbering is notorious, with the council and the Royal Mail allegedly following different systems.
Owain
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