Rating Address Accuracy Guide – UK –
The UK Country Specific Guidelines indicate which address elements are mandatory in the UK for each type of result. We therefore need to check that the required address elements are present and correct in TryRating, and also check whether any extra elements shown in TryRating are correct or incorrect.
For all UK results we use Royal Mail to check the Sub-locality, Locality and Postcode.
For business/POI results which have an official URL or official social media page, we use this to verify the street address elements (Unit, Street number, Street name).
For address type results, or businesses without an official web page, we need to check Royal Mail or other reliable resources for the street address or other elements, depending on the situation.
When using the Royal Mail address finder, the locality is shown in capital letters as the second to last line, with any sub-localities shown above this and not in capital letters (between street number/name and locality). Business or POI names are also sometimes shown but should not be considered as address components.
Rating Address accuracy for a business/POI type result:
Check Royal Mail to verify that the Sub-locality (if there is one), Locality and Postcode are present and correct in the TryRating result.
Check the official web page of the business, to find whether the street address in the TryRating result matches the street address shown on the official web page. Street address elements are needed if they are present on the official URL, and they are mandatory address elements according to the Country Specific Guidelines.
Example – Street address elements confirmed on official URL:
Result: Cineworld Cinema Crawley
Crawley Leisure Park, London Rd, Crawley RH10 8LR, United Kingdom
Official URL: Crawley Leisure Park, London Road, Crawley, RH10 8LR
Royal Mail: Unit 1, Crawley Leisure Park, London Road, CRAWLEY, RH10 8LR
The street address shown is correct according to the official URL, and Royal Mail confirms that the locality and postcode are correct. The Unit number shown on Royal Mail is not required, as it is not claimed by the official URL. Therefore, the address can be marked Correct.
Example – Postcode verified using Royal Mail:
Result: Wetherspoons
93–99 Albert Rd, Widnes WA8 6JS, United Kingdom
Official URL: 93–99 Albert Road, Widnes, Cheshire, WA8
6JS
Royal Mail: 93-99 Albert Road, WIDNES, WA8 6LB
The postcode is incorrect on TryRating as well as the official URL. On checking Royal Mail, we find that the correct postcode is WA8 6LB and therefore the address should be
marked as Incorrect – Postal Code.
Example – Sub-locality incorrectly present:
Result: Bristol South Swimming Pool
Dean Ln, Southville, Bristol BS3 1BS, United Kingdom Official URL: Dean Lane, Bedminster, BS3 1BS Royal Mail: Dean Lane, BRISTOL, BS3 1BS
The sub-locality of Southville is not applicable according to Royal Mail and should be marked as Incorrect – Sub-locality issue. (The street name is correct according to the official URL and the locality and postcode are correct as per Royal Mail). The official URL also lists the locality as Bedminster, which is incorrect, Royal Mail lists the Locality as Bristol so incorrect Locality should also be marked for this example.
Example – Sub-locality missing in result address:
Result: A&E – Tunbridge Wells
Tonbridge Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN2 4QJ, England Official URL: Tonbridge Road, Pembury, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN2 4QJ
Royal Mail: Tonbridge Road, Pembury, TUNBRIDGE WELLS, TN2 4QJ
The address should be rated Incorrect – Sub-locality issue as Royal Mail indicates that the sub-locality Pembury is missing.
If there is a mandatory street address element shown on the official URL but not shown in TryRating, then it is considered missing and should be marked Incorrect. (If the official URL shows additional address elements which are not mandatory according to the Country Specific Guidelines, such as a neighbourhood name, then these should not be considered missing).
Example – Unit number missing from result:
Result: KFC
The Friary, Guildford, GU1 4YT, England
Official URL: Unit FC06 The Friary Centre, Guildford, GU1 4YT
Royal Mail: Unit 6, Food Court, The Friary, GUILDFORD, GU1 4YL
The official URL indicates that Unit FC06 is part of the street address, and therefore Unit/Apt should be marked as Incorrect. (In addition, the postcode is GU1 4YL as per Royal Mail and the result should also be marked Incorrect – Postal Code). The address accuracy rating is Incorrect – Unit/Apt, Postal Code.
If there is a street address element returned in TryRating which is not listed on the official URL, then this may still be able to be marked as Correct if it is present on other official resources such as Royal Mail or Companies House, or if it is shown on street imagery.
Example – Unit number not listed on official URL, but confirmed on Royal Mail:
Result: McDonald’s
Unit 206, Southside Shopping Centre, London, SW18 4TG, England
Official URL: Leisure Node Southside, Wandsworth, SW18 4TG
Royal Mail: Unit 206, Southside Shopping Centre, LONDON, SW18 4TF
The official URL doesn’t include the unit number shown on TryRating, but it can be confirmed to be correct using Royal Mail. (However, the postcode is incorrect as per Royal Mail, and the official URL confirms a different shopping centre name). Address accuracy rating in this case Incorrect – Street Number, Postal Code.
If there are additional address elements shown in TryRating which are not mandatory according to the Country Specific Guidelines, then these are rated according to the type of component. A County is an element that can be technically correct, and but as we don’t require it, the Address is rated Correct
with Formatting Issue. Other odd elements such as boroughs are considered unexpected components and are rated Incorrect – Other Issue.
Example – non-required but correct component present:
Result: Iceland
64 High Street, Staines, Middlesex, TW18 4DY, England Official URL: 64 High Street, Staines, Middlesex, TW18 4DY Royal Mail: 64 High Street, STAINES-UPON-THAMES, TW18 4DY
Middlesex shown in the result is a County. This is not a required element, and the Address should be rated Correct with Formatting Issue.
Example – non-required component incorrectly present:
Result: The Allegra Foundation
106 Arlington Rd, Camden Town, London, NW1 7HP, United Kingdom
Official URL: 106 Arlington Road, London, NW1 7HP
Royal Mail: 106 Arlington Road, LONDON, NW1 7HP
The result contains an unexpected address component, as Camden Town is a district and should be marked as Incorrect – Other Issue.
Occasionally an address element can have more than one correct version, such as a street name which is used both with and without an apostrophe. If the TryRating result is showing an alternate version to the resources, check street imagery as the element may still be able to be marked as Correct.
If there is no official URL or social media page, then we use Royal Mail for checking the street address elements. Companies House and street imagery can also be used. Occasionally we may also need to refer to a consensus of three unofficial but reliable resources. If there is a lack of resources, and it is not possible to check that an address is correct, then rate Can’t Verify.
Shopping Centre or other large complex/campus is considered a street number component unless a street number already exist, in which case it is considered as Other.
Example – Shopping Centre is incorrect – no regular street number is present.
Result: B&M
The Mallyy, Blackburn, BB1 7JQ
Official URL: The Mall, 31-41 Market Way, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 7JQ
Royal Mail: 31-41 Market Way, Blackburn, BB1 7JQ
The Shopping Centre is incorrect according to the official URL and should be marked as Incorrect – Street number. Even though the address on Tryrating does not include “31-41 Market Way” it should not be considered as missing because the address contains the campus location, “The Mall” as per MS 8.1.2.1.
Example – Shopping Centre is wrong with street number component:
Result: B&M
The Mallyy, 31-41 Market Way, Blackburn, BB1 7JQ Official URL: The Mall, 31-41 Market Way, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 7JQ
Royal Mail: 31-41 Market Way, Blackburn, BB1 7JQ
The Shopping Centre is incorrect according to the official URL, however the address already contains a street number component; therefore this should be marked as Incorrect – Other Issue.
Rating Address accuracy for an Address type result:
We need to check that the mandatory address elements for the address type are present and correct.
Similarly, to rating business/POI type results, check Royal Mail to verify that the Sub-locality, Locality and Postcode are present and correct in the TryRating result.
Other address elements are rated according to the type of address result. In many cases we can use Royal Mail for all the address elements, such as full address results and street type results.
Example – Postcode result missing sub-locality:
Result: TA19 9QH
Ilmimster, TA19 9QH, England
Royal Mail: Horton, ILMINSTER, TA19 9QH
Royal Mail confirms the sub-locality of Horton is missing.
Address accuracy is rated Incorrect – Sub-locality Issue.
Example – Sub-locality result with incorrect locality:
Result: Newcastle
Newcastle, Llangattock-Vibon-Abel Community, Wales
Royal Mail: Newcastle, MONMOUTH
The result shows another sub-locality instead of the locality Monmouth and should be rated Incorrect – Sub-locality.
Example – Full address result verified using Royal Mail:
Result: 44 Fernagh Road
44 Fernagh Road, Newtownabbey, BT37, Northern Ireland Royal Mail: 44 Fernagh Road, NEWTOWNABBEY, BT37 0BE
All elements can be checked on Royal Mail, including the street address which is confirmed correct. The postcode is incomplete; Royal Mail indicates that the postcode is BT37 0BE and it should be marked as Incorrect. Address accuracy rating should be Incorrect – Postal Code.
However, if Royal Mail doesn’t list particular street address elements, we can use other resources such as map applications, street imagery and government resources. Also, to rate address types which are not standard Royal Mail components, such as neighbourhood results, borough results or county results, we will need to use other resources.
If additional parts are shown in TryRating which are not mandatory for that address type, they can be rated Correct if they are standard Royal Mail components and relate to that address. For example, a street name can be rated correct for a postcode type result, and a full postcode can be rated correct for a street type result if it applies to the whole street.
For full address results, if additional non-mandatory elements are shown in TryRating, these are rated in the same way as business/POI type results. A correct County shown in a full address result is rated Correct with Formatting Issue. Other odd elements such as boroughs are considered unexpected components in a full address result and are rated Incorrect – Other Issue.
As with business/POI address types, sometimes we come across an address element which has more than one correct version, such as a street name which is used both with and without an apostrophe. If the TryRating result is showing an alternate version to the resources, check street imagery as the element may still be able to be marked as Correct.
If there is a lack of resources, and it is not possible to check that an address is correct, then rate Can’t Verify.
Finally, when you have your Address rating, if the rating is anything other than Correct, leave a comment explaining the corrections. Provide the corrected elements, and state which resources you used, giving the shortened URLs.