UK National Change of Address (NCOA) Processing
Reach the Right People at the Right Addresses
Stay connected with your customers, even when they move. Our UK National Change of Address (NCOA) processing service ensures your database remains up to date by identifying movers and updating their address information or suppressing records as needed.
Licensed directly from Royal Mail, the NCOA database is the UK’s official source for address changes, covering England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the British Crown Dependencies. With 10% of UK individuals moving each year and an estimated 1% passing away, failing to maintain accurate records can lead to wasted mailing costs and compliance risks.
- Reduce undeliverable mail and mailing costs
- Improve customer retention and engagement
- Maintain compliance with postal regulations
- Suppress records of deceased individuals and non-consenting movers
Ensure your marketing and operational communications reach the right people at the right addresses. Start optimising your database today with our reliable NCOA processing service.
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Royal Mail Movers / Change of Address Processing
Sourced from Royal Mails movers redirection service that keeps track of persons that move premise, the person will then supply a new address when they move house or business ultimately giving permission for their data to be used in the change of address service so that they can continue to receive post.
The Change of Address file is updated on a monthly bases growing at around 100,000 records per month and estimates that 50% of people moving to a new house or business premise will have their mail redirected and around 50% of these give permission for their information to be used on the this service.
This will allow you to trace your customers that have moved, keep in touch with them and keep your customer records clean and up to date.
The Change of Address from Royal Mail goes back over 25 years and contains close to 22 million records of customers who have taken out a permanent redirection service within the UK.
USPS NCOALink Processing
SmartMover provides NCOALink processing to validate each address in your data file, employing USPS CASS Certified™ address correction. Once addresses are corrected, each customer record is matched against the USPS 48-month NCOALink database containing the most recent 160 million moves. When a match is made, we will update your address file with the most current address information.
Mailing lists that are processed through SmartMover meet the USPS Move-Update requirement for a period of 95 days from the date of processing. This requirement applies to all First-Class Mail® and all Standard Mail®. If you mail on a regular basis, we recommend establishing a processing schedule to ensure that your mailing list is in compliance with the USPS requirement.
Melissa is a NCOALink® Full Service Provider licensee of the USPS. NCOALink®processing requires a processing Acknowledgement Form (PAF). Download a copy of our NCOALink® PAF
Canada NCOA Processing
Over 1 million Canadian households and businesses move each year. SmartMover will match your address file against the Canada Post NCOA™ database containing over 10 million records from the last 72 months.
Canadian NCOA processing may be performed in conjunction with Canadian Address Hygiene, but this is not a requirement. However, it is necessary to qualify for Canada Post’s Incentive Lettermail, Addressed Admail and Publication Mail rates. SmartMover utilizes SERP Certified™ address correction to process and standardise your mailing list and a Statement of Accuracy (SOA) is provided to report the percentage of accurate addresses when mail is deposited with Canada Post.
Melissa is one of only a handful of Canada Post licensees. Canada NCOA processing requires a signed copy of the Canadian NCOA Acknowledgement Form. Download a copy of our Canadian NCOA form
Achieve Complete Contact Data Management
Melissa's Data Quality tools help organisations of all sizes verify and maintain data so they can effectively communicate with their customers via postal mail, email, and phone. Our additional data quality tools include
Frequently Asked Questions
NCOA (National Change of Address) processing is a data cleansing service that helps organisations update and maintain accurate address records by identifying individuals or businesses that have moved and providing their new addresses where available.
NCOA processing ensures that organisations maintain an accurate customer database, reducing undeliverable mail, improving customer engagement, and ensuring compliance with data protection regulations like the UK GDPR.
NCOA processing in the UK typically relies on datasets such as:
- Royal Mail’s National Change of Address (NCOA) Update – Addresses of individuals who have officially updated their address with Royal Mail.
- The Gone Away Suppression File (GAS – Information on individuals who have moved without leaving a forwarding address.
- Other commercial change-of-address datasets – Data from utility companies, financial services, and other verified sources.
It is recommended to process your database every 3 to 6 months to keep address records up to date and reduce wastage from undelivered mail.
Yes, as long as the data is processed in compliance with the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018. Organisations should ensure they have a lawful basis for processing, such as legitimate interest or consent, and should handle personal data responsibly.
Any organisation that relies on direct mail or postal communications can benefit, including:
- Retail & eCommerce – Ensuring deliveries reach the correct recipients.
- Financial Services – Maintaining up-to-date records for compliance and customer engagement.
- Charities & Nonprofits – Avoiding wasted fundraising materials.
- Utilities & Telecoms – Reducing misdirected bills and service communications.
Yes, many NCOA processing services also offer deceased suppression, which helps organisations remove individuals who have passed away from their mailing lists to prevent distressing communications.
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