Editing Postcodes in the United Kingdom (section)

==Other uses==
{{See also|Postcode lottery}}
While postcodes were introduced to expedite the delivery of mail, they are useful tools for other purposes, particularly because codes are very fine-grained and identify just a few addresses. Among these uses are:
* With [[satellite navigation]] systems, to navigate to an address by street number and postcode
* By life insurance companies and pension funds to assess longevity for pricing and reserving<ref name="insurance">[http://www.actuaries.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/103077/sm20080225.pdf Richards, S. J. Applying survival models to pensioner mortality data, British Actuarial Journal] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108162136/http://www.actuaries.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/103077/sm20080225.pdf |date=8 January 2009 }}</ref>
* By other types of insurance companies to assess premiums for motoring/business/domestic policies
* To determine [[catchment area (human geography)|catchment areas]] for school places or [[General practitioner|doctors']] surgeries
*Finding the nearest branch of an organisation to a given address. A computer program uses the postcodes of the target address and the branches to list the closest branches in order of distance as the crow flies (or, if used in conjunction with street-map software, by road distance). This can be used by companies to inform potential customers where to go, by [[job centre]]s to find jobs for job-seekers, to alert people of [[town planning]] applications in their area, and a great many other applications.<ref name="planning" />

The phrase "[[postcode lottery]]" refers to the variation in the availability of services by region, though not always because of postcodes.

For these and related reasons, postcodes in some areas have become indicators of social status. Some residents have campaigned to change their postcode to associate themselves with a more desirable area,<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26367320 The march of the postcode battlers], BBC News Magazine, 4 March 2014</ref> to disassociate with a poorer area,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2668561.stm |title='Snobs' want to slough off postcode |publisher=BBC News |date=17 January 2003 |access-date=4 January 2010}}</ref> to reduce insurance premiums or to be associated with an area with a lower [[cost of living]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/archive/display.var.334327.0.cracking_the_codes_not_easy.php |title=Cracking The Codes Not Easy |work=This Is Local London |date=12 March 2002 |access-date=4 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080526111315/http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/archive/display.var.334327.0.cracking_the_codes_not_easy.php |archive-date=26 May 2008}}</ref> In all these cases [[Royal Mail]] has said that there is "virtually no hope" of changing the postcode, referring to their policy of changing postcodes only to match changes in their operations.<ref>{{cite news|last=Scrivens |first=Louise |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4409163.stm |title=UK &#124; England &#124; London &#124; The power of the postcode |publisher=BBC News |date=5 April 2005 |access-date=4 January 2010}}</ref>

Postcode areas rarely align with local government boundaries. The phenomenon whereby postcodes overlap administrative boundaries is known as 'straddling'.<ref name="ONS Geography Guide">{{cite web |url=https://geoportal.statistics.gov.uk/datasets/a-beginners-guide-to-uk-geography-2023/about |title=A Beginners Guide to UK Geography (2023) |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=24 August 2023 |website=Open Geography Portal |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=9 December 2023 |quote=Straddling refers to the phenomenon of postcodes overlapping administrative (or other geographic) boundaries. This is because postcodes are defined for mail delivery only and take no account of other geographies. However, postcodes are frequently used for referencing data so straddling can create problems when we want to relate postcode-referenced data to higher geographies (for example electoral wards).}}</ref> Some postcodes straddle [[England]]'s borders with [[Wales]] and [[Scotland]], such as CH and TD.  This has led to [[British Sky Broadcasting]] subscribers receiving the wrong BBC and ITV regions, and newly licensed [[radio amateurs]] being given incorrect [[call signs]].

{{Postcode areas in the United Kingdom}}