Changing Openreach address

As I live in a rental, each prior tenant has referred to my flat differently. I've had 'Top floor' in Royal Mail, another one that embarrassingly describes the topology of my flat (Council and Openreach) and 'Flat 3' (Land Registry).

The last one - Flat 3 - is the correct terminology and the one I'm trying to get all address databases to be consistent with. So I've managed to change Royal Mail and Council to be reflective of the actual address. Yet the one address that I cannot for the life of me change is the Openreach address which consequently is being used by DCMS and therefore used by all the altnets. Openreach claim they use the Royal Mail PAF, but since they used the council address then that's a lie. I've also changed the council and Royal Mail address over 18 months ago, and still Openreach hasn't picked it up from the databases - is there any due diligence with their data?

I asked my previous ISP (IDnet) who said I had to take a new contract out to change the address, which sounded like an excuse. I then asked my current ISP (BT Business) to do the same, and I have the hilarious situation that my bill is addressed to Flat 3, but Openreach is still wrong.

How can I force Openreach and DCMS to change the address to correlate exactly with the Royal Mail PAF, Council and Land Registry? Because ISPs seemingly cannot fathom how to fix it, and Openreach doesn't seem to do anything to cleanse their data nor respond to customers.

What's the embarrassing topology? [censored] end of nowhere?

But seriously, I'm surprised you got the Royal Mail to change the address, I always thought theirs was the definitive as everyone else uses it and it couldn't change.

Anyway, think yourself lucky you don't have a Glasgow flat address. I often had mail sent to me at "Jan 2" or - if using the American version - "Feb 1" rather than 2/1 (that's the first flat on the second floor). Naturally, they do if differently in Edinburgh...

Woolwich

There is a process to change the name/number of addresses that you can go through with Royal Mail.

However. it will only trickle through to others if Royal Mail include it on an update, like the additional postcodes they issue every quarter.

Individual Name/number changes are rarely updated, whilst larger additional changes usually are.

Royal Mail seem to take the view that a change from 1identity to another doesn't really affect anyone else. Whereas an addition/deletion does.

There is a form on the OR site somewhere to amend address details but they are really only interested where one is missing as they use the NAD code .to uniquely identify premises.

I have had missing addresses added fairly easily but never tried changing one.

What's it listed as here?

https://www.findmyaddress.co.uk/search

If it's wrong then your local authority need to update their files, the altnets will then pick those changes up.

Having had a similar issue a few years ago I found that OR did have a separate database to Royal Mail. It took the involvement of their High Level Escalation Team to get the change made.

In reply to a post by zzing123:

Because ISPs seemingly cannot fathom how to fix it, and Openreach doesn't seem to do anything to cleanse their data nor respond to customers.

(I may be wrong but) If your ISP has the correct address all they need to do is run and ORDI process to synchronise their address with the Openreach database

In reply to a post by iannewson:

In reply to a post by zzing123:

Because ISPs seemingly cannot fathom how to fix it, and Openreach doesn't seem to do anything to cleanse their data nor respond to customers.

(I may be wrong but) If your ISP has the correct address all they need to do is run and ORDI process to synchronise their address with the Openreach database

This is what IDnet said. But it also meant that they needed to reprovision the line and that incurred a new line fee. Which is ridiculous.

So now Ordnance Survey seem to be the masters addresses?

My council (Hammersmith & Fulham) was updated ~18 months ago, about the same time as https://www.royalmail.com/find-a-postcode which both show the correct flat to be what the actual definitive address should be: the Land Registry.

Do I blast the council or Ordnance Survey to change this?

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

What's the embarrassing topology? [censored] end of nowhere?

But seriously, I'm surprised you got the Royal Mail to change the address, I always thought theirs was the definitive as everyone else uses it and it couldn't change.

Anyway, think yourself lucky you don't have a Glasgow flat address. I often had mail sent to me at "Jan 2" or - if using the American version - "Feb 1" rather than 2/1 (that's the first flat on the second floor). Naturally, they do if differently in Edinburgh...

It's not embarassing or rude but it explains exactly which floor my flat occupies, the bedroom count and a particular feature - a bit of a security issue no one needs to know in public data. Given this is London, and I have a halfway house at the end of my road, we have to be a little careful.

Royal Mail were quite pliable when I mentioned I just wanted to change it to 'Flat 3' to keep it in line with the Land Registry, and once I had that, the council was no problem. I think they both agreed with the common sense it was a little too descriptive of the flat.

I feel for you re: Glasgow addresses. I have a severe case of Autowrong-itis and have made that mistake when doing deliveries too...

But I've left it 18 months to see if OR did the sensible thing of updating addresses from Royal Mail PAF which technically they should do after a year... nope. Hence the thread: who, and if possible, where do I have a blast at?

I know it’s a bit of a cliché and no doubt I’ll cop it from the pundits, but as you’ve exhausted the “normal channels”, I would do the email the CEO thing! That is you’re actually emailing the executive complaints team (who are remarkably effective in other matters): [removed by tbb]
Good luck.

Edited by seb (Mon 02-Feb-26 21:38:07)