How to verify an address

Using address validation, you can increase your chances of successful mail delivery by having the correct formatting, street, city, and postal code information. Incorrect address information can lead to returned mail and increased shipping costs. You can confirm your address information before sending packages or letters to improve successful deliveries and lower overall shipping costs.

What is address validation?

Address validation or verification will check that your mailing address list has data tied to real locations and is appropriately formatted. Manually validating addresses is time-consuming and prone to errors, but address verification software, such as Experian’s Delivery Point Validation (DPV®), automates this process, delivering accurate and clean address lists. 

Why does address verification matter?

Address verification is not just a good practice, it's vital to your organization for many reasons, such as different countries' varying formats and standards. The variation in formatting means your organization should verify your customers' addresses, especially when shipping internationally. 

For example, in the U.S., residential addresses follow this format: 

[Recipient]
[House or building number] [Street name]
[Secondary address information]
[City] [State]
[ZIP code]

For example, a personal home address in the U.S. could be:

Ms. Sarah Jane Smith                                                                              
11 Torchwood Street
Apt 4
New York City, New York
11377                     

However, in the U.K., residential addresses follow this format:

[Recipient]
[Building name; not all addresses have this]
[Street name]
[Postal town/Town/City]
[County; not needed]
[Postal code]
[Country name]

An example could be:

Mr. Mickey Smith
1 Cardiff Way
Abbots Langley
WD5 0TT
United Kingdom

Although each country has its own standard formats, addresses can be written in various ways, so knowing how to verify proof of address is necessary. For example, the country you’re in and the country you’re mailing to can change how you write an address.

However, not only can a country’s address formatting affect your address list. You might receive a different format depending on where you got the address. Finding addresses from a business card, postal authority, or email signature will all vary in format. Also, an address format may be outdated if you received the address years ago. Any of these factors could cause your deliveries to be delayed or returned to you.

Knowing how to verify an address before sending is the best way to guarantee your contact list is up-to-date, accurate, and formatted correctly.

How does address verification work?

Address verification will check a mailing address against postal data from over 240 countries, fixing formatting and spelling errors. It minimizes potential mistakes when customers or call center reps enter addresses, making sure businesses have valid customer data.

With the amount of address changes that happen on an annual basis, address validation software is crucial to your organization. Since address validation maintains accurate customer data, customers will have a more positive experience interacting with your company.

Verify your mailing address list with Experian

At Experian, we use the latest address data to help clean and update your address lists. Our software identifies issues, like incorrect formatting, and fixes them so your mail and packages get to your customers the first time.

How to validate my address lists

There are two easy ways to verify any mailing address data in your contact lists. The first is to use a USPS® address verification tool, which verifies US-based and international addresses in batches. The second method uses an address validation API that connects to your website, application, or other technology to validate addresses in real-time.

1) Use a USPS® address verification tool

To confirm that your address list has the most up-to-date and complete data, address verification providers partner with the United States Postal Service (USPS®) for U.S. addresses. To verify international mailing address data, the USPS® partners with regional postal authorities to check that addresses adhere to the correct formats for those countries.

Experian address verification identifies, corrects, and formats addresses while completing any missing address elements. You can use this type of address verification solution for many situations.

List processing services like batch address validation from Experian make it easy to verify a list of addresses quickly. The process involves flagging inaccurate addresses in your list and then correcting mistakes in the flagged addresses. You also get a detailed breakdown of your addresses to see which are ready to get mail and which need attention.

This processing service is helpful if you must check a mailing address list for an alumni reunion or corporate event or to use in marketing communications to save time and money.

2) Use an address verification API

An address verification API is a more technical solution than list processing to check mailing address data. Your API still uses datasets from the USPS® and other regional postal authorities so that you have the most up-to-date address information. However, it can be integrated into your existing technical environments for real-time address data management.

Adding an API to your website or application automatically verifies addresses as they come in, reducing human errors and eliminating inaccuracies before reaching your contact list.

Think of real-time validation as a long-term solution to address management. Instead of checking address lists in batches, your addresses come into your database clean and ready to go.

Address verification APIs can be integrated into web forms, CRMs, and internal applications almost anywhere you collect address data to capture verified postal addresses. If your business has had problems with figuring out how to verify proof of address, an API can help you manage incoming addresses proactively.

Using a USPS® verification tool or address verification API helps guarantee your deliveries get sent to the right place, whether you’re mailing corporate event invitations, tax documents, or customer orders.
Ready to see how Experian’s data quality experts can help you clean and verify your address lists

Contact us today to learn how we can help you verify proof of address and keep your address data complete and up-to-date.