Regular data cleansing ensures your database is up-to-date, helping you to reduce unnecessary campaign costs, control the consumer’s perception of the organisation contacting them, and staying compliant with the Data Protection Act and GDPR which came into effect on 25th May 2018.
The GDPR regulations state that personal data shall be: ‘accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date; every reasonable step must be taken to ensure that personal data that are inaccurate, having regard to the purposes for which they are processed, are erased or rectified without delay (‘accuracy’)’ Chapter 2, Article 5 – Full regulations here
The Original Data Company specialises in cleaning consumer mailing lists.
We have a comprehensive range of data cleansing solutions operated by one of the most experienced bureau teams in the UK.
To view our comprehensive data cleansing infographic, which lists the processes we undertake, please click HERE.
Consumer data can be cleaned against a number of products including:
Maximises deliverability, reducing waste and cost.
There are more than 29 million addresses in the UK.
Over 600,000 people die in the UK each year.
7.2 million individuals move house or change address every year in the UK.
The Royal Mail's NCOA Update file contains approximately 23 million records, and is growing by 100,000 records per month.
Over 2.92 million consumers have currently registered on the MPS Personal file, while almost 3.47 million are on the MPS Original file.
Benefits of cleaning:
PAF – Postcode Address File 
The Postcode Address File (PAF) from the Royal Mail is the most up-to-date and complete address database in the UK, containing over 29 million addresses.
PAF is an invaluable tool for creating and maintaining mailing lists and databases, as well as reducing the number of returned or undelivered items.
PAF is the only complete source of all known UK Postcodes. Click HERE for more information.
MPS – Mailing Preference Service 
The Mailing Preference Service (MPS) is a free service set up and funded by the direct mail industry to enable consumers to have their names and home addresses removed from lists used by the industry. It is actively supported by the Royal Mail and all directly involved trade associations as well as being supported by The Information Commissioners Office.
The use of the MPS file by list owners and users is a requirement of the British Code of Advertising which is administered by the Advertising Standards Authority.
Mortascreen 
The UK's original and most comprehensive deceased suppression file.
The Mortascreen file is unique and currently contains the names and address details of over 11 million deceased individuals, with around 50,000 new records collected each month.
No other file can match Mortascreen for size, accuracy and recency – over 90% of the UK's Top 100 Mailers rely on it to ensure that their files are free from deceased names.
TBR - The Bereavement Register 
For over 10 years TBR has built a reputation as a trusted, accurate and comprehensive database of people who have passed away.
TBR was the first consumer-facing deceased suppression product on the market and is the only deceased suppression file to be recommended and signposted by Government and NGOs.
With a total of 10 million records; 30-40,000 new records, captured within 14 days of death, are added per month.
National Deceased Register 
NDR data is derived from anti-fraud due diligence activities undertaken by FCA-regulated organisations. Records are only added to the file after multisource corroboration and no volunteered data is permitted.
NDR captures over 80% of all UK deaths, and around 40,000 new records are added every month - of which 30% are unique to NDR. Since 2001 NDR has captured over 6 million deaths.
Fression 
Fression is a new suppression file from the Zoopla Property Group.
Fression enables users to identify whole-house moves, within days of their move. Containing 11 million records the file is built from ZPG company websites including: Zoopla - the UK’s most comprehensive property website, uSwitch - the UK’s leading comparison website for home services, Money - one of the UK’s leading financial services comparison websites & PrimeLocation - another of the UK’s leading property websites.
GAS – Gone Away Suppression file 
One of the best known and most-respected suppression products on the market, providing accurate and comprehensive coverage of people who have moved within the UK. Established
in 1992 to address the problem of mailing people who have moved house, the GAS file is one of the most accurate, up-todate and widely used solutions for identifying non-assumed,
validated gone-aways.
The file contains over 99 million records of home owners who have GoneAway.
NCOA Suppress
The NCOA® Suppress File uses data from Royal Mail’s redirection service.
The data is collected directly from the redirection application forms completed by consumers who are in the process of moving home. The file contains approximately 43 million records dating back to 1995, and continues to grow at the rate of around 100,000 records per month.
Surf 4 Suppression Deceased
The Surf4Suppression Deceased file contains 3.5 million deceased records.
The file contains only multiple verified bereavements at individual level and has built up over the last 15 years.
Surf 4 Suppression Goneaway
The Surf4Suppression Gone Away file is unique in that it contains postal and email suppressions.
The file contains over 3 million email suppressions including hard bounces and opt outs.