On 4 February 2026, GetAddress.io ceased operations. The service, operated by Codeberry Ltd, had provided postcode lookup and address search APIs to thousands of businesses across the UK. Its shutdown followed a High Court judgment handed down in October 2025 that found the company had systematically infringed the database rights and copyright of both Royal Mail Group and IDDQD Limited (trading as Ideal Postcodes).
For any business that relied on GetAddress.io for address lookup, checkout flows, or form completion, the immediate priority is restoring service. But the court's findings also contain important lessons for anyone choosing an address data provider, and they are worth understanding in detail.
The case: IDDQD Limited v Codeberry Limited [2025] EWHC 2561 (Ch)
The judgment, delivered by HH Judge Hacon on 10 October 2025, runs to considerable length and sets out findings of fact that are, frankly, remarkable.
How the infringement was discovered
The case turned on two ingenious detection methods.
1. Seed addresses
Two fictitious addresses with non-existent postcodes were planted into the Postcode Address File (PAF). Both appeared in the GetAddress database.
The defence argued these were the only PAF seeds present because such addresses are difficult to remove. The court disagreed. The judge found that GetAddress's own maintenance processes, which compared data against other sources, would have flagged and removed addresses with fabricated postcodes. The seeds that remained were the ones that had not been caught.
2. Sleeper records
More damning still were the sleeper records.
Software was developed that recorded GetAddress's content before and after Lee Paul Smith (the sole director of Codeberry) made postcode searches on his accounts. On 9 August 2022, Smith downloaded over 70,000 addresses from the GBR Database in a single session. Of those, 5,855 deliberately planted errors ("sleepers") were subsequently found in the GetAddress database. 84% of them appeared within two hours of the download.
Two years later, in October 2024, approximately half of those sleeper records were still there.
The scale of extraction
Between late 2015 and February 2023, Smith made 196,599 postcode searches on his two accounts. At an average of 17 to 18 addresses per postcode, this extrapolates to 3 to 4 million addresses extracted, roughly 10% of all UK addresses. Even the defendants' own closing position conceded 5.3% of the database had been taken.
The court also found a high content correlation (approximately 78%) between PAF data and GetAddress in certain analysed files. Specific similarities included shared preferences for abbreviations like "Bldg Soc" over "Building Society" and "C of E" over "Church of England", along with numerous typographical errors common to both databases.
None of this evidence was challenged by the defence.
The defendant's conduct
The judgment paints a striking picture of Mr Smith's approach to the proceedings. His counsel, both leading and junior, withdrew on or before the first day of trial. He chose to represent himself and his company.
Of 61 code files documenting how GetAddress was created, only 9 were disclosed. Smith attributed this to files being "irrelevant" or "renamed and moved to a different directory." The judge found these answers were not "truthful and complete."
Most tellingly, Smith described court orders requiring disclosure as "annoying." The judge noted that his "priority was to say what was required to promote his case rather than assisting the court with fair and accurate evidence" and that he seemed "unconcerned about the defendants' obligation to comply with interim orders."
The court found the infringement was deliberate, triggering enhanced damages.
Why this matters beyond GetAddress
The Postcode Address File is not a simple list. It represents decades of continuous investment. Royal Mail employs over 53,000 postal workers who contribute to maintaining it, commits 27 to 34 million pounds annually, and processes 9,000 to 12,000 address changes every week. The database right protecting this investment exists for good reason.
This case establishes an important precedent: address data has owners, and those owners have enforceable rights. Any provider serving UK address data without proper licensing is exposed to the same legal risk that shut down GetAddress.
For businesses choosing a provider, this means due diligence on data licensing is no longer optional. The questions to ask are straightforward:
Does the provider hold a licence for Royal Mail PAF data?
Are they an Ordnance Survey partner with access to AddressBase?
Can they demonstrate their data provenance?
Do they hold security certifications?
If the answer to any of these is unclear, that should give you pause.
What to do if you were using GetAddress.io
If your address lookup, autocomplete, or postcode search has stopped working, here is what we recommend:
1. Audit your integration points
Identify everywhere GetAddress was called: checkout flows, registration forms, CRM data enrichment, internal tools. It is common to find integrations in places you had forgotten about.
2. Choose a licensed provider
Look for providers with verifiable Royal Mail PAF licensing, Ordnance Survey partnerships, and transparent data provenance. Ask for documentation. Any serious provider will have it readily available.
3. Migrate quickly, but properly
Most API migrations are straightforward, often just an endpoint swap and response format adjustment. But test thoroughly. Address data is critical infrastructure for most businesses that use it.
How Vepler can help
We built Vepler specifically to be the kind of address and property data provider that enterprises can rely on. We are an Official Ordnance Survey Partner with direct access to AddressBase Premium and the National Geographic Database. Our Royal Mail PAF data is properly licensed through this partnership.
But we are not just a postcode lookup replacement. We are a significant upgrade. Vepler provides:
Postcode lookup and address autocomplete with sub-50ms response times
AI-powered address resolution that handles messy, incomplete addresses at 99.7% accuracy
UPRN linking across 32 million+ UK addresses
60+ additional datasets including planning applications, EPC data, Land Registry titles, sold prices, and environmental risk, all cross-referenced by UPRN
Enterprise infrastructure: Kubernetes, multi-AZ, edge caching, 99.9% uptime SLA
Cyber Essentials certification (whole-organisation scope, January 2026)
We have published a dedicated migration guide with endpoint mappings, code examples, and a contact form for personalised support. Our team handles most migrations within a single working day.
Getting started
If you need to migrate from GetAddress.io, or if this situation has prompted you to review your current provider's licensing, our team is ready to help.
Visit our GetAddress migration guide
Email us at hello@vepler.com
Or talk to our team directly
The court's findings are a matter of public record. The full judgment is available on the National Archives website.
Tags
Vepler Team
Product Team
The Vepler team builds property data infrastructure for the UK real estate industry.