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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Postcode lottery</span></span>

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</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">This article is about the disparity in services etc. between different geographic areas. For other uses, see <a href="Postcode_lottery_(disambiguation)" class="mw-disambig" title="Postcode lottery (disambiguation)">Postcode lottery (disambiguation)</a>.</div>

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<p>In the <a href="United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a>, the <b>postcode lottery</b> is the unequal provision of services such as healthcare, education and insurance prices depending on the geographic area or <a href="Postcodes_in_the_United_Kingdom" title="Postcodes in the United Kingdom">postcode</a>. Postcodes can directly affect the services an area can obtain, such as <a href="Insurance" title="Insurance">insurance</a> prices. Despite having many non-postal uses, postcodes are only determined based on <a href="Royal_Mail" title="Royal Mail">Royal Mail</a> operations and bear little relation to local government boundaries. More broadly, there is an unequal provision of services around the country, especially in <a href="Public_services" class="mw-redirect" title="Public services">public services</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> such as access to cancer drugs in the healthcare system<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> or quality of education.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> These are more likely to be a result of local budgets and decision-making than actual postcodes.

</p><p>Postcodes were devised solely for the purposes of sorting and directing mail and rarely coincide with political boundaries. However, over time they have become a geographical reference in their own right with postcodes and postcode groups becoming synonymous with certain towns and districts. Further to this, the postcode has been used by organisations for other applications including government statistics, marketing, calculation of car and household insurance premiums and credit referencing.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Changing_postcodes">Changing postcodes</h2></div>

<p>There are several groups, mostly on the fringes of major population centres, who are affected in one way or another by the associations of their postcode. There is a movement in the <a href="Royal_Borough_of_Windsor_and_Maidenhead" title="Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead">Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead</a> to change the first two characters of their postcodes from <a href="SL_postcode_area" title="SL postcode area">SL</a> to WM for vanity, so as not to be associated with <a href="Slough" title="Slough">Slough</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> A businessman in <a href="Ilford" title="Ilford">Ilford</a> wishes to have the postcode district of <a href="IG_postcode_area" title="IG postcode area">IG1</a> changed to <a href="E_postcode_area" title="E postcode area">E19</a> as he claims customers do not realise his business is based in Greater London.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Some residents of West Heath in <a href="SE_postcode_area" title="SE postcode area">SE2</a> asked to have their postcodes changed to that of adjacent <a href="Bexleyheath" title="Bexleyheath">Bexleyheath</a>, citing higher insurance premiums as reason to change.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Some residents of <a href="Kingston_Vale" title="Kingston Vale">Kingston Vale</a> in <a href="SW_postcode_area" title="SW postcode area">SW15</a> wish to have their postcodes changed to adjacent <a href="Kingston_upon_Thames" title="Kingston upon Thames">Kingston upon Thames</a> for the same reasons.

</p><p>In all these cases <a href="Royal_Mail" title="Royal Mail">Royal Mail</a> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Under this policy residents of the <a href="Wirral_Peninsula" title="Wirral Peninsula">Wirral Peninsula</a> had their postcodes changed from the <a href="L_postcode_area" title="L postcode area">L</a> (Liverpool) to <a href="CH_postcode_area" title="CH postcode area">CH</a> (Chester) group when a new sorting office was opened.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Some postcode areas straddle <a href="England" title="England">England</a>'s borders with <a href="Wales" title="Wales">Wales</a> and <a href="Scotland" title="Scotland">Scotland</a>. Examples of such postcodes include <a href="CH_postcode_area" title="CH postcode area">CH4</a>, <a href="SY_postcode_area" title="SY postcode area">SY10</a>, <a href="NP_postcode_area" title="NP postcode area">NP16</a> and <a href="TD_postcode_area" title="TD postcode area">TD15</a>. This has led to <a href="British_Sky_Broadcasting" class="mw-redirect" title="British Sky Broadcasting">British Sky Broadcasting</a> subscribers receiving the wrong BBC and ITV regions, and newly licensed <a href="Amateur_radio" title="Amateur radio">radio amateurs</a> being given incorrect <a href="Call_sign" title="Call sign">call signs</a>.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Extended_use_of_postcodes">Extended use of postcodes</h2></div>

<p>The <a href="Postal_Services_Commission" title="Postal Services Commission">Postal Services Commission</a> says the following regarding the extended use of postcodes and the <a href="Postcode_Address_File" title="Postcode Address File">Postcode Address File</a> (PAF):

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</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>Many organisations – including new postal operators, banks, insurance companies and others offering to deliver goods to your door — have a need for this information. It would be very time-consuming and costly for anyone to try and replicate the list, so Royal Mail licenses PAF data, for a fee, allowing others to use it. ... Although we have a role in ensuring that PAF is managed well, Postcomm does not intervene to resolve disputes involving individual postcodes. A postcode is a routing instruction, allowing a postal operator to sort and deliver mail accurately and efficiently. It is not necessarily a geographically accurate description of where a property is located.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote>

<ul><li><a href="Unwarranted_variation" title="Unwarranted variation">Unwarranted variation</a></li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

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<div class="side-box-text plainlist">Look up <i><b><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:Search/postcode_lottery" class="extiw external" title="wiktionary:Special:Search/postcode lottery">postcode lottery</a></b></i> in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.</div></div>

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</style><cite id="CITEREFButler2000" class="citation news cs1">Butler, Patrick (2000-11-09). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2000/nov/09/NHS">"Q&A: Postcode lottery"</a>. <i>The Guardian</i>. London<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2010-05-22</span></span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFDevlin2008" class="citation news cs1">Devlin, Kate (2008-09-08). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/2700686/Healthcare-postcode-lottery-means-patients-losing-out-on-cancer-treatments.html">"Healthcare postcode lottery means patients losing out on cancer treatments"</a>. <i>The Daily Telegraph</i>. London<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2010-05-22</span></span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFGarner2009" class="citation news cs1">Garner, Richard (2009-10-19). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/postcode-lottery-still-determines-degree-achievement-1805468.html">"Postcode lottery still determines degree achievement"</a>. <i>The Independent</i>. London<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2010-05-22</span></span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2668561.stm">"England | 'Snobs' want to slough off postcode"</a>. BBC News. 2003-01-17<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2010-01-04</span></span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFScrivens2005" class="citation news cs1">Scrivens, Louise (2005-04-05). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4409163.stm">"England | London | The power of the postcode"</a>. BBC News<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2010-01-04</span></span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080526111315/http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/archive/display.var.334327.0.cracking_the_codes_not_easy.php">"Cracking The Codes Not Easy (from This Is Local London)"</a>. Thisislocallondon.co.uk. 2002-03-12. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/archive/display.var.334327.0.cracking_the_codes_not_easy.php">the original</a> on 2008-05-26<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2010-01-04</span></span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFScrivens2005" class="citation news cs1">Scrivens, Louise (2005-04-05). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4409163.stm">"UK | England | London | The power of the postcode"</a>. BBC News<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2010-01-04</span></span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070927084419/http://archive.thisiswirral.co.uk/1999/09/09/13953.html">"Postman Pat Gets L Of A Row Off His Chest — This Is Wirral"</a>. Archive.thisiswirral.co.uk. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://archive.thisiswirral.co.uk/1999/09/09/13953.html">the original</a> on 2007-09-27<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2010-01-04</span></span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFPostal_Services_Commission2009" class="citation web cs1"><a href="Postal_Services_Commission" title="Postal Services Commission">Postal Services Commission</a> (March 2009). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090903230800/http://www.psc.gov.uk/postcomm/live/factsheets/Royal_Mail_Postcode_Address_File.pdf">"Royal Mail's Postcode Address File"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. Postcomm. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.psc.gov.uk/postcomm/live/factsheets/Royal_Mail_Postcode_Address_File.pdf">the original</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span> on 2009-09-03<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2009-08-03</span></span>.</cite></span>

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