Do counties still exist in postal addresses?

[delilabell]

Sort of a thread about a thread because on the one about whether somewhere is London or Kent somebody mentioned that
"Postal addresses do not, and have not for a good while, used counties"
Is this true? I still do when I (occasionally) right letters.

Ooh I've got a supplementary question on this. If county is used should it be county of the post town OR county the address is located in

I’ve been interested in this for a while because our county was abolished in the 1960s or 1970s (now a London borough) but it is still often asked for. No clue though.

I always put county as well as postcode fwiw. Although I'm ancient person

I can't remember seeing any mail without the county/London/city

I always put a county if there is one.

If you are filling in forms online, it is about 50:50 for being asked your county, which is fun if you don't live in a county.

Counties aren't needed by the Post Office. They have enough information to deliver an item with just the post code and the property number or name. Everything else is superfluous and probably goes back to the days of manual sorting. I don't think it matters which county is written on the envelope.

I live in a village that is on the edge of a town and quite often if I put my post code into an online shopping form, I get the address

My street
My village
My town
My city
My postcode

But sometimes there is variation, eg

My street
My town
My city
My postcode

Or

My street
My village My town (in the same box)
My city
My postcode

Or even

My street
My village
My city
My postcode

I don't think the county ever appears but some forms have a box to enter the county, but I only bother if it's a compulsory field.

I don't think it matters which county is written on the envelope for the poster who's post town is in a different county to her house.

I don't think it's sensible or productive to put a random county on the envelope obviously.

I always put the county because sometimes there are several towns with the same name (e.g. Newcastle, Newquay).

Technically, if you have the post code then town and post code should be sufficient.

Some forms (paper and online) still ask for county as well, and some don't.

I've always done it as

Address line 1
Address line 2 (if one)
Town
County
Post code

Country (if going out of England)

There is no need to include the county as part of an address. I always try to use the address as shown on Royal Mail’s Postcode Finder - there’s no county shown there.

I recall there being a change to remove county as an address line many years ago (20?) - I was a Post Office employee Back then, so perhaps I paid more attention than most to the change!

Royal Mail say:

"There is no need to include a county name, your letters and parcels will reach your intended recipient without one. If, however, you'd prefer to include a county name, you' are welcome to do so."

personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/81/~/how-to-address-your-mail-%28clear-addressing%29

The Postcode Address File, which is the official record of all addresses maintained by Royal Mail doesn't include the county as part of the main address record, but may include it as part of Alias File, which holds supplementary data.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcode_Address_File

PL - Plymouth post code is used in both Devon & Cornwall

Only thing is like LN is the lincoln postcode and someone has assumed LN = Lincolnshire etc

As far as I know you only need the first line of your address and your postcode.

I've always done
Address Line 1
Address line 2 ( if applicable)
Village (if applicable)
Town
County
Postcode

Country of out of UK

London It's
House number etc
Street
Borough
London
Postcode

Just number and postcode won’t work. In my specific postcode there are 4 houses with number 1 on them (small terraces).

Nope. Counties are not part of official addresses and annoy me loads when I see them.

London It's
House number etc
Street
Borough
London
Postcode
is also wrong. No borough should be included. My previous address was:
3 Street Name
LONDON
SE19 XXX. Nothing else.

@iamaLeafontheWind how do you identify your house?

Where I live it is house name and postcode. That will find me on on line forms. Maybe easier as I am rural.

I always add a county.

Oooh this is all very interesting!
So if you put:
Number Street name and postcode that should be enough?
Why does the city still need to be out on then?
Are counties being absorbed?
Why do we still have counties?

Why do we still have counties

Counties have many more uses than addresses. They are large administrative bodies. Their names are just no longer used in postal addresses.

Royal Mail has determined the most efficient use of data for them to read addresses and deliver them. This includes postal towns and cities but not counties.

Mine is

Xx school lane
Xxxxx
Kent
Postcode

No it isn't FuckyNel

Check on the Royal Mail website for your proper postal address. You don’t need your county.

@FuckyNel If you use the Royal Mail address lookup you will find Rotal Mail doesn't include Kent as it's not required (and in any case often stated incorrectly in ignorance).

They aren't necessary, all you actually need is the house number and post code.