Non-postal Uses and Economic Aspects
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While postcodes were introduced to expedite the delivery of mail, they are very useful tools for several other purposes, particularly because codes are very fine-grained and identify just a few addresses. Among uses are:
- Finding the nearest branch of an organisation to a given address. A computer program uses the postcodes of the target address and the branches to list the closest branches in order of distance as the crow flies (or, if used in conjunction with streetmap software, road distance). This can be used by companies to inform potential customers where to go, by job centres to find jobs for job-seekers, to alert people of town planning applications in their area, and a great many other applications.
- Postcodes can be used with satellite navigation systems to navigate to an address by street number and postcode.
- Postcodes are used by non-life insurance companies to assess premiums for motoring/business/domestic policy premiums.
- Postcodes are used by life insurance companies and pension funds to assess longevity for pricing and reserving.
Read more about this topic: Postcodes In The United Kingdom
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