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Purchasing Lookups

Lookups are bought as credits. One credit covers one completed address lookup on standard datasets. Premium datasets may use more. You can buy credits from your dashboard at any time, in blocks of 100.

Each account can have more than one API key, and each key has its own balance. Credits can only be used by the key you bought them for. If one key runs out, it can't draw on another key's credits, even on the same account. Our lookup guide explains which searches use up credits.

Buy lookups​

  1. Click Keys in the left-hand menu of the dashboard and choose the key you want to top up. Credits stay on the key you buy them for.
  2. Click the key to open it.
  3. Your balance is in the Credits card on the left. Click One Off Top-Up under the Enable Plan button. (Enable Plan sets up automated top-ups instead.)
  4. Enter the number of 100-credit blocks you want to buy. You can buy as little as 1 block (100 credits), and larger amounts cost less per credit. The box starts at 10 blocks, so change it if you need a different amount.
  5. Check the Order Summary, which shows the price with VAT added. Enter your card details and click Complete Purchase.

We email you when a key's balance runs low, so you can top up before it runs out. To choose who gets these emails and when, open the key and go to the Alerts tab.

To pay by purchase order or another payment method, or for bulk pricing, contact us.

Automated top-ups​

We recommend an automated top-up plan so your key doesn't run out. When a key's balance runs low, we top it up and send you a notification. Follow the Automated Top-Ups guide to set one up.

When credits expire​

Each purchase of credits expires 12 months after you first use it, not 12 months after you buy it. Our licence with Royal Mail sets this rule, and every Royal Mail data supplier works to the same terms.

We make your credits last as long as we can:

  • The 12 months only start when you first use a purchase.
  • We use up your oldest purchase first and keep your newest until last.
  • Each purchase expires on its own schedule, so an older purchase expiring has no effect on a newer one.