Nominet's
Terms and Conditions and
Rules of Registration are mandatory.
If you are listed as the Registrant, you are legally responsible for your .co.uk domain name. This means it’s essential that you have specified the correct contact details for you, so Registry can get in touch with you if there’s ever a problem with your domain name.
How Nominet check your data
To make sure the information of your registration is true and up to date, Nominet will attempt to match all registrant name and address details with third party data sources when you register, or when you change your data. Nominet does this by checking the information you supply with in your application against a number of different databases, including:
The Electoral Register: Nominet uses this to check UK name information for individual applicants.
Companies House data and UK business records: Nominet uses these files to check that applications made under trade names correspond with registered companies.
Royal Mail Postcode Address file: Nominet uses this to validate all UK addresses. Because addresses in this database are often in a different format to how they appear on the register, they carry out a matching exercise to establish how close an address is to the ‘perfect address’. This is based on a confidence level. It’s also important to note that the registrant’s name and address don’t need to be linked. For instance, they understand that registrants may give different addresses as points of contact to their home address, such as a solicitor or accountant. It’s essential to make sure the registrant can be contacted through this address.
In each case, Nominet looks for a valid individual, business and address they can identify as matching the information they hold. Information for applicants from overseas is checked against equivalent public data sources, where they exist.
HOW YOU’LL KNOW IF NOMINET HAS BEEN ABLE TO VALIDATE YOUR DATA
You can use the WHOIS tool to check if Nominet has been able to match your information against the data sources listed above. If your data has been validated, you’ll see the following status:
Nominet was able to match the registrant’s name and address against a 3rd party data source on DD-Month-YYYY
If Nominet hasn’t been able to validate the name and/or address, you’ll receive the following reply:
Nominet was not able to match the registrant’s name and address against a 3rd party data source on DD-Month-YYYY
If an Accredited Channel Partner validates the registrant’s data, WHOIS will show this message:
The Registrar is responsible for having checked these contact details
WHAT HAPPENS IF NOMINET IS NOT ABLE TO VALIDATE YOUR DATA?
If Nominet can’t match your data, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s incorrect. Because Nominet's domain register includes over 10 million names, they have to use an automated validation system which is not always 100% accurate.
In some cases, it could be that although you’ve submitted the right details, they aren’t listed on the public sources they use to check them. For example, if you’re not currently listed on the electoral roll, or your organisation has only recently been registered with Companies House.
If this happens, they can try to match the data manually by asking applicants to submit appropriate documents. If Nominet does get in touch with you about validating your details, it’s important that you act on this as soon as you can – if your details aren’t verified your domain name could be suspended.
Depending on whether Nominet has been unable to validate your name and/or address, they accept any example of the following:
Valid driving licence
Valid passport
Valid National ID card (for non-UK citizens)
National Insurance card (for UK citizens)
Utility bill from the last three months
Bank statement from the last three months
HMRC tax notification from the last three months
Official company letterhead
Company stamp
In some cases, Nominet can’t match data because a domain may have been registered to someone who didn’t give their full name, or is under a trading name that doesn’t correspond with a registered company. In these cases, Nominet will ask registrants to update or complete their personal information.
If your details are out of date or incorrect, you can update them through
Nominet's Online Services account.
http://www.nominet.uk/domains/about-domain-names/
