Guides
Cold email law in the United Kingdom: when an outbound agent may send
Before an agent sends a cold or marketing email to someone in the United Kingdom, these are the rules that decide whether it may. Each one is quoted from its legal source and checked on the date shown. Precleared applies them to one address at a time and returns the rule that decided, what the footer must include and a signed receipt.
The rules
Allowed
The soft opt-in: you obtained the address in the course of a sale or negotiations for a sale, you are marketing your own similar products or services, and the person was given a simple way to refuse when the details were collected and in every message. All three must hold.
Footer must include: Give a simple, free way to refuse in this and every message, identify yourself, and include a valid postal address.
Next step: Send only if all three soft opt-in conditions are true. If any is doubtful, treat as consent needed.
Regulation 22(3): "(a) that person has obtained the contact details ... in the course of the sale or negotiations for the sale of a product or service"; "(b) the direct marketing is in respect of that person's similar products and services only"; "(c) the recipient has been given a simple means of refusing (free of charge except for transmission costs)".
Checked on 3 October 2026
Cannot be decided
A company matched the number found, but Companies House shows it is not active (dissolved, in liquidation or similar). The business behind the website may now be trading as someone else, so the corporate subscriber exemption cannot be relied on.
Next step: Check who runs the site now. If it is a different company, pass its number and check again; if there is no company, treat as consent needed.
"You can email or text any corporate body (a company, Scottish partnership, limited liability partnership or government body)."
ICO Guide to PECR, electronic mail marketing
Checked on 3 October 2026
Allowed
Under PECR the consent rule for marketing email applies to individual subscribers only. This recipient is a corporate subscriber (a company, LLP, Scottish partnership or public body), so no prior consent is needed. Where the address names a person, UK GDPR still applies to their name: rely on legitimate interests, say who you are, and make it easy to object.
Footer must include: Say who you are and who the email is from, include a valid postal address, and give a simple free way to stop further emails (PECR regulation 23). Never disguise the sender.
Next step: Send. Log the receipt against the lead.
Regulation 22(1): "This regulation applies to the transmission of unsolicited communications by means of electronic mail to individual subscribers." ICO: "You can email or text any corporate body (a company, Scottish partnership, limited liability partnership or government body)." ICO: "You may also need to consider data protection implications if you are emailing employees at a corporate body who have personal corporate email addresses".
PECR 2003 regulation 22(1) and ICO Guide to PECR, electronic mail marketing
Checked on 3 October 2026
Consent needed first
The recipient is a sole trader or a partnership in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. PECR treats them as individual subscribers, so unsolicited marketing email needs their prior consent, or the soft opt-in for existing customers.
Next step: Do not cold email. Use a route they offer, such as their contact form, or obtain consent first.
Regulation 22(2): a person shall not transmit unsolicited direct marketing by electronic mail to an individual subscriber unless "the recipient of the electronic mail has previously notified the sender that he consents for the time being to such communications". ICO: "Sole traders and some partnerships are treated as individuals – so you can only email or text them if they have specifically consented".
PECR 2003 regulation 22(2) and ICO Guide to PECR
Checked on 3 October 2026
Cannot be decided
Companies House could not be reached in time, so Precleared could not tell whether this UK recipient is a company or a sole trader. Until that is known, treat the address as needing consent.
Next step: Run the check again in a few minutes, or pass company_number. Until then, do not send.
Regulation 22(1) applies to "individual subscribers"; the legislation.gov.uk page notes amendments in force from 5 February 2026 under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
PECR 2003 regulation 22 and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 amendments
Checked on 3 October 2026
Consent needed first
No company could be matched for this UK recipient, so the safe reading is that they may be a sole trader, an individual subscriber under PECR, and consent is needed. The ICO fine ceiling for PECR breaches is £17.5m or 4% of worldwide turnover for conduct after 5 February 2026.
Next step: Look for a company number on the site's terms, contact or policy pages, or at Companies House, and pass it to change the verdict. Otherwise do not cold email.
Regulation 22(1) applies to "individual subscribers"; the legislation.gov.uk page notes amendments in force from 5 February 2026 under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
PECR 2003 regulation 22 and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 amendments
Checked on 3 October 2026
Check one address
curl https://precleared.dev/api/v1/check \
-H "Authorization: Bearer pc_live_..." \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"recipient_email": "jane@example.co.uk",
"sender_country": "GB",
"pitch": "Bookkeeping software for small firms",
"address_source": "published",
"company_number": "01234567",
"recipient_country": "GB"
}'Over MCP, call contact_check with the same fields at https://precleared.dev/mcp.
Other countries
Decision support with sources, not legal advice.