diff --git a/app/models/validations/local_authority_validations.rb b/app/models/validations/local_authority_validations.rb
index 3bdd79166..9f2678c55 100644
--- a/app/models/validations/local_authority_validations.rb
+++ b/app/models/validations/local_authority_validations.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 module Validations::LocalAuthorityValidations
   def validate_previous_accommodation_postcode(record)
     postcode = record.ppostcode_full
+    return unless postcode
+
     if record.previous_postcode_known? && (postcode.blank? || !postcode.match(POSTCODE_REGEXP))
       error_message = I18n.t("validations.postcode")
       record.errors.add :ppostcode_full, :wrong_format, message: error_message