Company's Act Changes
The final Companies Act changes came about in October 2009 - one key change was the introduction of a Service Address for Directors.
Effectively, for every directorship held, a Director must provide Companies House with details of their usual residential address, as well as details for their, recently introduced, ‘service address’.
If a Director doesn’t supply a ‘service address’ then the director’s residential address automatically defaults to become the address on public record. So in essence – if you don’t supply a ‘service address’, your home address becomes publicly accessible.
Anyone can access the public records at Companies House - so if an alternative Service Address isn’t provided – the residential address is the one shown.
A Director can choose any address as their service address – if you require, it can be a home address or perhaps the registered office of the company – or an alternative address. However, it must be an address where documents can be delivered and an acknowledgement or receipt provided if required. It cannot be a PO Box or a DX number.
As mentioned earlier, this new legislation came into effect on the 1st October 2009 - and you may already be very much aware of it.
To assist Directors with the process of protecting their home address, there are now a number of ‘service address’ services available. Some services cost hundreds of pounds – so our advice is to shop around to ensure you find a cost effective way to protect your address.
Our sister company, and one of the leading UK company registration agents, Companies Made Simple has created a very cost effective solution for both their clients and company directors generally – so for more information about Service Address and services available to help you Protect Your Home Address – simply visit Companies Made Simple - Service Address.
