In simple words, a service address is a legal mailing address that the directors of all companies are required to have. It is a must whenever directors are chosen to be part of a limited company during or after registration. Basically, it is a correspondence address which is put on the public record. However, the Companies Act 2006 introduced a ‘service address’, especially for the directors. Now, directors of companies receive all authorized notices and personal mails from Companies House and HMRC at their service addresses. This rule was made in an effort to protect and hide personal details of companies’ directors.
Only the service address is made public. And, the residential address of the directors is visible only to the public authorities and credit agencies; no one else can view it. This added layer of protection provides some privacy to the directors. It is possible to use the companies registered office address as the director’s service address just for the convenience. It means, now, the directors of the companies can get all the legal documents and posts from Companies House and HMRC directly at their added service address.
Only the company’s directors are required to have a service address, so it is not necessary for company’s shareholders and secretaries to have one. The company’s first shareholders have to provide Companies House with a contact address. However, any other shareholder who joins the company after it has been incorporated need not provide any contact address to Companies House.
Does My Directors Service Address Have To Be In The UK?
No, it is not compulsory that your service address has to be in the UK. There are no boundaries to the physical location of a service address. So, your service address can be situated anywhere across the globe as long as you give the Companies House the full postal address. If you live in one country and operate your business from another, then give the most convenient address where you can receive all your legal paperwork and mails in a timely fashion and can also reply to them.
Mostly, directors don’t work from their service address. And, their position in the business may not need them to visit the main official site every time. So there would be no sense in adding a directors’ service address of a location, they may never visit. The major and simple reason to registering a director’s service address is to get all the official personal mails.
Directors of many companies use their personal address as their service address without realizing that it can be made public and can be found by anyone. It may result in unwanted posts as well as unexpected guests coming to your home. In this case, you have to pay a little to protect your privacy. A well known choice for this is to purchase a professional certified service address offered by company’s formation agent.
For as little as £28.00 you can have a central London EC1 address. You can use this address on public record as your official service address, display this at Companies House, and get ready to receive every business mails on this address. This managed service package will forward all your posts from Companies House and HMRC to a worldwide address of your choice without applying any charge.
The main advantage of having a managed directors service address, expect keeping your personal details private, is that it offers you a prestigious address which you can display on the paperwork of your company. It helps you to maintain your dignity and look well-established & more professional in the eyes of new as well as prospective customers.
If you have registered your residential address as your service address, then you can buy a professional managed service address. You can modify your registered private address from the public domain with this new managed service address.
To notify about the change in your service address to Companies House, you can use the form CH01 (for a natural director) or CH02 (for a corporate director). You can submit this form either online or offline. For offline submission to Companies House, take a manual print off, fill it, and post back to the main address. Or you can deliver it via filling online with WebFiling system.
Is There A Difference Between A Service Address And A Registered Office Address?
A service address is an address needed by the directors of every limited company as the official mailing address. This is the address where they receive all their official mails from HMRC and Companies House. Mostly importantly, the service address can be situated anywhere across the world. Also, you can use a PO Box address as a registered director service address. A PO Box address can be used as long as you provide Companies House the full postal address, within a postal code. Remember, a PO Box number is not suitable so you cannot use it as a service address.
On the other side, a registered company address is the official address of a limited company or a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP). This address is the place where all legal notices and legal correspondence of a company are delivered. A registered company address should be located in the same part of the UK wherein a limited company or LLP is registered. Also, you cannot use a PO Box for a registered office address. It should have a proper postal address where all the posts by Companies House and HMRC can be accepted manually.