Service address “same as” registered office address
Can I set an officer or PSC’s service address to be the same as the entity’s registered address? Yes – when you add a new, or edit an existing, stakeholder and that requires a services address, the stakeholder can choose what address to use. This can be any address – provided the stakeholder has permission to use that address. It is common for stakeholders to use the same address as the underlying entity’s registered office address. This means that all official correspondence is sent to the entity (and keeps the stakeholder’s details more private). In Kudocs you can define the service address to be “same as” the registered address. This means that if the registered address changes in the future, the service address automatically updates – as it is always the same as the registered office address.
Can I set an officer or PSC’s service address to be the same as their residential address? Yes – further to the answer above, the stakeholder can choose what address to use as their service address provided the stakeholder has permission to use that address. In Kudocs you can define the service address to be “same as” the residential address. This means that if the residential address changes in the future, the service address automatically updates – as it is always the same as the residential office address. Note that service address is information that is publicly available at Companies House, so if a stakeholder uses their residential address, this will be made public.
What is a service address? This is the official correspondence address that is legally required for company directors, secretaries, subscribers, Persons with Significant Control (PSCs), and LLP members, where they receive statutory mail and legal notices from Companies House, HMRC, and other official bodies. The service address is a public record, meaning it is accessible to anyone through the Companies House register – therefore many individuals choose to use a non-residential address, such as a business address or a professional service address, to protect their privacy. A service address can be located anywhere in the world, and it doesn’t need to be the same as the registered office address or the individual’s home address. It must be a physical address – P.O. box addresses are not permitted.
What happens if a stakeholder’s service address is the same as the entity’s registered address and the entity changes registered address? The service address will update automatically in Kudocs and at Companies House. You don’t need to do anything. Using Kudocs, this is flagged for you with the appropriate guidance:
A stakeholder has manually typed the same address for their service address as the entity has for it’s registered office address, but when the entity changed registered office address, the stakeholder’s service address did not update automatically. Why not? This is because simply typing details of the registered office address as the service address is not the equivalent to selecting the “same as” option. If you do not select the “same as” option, when the registered office address changes, the service address will not change automatically as neither Kudocs nor Companies House knows if you want that stakeholder’s service address to update automatically unless you select “same as”.
Why can’t I set a corporate officer or RLE’s service address to be the same as the entity’s registered address? Corporate entities can only have 1 official address – their own registered office address. Unlike humans who have a residential and service address. Therefore corporate officers and RLEs have to use their own registered office address as their service address – they cannot use another entity’s address.