If you are a director or Person with Significant Control (PSC) of more than one UK company and you move home, updating your address may not be as simple as changing one record.
This is particularly relevant for entrepreneurs, property investors and family business owners who may be directors or shareholders across several companies.
At Sterling Finance, we regularly come across individuals who are associated with multiple limited companies. A change of home address therefore needs to be approached carefully to ensure that the appropriate Companies House records are updated.
Director and PSC records are separate
One of the most important points to understand is that being a director and being a Person with Significant Control (PSC) are two separate capacities.
An individual can be:
- a director only;
- a PSC only; or
- both a director and a PSC.
Where someone is both a director and a PSC, both records need to be considered when their personal details change.
Updating the director’s details does not mean that you should simply assume the PSC record has also been dealt with.
What if you are involved with several companies?
Consider this example.
A business owner moves home and is involved with four companies:
|
Company |
Director? |
PSC? |
Records to consider |
|
Company A Ltd |
Yes |
Yes |
Director and PSC |
|
Company B Ltd |
Yes |
No |
Director |
|
Company C Ltd |
Yes |
Yes |
Director and PSC |
|
Company D Ltd |
No |
Yes |
PSC |
The address change should therefore be reviewed company by company and role by role.
This is where mistakes can easily occur. Someone may update their details for the company they actively manage but overlook another company in which they are also registered as a director or PSC.
There may be more than one address to consider
Another important distinction is between your:
Usual residential address – normally your private home address held by Companies House and generally not displayed on the public register; and
Service address – the correspondence address associated with your appointment and normally available on the public register.
These addresses can be the same, but they do not have to be.
If you move home, you should therefore establish exactly which address needs changing.
For example, if your service address is your accountant’s office or another business address and that address has not changed, you may only need to deal with your residential address.
On the other hand, if your old home address was also being used as your service address, both may need attention.
Don’t forget the 14-day reporting requirement
Changes to a director’s personal details, including their address, generally need to be reported to Companies House within 14 days of the change.
Changes to relevant PSC details also have statutory notification requirements.
This makes it important not to leave Companies House updates until the next annual accounts or Confirmation Statement.
A house move is already a busy time, so company administration can easily be overlooked. However, Companies House records form part of a company’s statutory compliance obligations.
Does changing one company automatically update all your companies?
This is an important practical point.
If you are associated with several companies, do not assume that changing your details against one company means that every other company appointment has automatically been updated.
Each company and each capacity in which you are registered should be checked.
For somebody with a portfolio of companies, we recommend preparing a simple schedule showing:
Company → Director → PSC → Address currently recorded → Change required → Filing completed.
This provides a clear audit trail and considerably reduces the possibility of missing an appointment.
What about Companies House identity verification?
Companies House identity verification is now an important part of the UK’s corporate registration regime.
An individual’s verified identity and Companies House personal code should not, however, be confused with the responsibility to keep the statutory information associated with individual companies and appointments up to date.
If you have several directorships or PSC positions, your complete portfolio should still be reviewed whenever your personal details change.
Be careful about putting your home address on the public register
Privacy is another reason to deal with an address change carefully.
A director’s usual residential address is generally protected from public view. A service address, however, is normally publicly available.
You should therefore think carefully before using your new home address as your public service address.
Where appropriate, a separate business or professional correspondence address may provide greater privacy.
If your home address has previously appeared on the public Companies House register, changing your current address may not automatically remove the historical information from previously filed documents.
Companies House has separate procedures under which certain residential address information may, depending on the circumstances, be suppressed from public disclosure.
Is the company’s registered office also your old home address?
There is another issue that is easily overlooked.
Your personal address as a director or PSC and the registered office address of the company are different records.
If your old home address is also the registered office of one or more of your companies, changing your director’s address does not automatically change the company’s registered office.
The registered office must be reviewed separately.
This is particularly important for property companies, family investment companies and owner-managed businesses where a residential address may historically have been used as the company’s registered office.
Our recommended checklist when you move home
If you are a director or PSC and have changed your address, consider the following:
- Identify every UK company with which you are associated.
- Check whether you are registered as a director, PSC or both.
- Confirm your new usual residential address.
- Check whether your service address is also changing.
- Review whether your old address is being used as a registered office.
- Make the appropriate Companies House filings for each affected company and appointment.
- Check whether your old residential address appears publicly on Companies House.
- Retain confirmation that all required changes have been successfully registered.
- Consider other organisations that may also need your updated details, including HMRC, banks, insurers, pension providers and professional advisers.
One change of address can affect many records
For someone with one company, an address change may be relatively straightforward.
For an entrepreneur with several trading companies, property companies, holding companies or family investment companies, it can become a much wider compliance exercise.
The key principle is simple:
Don’t think only about the address. Think about every company, every appointment and every capacity in which you are registered.
A few minutes spent reviewing the complete corporate structure can prevent outdated information remaining on the Companies House register.
How Sterling Finance can help
Sterling Finance (UK) Limited can assist directors, shareholders and business owners with Companies House compliance and company secretarial matters.
Where a client has multiple companies, we can help review their appointments and identify which company records may require updating rather than dealing with one company in isolation.
If you have recently moved home, or are unsure whether your director and PSC details are correct across all your companies, please contact our team.
Sterling Finance (UK) Limited
Tax Saving Accountants
This article is intended as general information only and should not be treated as legal or professional advice for any particular circumstances. Companies House requirements can change, and the appropriate filings will depend on the individual’s circumstances and company records.