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A service address is an address which can be used as an alternative to a residential address for the purpose of receiving post in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Nor ...
. Service address providers often scan and digitise mail received for the recipient to view online. Service addresses have grown in popularity since 2009 as a method of keeping a residential address off public records and providing better protection for those who operate a business from home.


Business

The
Companies Act 2006 The Companies Act 2006 (c 46) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which forms the primary source of UK company law. The Act was brought into force in stages, with the final provision being commenced on 1 October 2009. It largely ...
introduced a relaxation on the type of address a company can provide to
Companies House Companies House is the executive agency of the company registrars of the United Kingdom, falling under the remit of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. All forms of companies (as permitted by the Companies Act) are in ...
which is then made available to the public. The Act confirmed that from October 2009 a
company director A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
is allowed to provide a service address which will be kept on public record, along with their usual residential address which is kept privately. The residential address provided to Companies House can now be protected and only provided to certain approved bodies, including HM Revenue & Customs, the Police and Credit Reference Agencies. This allows company directors of sensitive companies to not have their address publicised by Companies House. In order for a company to comply with the regulation, the service address chosen must be in the same judicial area where the company is registered. For example, if a company is registered in England & Wales the service address must also be within England & Wales. The service address can act as the registered office for the company. Although the relaxation in law allows a service address to be used, a PO Box or DX number can still not be used by a director. The legislation also provides for the
Registrar of Companies A company register is a register of organizations in the jurisdiction they operate under. A statistical business register has a different purpose than a company register. While a commercial/trade register serves a purpose of protection, accounta ...
to ban the use of a service address and place the usual residential address on the public record, if the service address is found to be ineffective. These types of addresses can provide extra protection for owners of businesses with sensitive interests, where company directors and their properties may be at risk from protesters and activists.


Personal use

While initially used as a way for company directors to protect their residential address, service addresses are also used by many for personal use. An expat can use a service address as a way of continuing to receive post in their home country. It is particularly useful for expats who have sold their property and no longer have a permanent residential address to ensure that post is still viewed by the recipient which arrives after leaving the home country. It is a quicker method of viewing post than other redirection services


References

{{Reflist Postal history