What is the registered email address for companies?
Effective from 4 March 2024, every UK company and incorporated partnership must provide an “appropriate” registered email address to Companies House. When setting up a new company, you will supply this information during the incorporation process. However, existing companies must include their email address details in their next confirmation statement.
In this article, we will explain the new requirements, including what constitutes an appropriate registered email address, how to provide this information to Companies House, and what steps to take if you need to change your registered email in the future.
What is a registered email address?
The requirement to provide a registered email address was introduced in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. This new rule updates existing laws, including the Companies Act 2006, to include the necessary amendments.
Under Section 88 of the Companies Act 2006, a company’s or LLP’s duty to maintain a registered email address is defined as follows:
- Companies must always ensure their registered email address is an appropriate one.
- An email is considered “appropriate” if it is expected to be received and reviewed by someone acting on behalf of the company.
In simple terms, this means the email must be valid and regularly accessed by a director, company secretary, or LLP member. For limited partnerships, the amendments appear in section 88 of the Limited Partnerships Act 1907. The general partners in an LP are responsible for maintaining the registered email address.
Failure to comply with this new requirement is an offense. It can lead to serious consequences for the company and its officers, including potential fines or legal action. Therefore, ensuring your company has a valid email address registered with Companies House is critical.
How will Companies House use the email address?
Companies House will not publicly disclose your company’s registered email address. They will only use it for relevant communications, such as important news, compliance updates, filing reminders, and late filing penalty notices. Essentially, this means you’ll receive the same type of correspondence via email that Companies House also sends by letter to your registered office address.
Providing an email address to Companies House
If you incorporated your company before 4 March 2024, you must provide a registered email address to Companies House in your next confirmation statement with a confirmation date of 5 March 2024 or later.
When filing online, the form will prompt you to enter your email address if it’s the first time providing one. However, if you choose to file a confirmation statement by post, you will need to complete the following paper forms:
For new companies, a registered email address must be provided at the time of incorporation. If forming a company online, you will enter the email address on the online registration form. For postal incorporations, you will provide this information in section A10 of ‘Form IN01 – paper application to register a company’.
How to update a registered email address
You can change your registered email address online through the ‘update a registered email address’ service at Companies House. To update your email, simply sign in or register for a Companies House online account, and then follow these steps:
- Enter your company registration number.
- Provide your Companies House authentication code.
- Add the new email address.
- Confirm that the email is an ‘appropriate’ email address, as defined in section 88A of the Companies Act 2006.
This process should only take a few minutes if you have all the necessary information available. After the update, Companies House will send you a confirmation once the change is successfully made.
Do you have any other questions?
If you have further questions about providing a registered email address for your company or need clarification on any part of the process, don’t hesitate to reach out to our support team via support@startxpress.io. Our experts can guide you through updating or registering your email address with Companies House and help with compliance. You can also explore more resources in our help center and blog for additional company formation information.
Related Articles
Was this helpful?
0 / 0