The Companies Act 2006 is changing the law with regards to limited companies. The final implementation of the Act comes into effect from 1st October, 2009. The changes are leading many independent contractors with existing limited companies, or contractors that are considering setting-up a limited company, to contact ICS for advice.
ICS Accounting Ltd offers an innovative solution for the contractor market, designed specifically to support contractors in the running of their limited company. The comprehensive accounting, financial and tax planning package allows contractors to focus mainly on developing their business and maximising their income, in the knowledge that they have professional experts at hand to help deal with changes of this kind.
Key things which those with a limited company need to know from 1st October, 2009 are:
- Every director will have a service address and a usual residential address however only the service address for each directorship will be made publicly available. The residential address will only be made available to public authorities and credit reference agencies. On 1st October, a director’s current residential address will automatically become the service address. You can change this address on Companies House website from 1st October.
- A companies registers may be held at the registered office address or at a single alternative inspection location (SAIL). However you must notify Companies House if you set up a SAIL address or if the SAIL address is moved. There may only be one SAIL address for each limited company. Once a SAIL address is set up, you can move the registers to that address by notifying Companies House. New forms are available by visiting the Companies House website.
- There have been a number of changes to make it easier to set up a limited company. Further details can be found by visiting the Companies House website.
- Company articles for new companies will now include the company’s objects and liabilities. These were previously in the memorandum.
- Any amendments to the company’s articles must be sent to Companies House within 15 days. Failure to do this could mean you could be liable to a criminal office and a civil penalty of £200.
- All Companies House accounts filing deadlines have been reduced by one month. For a private company it is 9 months and six months if you are a public company. If accounts are filed late, you will be liable for a late filing penalty of up to £1500.
Protected Online Filing (PROOF)
Corporate Identity Fraud is on the increase and smaller firms are just a vulnerable as large firms. Companies House have introduced a scheme called PROOF which ensures customers are protected from changes to their company details. Once you agree to file certain documents electronically, any attempt to file a piece of paper will be rejected.
More detailed information on the Companies Act 2006 can be found on the Companies House website.
Click here to learn more about the ICS Limited Company Service.
I have been doing some research on this relating to directors addresses. This site has lots of info http://www.companiesact2006.co.uk but there is one thing i have not found yet. If you use a service address surely your address is recorded in the companies history prior to Oct 09. For example past 363′s and incorporation docs.
We put forward this query to Companies House and received this response;
Dear Madam
Thank you for your recent enquiry.
Essentially, any director appointed on or after 01st October 2009 will complete one of the new-style appointment forms with both his residential and a service address; only the service address will be available on the public record.
For those officers appointed before this date, their existing recorded residential addresses will become classed as a service address.
After 01st October 2009, there will be an appropriate change of particulars form (CH01) with which this can be amended to a non-residential service address, if required.
If the company is registered for web-filing, the forms can be delivered electronically.
Draft versions of new 2006 Act forms can be viewed via the link http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/forms/formsAvailable.shtml
Existing addresses will remain on record, as they were filed under the previous Act, wherein residential addresses were a requirement.
Please see chapter 2 of the guidance http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/about/gbhtml/gp7.shtml#ch5 with regard to restricting the disclosure of the protected information regarding an officer’s residential address.
I hope this helps clarify the matter.
Yours faithfully
K M Jones
Customer Support Unit
Hope this helps to clarify the matter.
As I thought. If a director has an address recorded on historical documents then switching to a service address will not really keep your details from public view. If your company is formed after 1 Oct 09 or you move home then your residential address is not provided to all.
This will not be of great concern to most people but i bet there will be some people that wish they could hide this info.
The website was precisely fantastic! Lots of good information and animus, both of which we all need!