Agent for service of documents
A named person in the UK authorised to accept legal documents on the company's behalf. Required for a registered UK establishment, and useful for a subsidiary whose directors are all overseas.
A named person in the UK to accept legal documents
If a legal document is validly served and no one acts on it, a case can proceed and judgment can be entered without the company ever engaging. For a company whose directors are all overseas, the gap between a document arriving and someone competent reading it is the risk.
What you get
- Named agent appointed and filed
- Legal documents accepted and logged
- Same-day notification
- Deadline identified on receipt
- Escalation route agreed in advance
- Register of documents received
What we do
A named agent appointed
And filed, where a registered UK establishment requires one. It is a filing requirement, not an option.
Documents accepted and logged
With the date and time of receipt recorded, because that is what starts the deadline.
Same-day notification
By email and a second route you nominate, flagged as legal rather than mixed in with ordinary post.
What it is, identified
A claim form, a statutory demand and a tribunal claim look similar and have very different clocks.
Escalated to a route agreed in advance
To your solicitors, rather than starting a conversation about whether to instruct any.
A register kept
Of everything received, which matters if service is ever disputed.
When someone sues a company, serves a statutory notice or files a claim, the document has to be validly served. If it is served correctly and no one acts on it, the case can proceed and judgment can be entered without the company ever having engaged. For a company whose directors are all in another country, the gap between a document arriving and someone competent reading it is the risk.
Where this is required
An overseas company registering a UK establishment must give Companies House the details of a person authorised to accept service of documents on its behalf in the UK. It is a filing requirement, not an option, and it appears on the public register.
Where a subsidiary appoints one anyway
A UK subsidiary is validly served at its registered office. If that address is a mail-forwarding service that scans post in batches, or an accountant who treats a court document like a bank statement, a claim form with a fourteen-day response window can be most of the way through it before anyone realises. Appointing a named agent means someone recognises what has arrived, says so immediately, and knows what the clock is.
What we do
- Act as the named agent and make the filing where a UK establishment requires one.
- Accept and log anything served, with the date and time of receipt recorded, because that is what starts the deadline.
- Tell you the same day, by email and by whatever second route you nominate, flagged as legal rather than mixed in with ordinary post.
- Identify what it is and what the deadline is. A claim form, a statutory demand, an employment tribunal claim and a routine notice all look similar and have very different clocks.
- Escalate to the route you agreed in advance, which for anything contentious should be a solicitor, not a discussion about whether to instruct one.
- Keep a register of everything received, which matters if service is ever disputed.
The limits of the service
We accept and forward documents and tell you what they appear to be and what the deadline looks like. We are not a law firm and do not advise on the claim, respond to it, or act in the proceedings. What the service buys you is that the document reaches the right person while there is still time to respond, which is the failure mode that causes losses.
What we need from you
- Who at your end should be told immediately, and by what route
- Which UK solicitors you want anything contentious sent to
- Whether this is for a UK establishment filing or a subsidiary
Common questions
Is this the same as a registered office?
Related but not identical. A registered office is where documents can be served on a UK company. An agent for service is a named person authorised to accept them, which a registered UK establishment of an overseas company must have on the public register.
What happens if we are served and miss it?
The claim can proceed and judgment can be entered in the company's absence. Setting that aside afterwards is possible, expensive and not guaranteed.
Do you respond to the claim?
No. We accept it, tell you the same day, identify the deadline and send it to the solicitors you nominated in advance. We are not a law firm.
Can our lawyer be the agent instead?
Yes, and for some groups that is the right answer. What matters is that whoever it is opens the post daily and knows what a claim form looks like.
Related services
Registered office and mail handling
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Registered office and business address, post opened and forwarded the same day, and a UK phone number answered in the company's name during UK hours.
Administration support for a UK operation
QuotedThe administrative work a new subsidiary generates
Order handling, customer enquiries, supplier onboarding and document chasing, done during UK hours by someone who already knows the company's finances.
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Incorporation, the ownership register, identity verification for each director, then corporation tax, PAYE and VAT registrations. One fee, everything a new UK company must have.
Get a fixed quote
Tell us where the parent company is and what the UK operation has to do.
