JOHN King, commercial partner at FDR Law discusses how company directors can protect themselves from potential identity theft.

Protecting ourselves personally from potential identity theft is something we should all take seriously.

Recent reports have highlighted that publicly available data on Companies House could be used to target company officers.

It’s important that business directors take the time to ensure that they are taking the necessary precautions.

Limited companies are required under corporate law to provide information on their business to Companies House, which is then published online.

This includes details on directors’ e.g. full name, profession, nationality and address not only for the duration of their term in office but also for the lifetime of the company.

If a company is dissolved the information is still available for 20 years life.

In 2015 Companies House removed the requirement to record the actual day in the date of birth from the public register therefore from October 10, 2015 only the month and year of birth are shown e.g. March 1975.

This however does not apply to documents registered prior to this date and Companies House hold more than 170 million records on UK companies.

What can company directors do to protect their identity through these records?

1 You can use an address as your service address that is not your home, for example can you use a registered office.

2 For companies house records that were filed prior to October 10, 2015 you can update your details to at least remove the ‘day’ of your birth from the public domain.

n To discuss any aspect of company law, contact John King on 01925 230000 or email john.king@fdrlaw.co.uk