Protecting personal information on the Companies House register

Protecting usual residential address (URA) information

Under the previous regime, an individual (such as a director, secretary or PSC) could only apply to suppress their URA from public view if it was shown on the register as their service address. However, the first tranche of the Act’s reforms loosened this restriction, so that from 27 January 2025, individuals could also apply to protect their URA where it had historically been used as a registered office address. 

The circumstances in which an application to protect a URA can be made will increase again once the draft Protection and Disclosure of Personal Information (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (the 2025 Regulations) come into force – expected from 21 July 2025. Under the 2025 Regulations, any individual will be able to apply to suppress their URA from historical documents in most instances where it appears on the public register. 

There will be some exceptions to this, however. An individual will not be able to protect an address that a company is required to keep on the register, such as a live registered office address, unless that address also appears on the register as their own current address (e.g. a director’s service address). In that case, the individual will have to provide a replacement service address in the application to be included on the register. It will also not be possible to protect an address where it forms part of a company name.

Where an individual’s URA is also the registered office address of a dissolved company, the individual will need to wait six months following the company’s dissolution before applying to suppress the URA.

Protecting additional information: signature, occupation and date of birth

Once in force, the 2025 Regulations will allow any individual to apply to suppress the following additional information from historical records at Companies House:

• signature
• business occupation (for directors); and
• day of date of birth for documents filed before 10 October 2015 (after this date only month and year of birth are shown on the public register).

Individuals will not be required to justify why their information should be suppressed, nor will they need to meet any additional conditions. 

Protection of personal information because of risk of harm

Individuals who are at personal risk of physical harm or violence as a result of their personal information being on a Companies House public register (for example, domestic abuse survivors) will be able to apply to have additional information protected from public view. The information that can be protected in these circumstances includes:

• name (or previous name);
• sensitive addresses where evidence is provided that public disclosure puts its residents at risk (for example, a women’s domestic abuse refuge); and
• in the most serious cases, all other details may be protected, for example, service address and partial date of birth.

Again, these measures will need secondary legislation before they are implemented and draft regulations have yet to be published.

Access to suppressed information 

Companies House will continue to retain all protected information to share with law enforcement agencies and other public authorities when required to. The registrar will also have greater powers to share data with these groups and will, therefore, be able to share any suppressed or protected information if deemed necessary.

Regulations will also be introduced which provide exceptions to the restrictions on the registrar disclosing suppressed information. These exceptions are expected to allow:

• persons with current or prospective legal proceedings to apply to Companies House for access to a suppressed address used as a registered office address, or a signature, if they can provide evidence of the legal proceedings; and
• other third parties to apply to the court for access to certain suppressed information. They will need to satisfy the court of their legitimate need to access this information.

Resources

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023
Government Factsheet: Preventing abuse of personal information on the register
The Companies and Limited Liability Partnerships (Protection and Disclosure of Information and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2024
Draft Protection and Disclosure of Personal Information (Amendment) Regulations 2025