When any of a director’s registered details change, such as their name, service address, home address, nationality or country of residence, the company must tell Companies House within 14 days beginning with the day of the change. It does this online or on form CH01 under section 167H of the Companies Act 2006, giving the date of the change. Since 18 November 2025 the Companies House register is the only official record, because companies no longer keep their own register of directors.

Which director details have to be kept up to date?

Section 167J of the Companies Act 2006 lists the required information about a director who is an individual:

  • name, date of birth and nationality;
  • any relevant former names;
  • a service address, which may be stated as “The company’s registered office”;
  • usual residential address;
  • the part of the United Kingdom where the director usually lives or, if they live abroad, the country or state.

Section 167H(1) requires the company to notify the registrar of any change in that information. Anything outside the list, such as a new job title, a new phone number or a new personal email, is not part of the required information and does not need a CH01. A corporate director has a different list in section 167K, and changes are filed on form CH02 rather than CH01.

Who files the change, and by when?

The duty is on the company, not on the director personally. Section 167H(2) and (3) say the notice must specify the date on which the change occurred and must be given within the period of 14 days beginning with that day. In practice the director needs to tell the company secretary, the other directors or the company’s accountant promptly so that the filing can be made in time.

Companies House encourages online filing and says a company in its PROOF (protected online filing) scheme must file online. The paper CH01 is version 8.0, updated on 18 November 2025 for the register changes and mandatory identity verification. It can be authenticated by a director, the secretary or another person authorised, and it costs nothing to file.

How is a change of name reported?

Section 4 of the CH01 records the new title, forenames and surname, and section 2 identifies the director by their current details on the register. The old name may then need to appear as a former name. Under section 167J(2) and (3), a relevant former name is a name formerly used for business purposes, but it excludes a name changed or disused before the person was 16, a name changed or disused 20 years or more ago, and a name Companies House has been required to suppress.

Identity verification adds a practical step. Companies House forms that appoint directors ask whether the name given matches the director’s verified name and, if not, why, offering reasons such as a legal change of name or a preferred name. A director who changes their name after verifying should expect the register and their verified identity to be compared, so it is sensible to keep the evidence of the change, such as a marriage certificate or deed poll, to hand. Our page on Companies House identity verification explains the wider regime.

How is a change of address reported?

A director has two addresses on record. The service address appears on the public register and can be the company’s registered office. The usual residential address is held privately and is shown only in limited circumstances. The CH01 deals with them separately:

  • Section 5 records a new service address. If only the service address has changed, the director must tick the box confirming there has been no change in the residential address. Section 167H(4) makes that statement a legal requirement of the notice.
  • Section 5a records a new usual residential address. It cannot be a PO Box, DX or Legal Post number, and “same as service address” cannot be used if the service address is given as the company’s registered office.

The form warns that a residential address entered as the service address will appear on the public record. A director who moves house and uses the new home as their service address is therefore publishing it. Options for keeping a home address private are covered in our page on protecting a director’s home address.

Section 6 of the CH01 covers a change of country or state of residence and a change of nationality, for example where a director emigrates or acquires a new citizenship.

Does the company still need to update its own register?

No. The provisions that required companies to keep their own registers of directors and directors’ residential addresses, sections 161A to 167F, were omitted with effect from 18 November 2025. Companies House guidance confirms there is no longer a requirement for companies to hold registers of directors, directors’ residential addresses, secretaries or people with significant control, and the old option of electing to keep officer information on the central register instead has also gone. The Companies House register is now the record. Other registers, notably the register of members, still have to be kept, as explained on our statutory registers page.

What if the change is filed late or not at all?

Section 167L makes it an offence for a company to fail, without reasonable excuse, to comply with section 167G (appointments and terminations), 167H (changes) or 167I (proposed directors at incorporation). The offence is committed by the company and every officer in default, and a shadow director counts as an officer. On summary conviction the penalty is a fine in England and Wales, and in Scotland and Northern Ireland a fine up to level 5 on the standard scale with a daily default fine for continued contravention.

Beyond the offence, out of date details on the public register mean that correspondence sent to an old service address may never reach the director, and anyone checking the register sees information that is wrong.

How might this work in practice?

Illustration only. A director of a small company marries on 3 May 2026 and takes her spouse’s surname. On 20 June 2026 she moves house. Her service address has always been the company’s registered office.

  • The name change happened on 3 May, so the CH01 for the name is due within the 14 days beginning with 3 May. Her maiden name becomes a former name.
  • The house move is a change of usual residential address on 20 June, so a second notice is due within the 14 days beginning with 20 June. Her service address is unchanged and the new home address stays off the public record.
  • If the accountant only learns of both changes in July, both filings are already late. The company should file them straight away with the correct dates of change rather than the filing date.

Nothing changes for the company’s appointment records, which are dealt with separately on our appointing a director page.

What are the common mistakes?

  • Entering the date of filing rather than the date the change happened.
  • Updating the service address without confirming the residential address is unchanged, or the reverse.
  • Putting a home address in the service address field by accident, which publishes it.
  • Using CH01 for a corporate director, which needs CH02.
  • Assuming the director files personally. The legal duty is the company’s.
  • Continuing to update a paper register of directors and treating that as the official record.

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Sources

Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 8 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.