Email footers and the law
Day by day we all receive hundreds of emails, but are you aware that as a business, your email footer needs to include specific pieces of information by law?
The information required mostly comes down to the type of emails you send. Are you sending a standard email or a marketing email for instance? What we have seen over time is the standard email being the most inaccurate. Many companies use a format that doesn’t comply with rules set out by the UK Companies Act 2006 (updated 2007). The trouble is, that not many people are actually aware of what this act is or what it states is required, so we are going to try and help.
What’s required in an email footer?
The UK Companies Act states that if your company is a Private/Public Limited Company (PLC) or a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP), all email footers need to include the following details:
- Your registered company name
- Your company registration number
- The place of registration (e.g. Scotland or England & Wales)
- Your company’s registered office address (this may differ from the office in which you trade).
It’s important to note that this applies to all employees within your organisation that send external email. If you are a sole trader, you are not required to include your full details, although, we would say that it is good practice to add them.
Here is an example of how the detail should appear in an email below:
Integrated Ideas Agency Ltd - Registered Office: Unit 14 Riduna Park, Station Road, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1QT.
Registered Number: 08734865. Registered in England & Wales.
These details only need to be readable in the footer and can be a standard ‘small print’ so to speak. So don’t worry about trying to get these into your fancy graphical email signatures, but do remember to include them!
What are the consequences of non-compliance?
It may seem trivial in many respects, but failure to comply with the above could result in a fine of up to £1,000, so we would advise having this information added to all future emails, not to mention including them on your company website and letterhead, as the UK Companies Act also state that they needed to be included here too.
Here’s a link for further reading - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/46/contents
Please be aware that the information in this article is designed to assist you in completing the relevant steps to becoming compliant. We would recommend speaking to a business lawyer for anything more formal or for specific legal advice where you need more than just the basic information present.