Postal Services Act 2000

121Service of documents

This section has no associated Explanatory Notes

(1)Any document required or authorised by virtue of this Act to be served on any person may be served—

(a)by delivering it to him or by leaving it at his proper address or by sending it by post to him at that address,

(b)if the person is a body corporate, by serving it in accordance with paragraph (a) on the secretary of the body, or

(c)if the person is a partnership, by serving it in accordance with paragraph (a) on a partner or a person having the control or management of the partnership business.

(2)For the purposes of this section and section 7 of the [1978 c. 30.] Interpretation Act 1978 (service of documents by post) in its application to this section, the proper address of any person on whom a document is to be served shall be his last known address, except that—

(a)in the case of service on a body corporate or its secretary, it shall be the address of the registered or principal office of the body,

(b)in the case of service on a partnership or a partner or a person having the control or management of a partnership business, it shall be the address of the principal office of the partnership.

(3)For the purposes of subsection (2) the principal office of a company constituted under the law of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom or of a partnership carrying on business outside the United Kingdom is its principal office within the United Kingdom.

(4)Subsection (5) applies if a person to be served under this Act with any document by another has specified to that other an address within the United Kingdom other than his proper address (as determined under subsection (2)) as the one at which he or someone on his behalf will accept documents of the same description as that document.

(5)In relation to that document, that address shall be treated as his proper address for the purposes of this section and section 7 of the [1978 c. 30.] Interpretation Act 1978 in its application to this section, instead of that determined under subsection (2).

(6)This section does not apply to any document if rules of court make provision about its service.

(7)In this section references to serving include references to similar expressions (such as giving or sending).