The role of a process agent – also often referred to as an “agent for service of process” or a “registered agent” – is not always well-understood, but can be critical, nonetheless. 

Today, it is common for parties to a transaction – for example, when one organisation from a given country is trying to raise a loan from an institution in another country – to be located in different parts of the world. 

Often, it is agreed between the two parties to a particular contract that their cross-border transaction will be governed by, and subject to, English law. 

However, a risk could arise where one or multiple parties in such a transaction lack a physical presence in England. This raises the question of what the process would be in the event of a dispute occurring between the parties. 

A UK-based process agency can play a vital role if court proceedings are necessary 

Under English court procedure rules, there are certain steps that must be followed to serve court papers to the relevant transaction party. But if the party that is to be served with papers is based abroad and doesn’t have an address in England, this means the process of trying to serve the papers in the transaction party’s own country could be lengthy and complicated. 

In light of this, you may be reading this because you are an organisation based outside the UK and have been told that in order to conclude a particular agreement (with, for instance, a UK-based lender), you must appoint a process agent. 

Once you have appointed a process agent in accordance with the contract terms, if there is a need for the other party to take action against you (such as if you default on the loan), serving papers will be a much simpler process for them. 

In this scenario, service at the address of your organisation’s UK process agent would constitute proper service for the purposes of the court procedural requirements. 

So, what are the steps involved in appointing a process agent? 

You might first become aware of your organisation’s need to appoint an outsourced process agency for court actions when, for example, you are attempting to conclude an NDA with an international company (which doesn’t have to be British) under English jurisdiction. 

If the other party has informed you that you must appoint a process agent in order for your agreement with them to be finalised, you might reach out to our team at London Registrars to learn more. By downloading our brochure, you can find out more about what a process agent does, the terms and conditions of our own service, and the fees involved. 

Of course, you shouldn’t simply appoint “any old company” to serve as your organisation’s process agent. So, before you commit to a particular option, it is a good idea to carefully research the different companies out there that offer this service. 

Such factors as how reasonable the given process agency’s fees are, their reputation for proactive and responsive communication, and how quickly they can set up an agreement with you as their client, will likely factor into the choice of process agent you make. 

In a general sense, these are the steps involved in appointing an outsourced process agency for court actions in the UK: 

• Communicating the vital information about the transaction to your chosen process agent. This will encompass such details as the names of the transaction parties, and their contact details. The process agency may have a standard form for this. 
• Potentially delivering all agreements in which the process agency is to be named, if the circumstances necessitate a bespoke process agency service. 
• Working alongside the process agent to draft the appointment letter. The process agency that you select may have a standard letter for this purpose. 

By moving quickly to engage the most suitable process agent in the UK, you can help to ensure your agreement with the other party can commence as quickly as you require it to do so. 

To discover more about London Registrars’ credentials as a trusted outsourced process agency for court actions, and to discuss how we could work together, please don’t hesitate to contact us via phone or email.