Deemed service

Deadlines often run from when a notice is given or received. Deemed service tells you when that is, so you can work out the dates and prove you met them.

Where the rules come from

• Your lease. Most leases have a notices clause saying how notices can be served (by hand, by post, sometimes by email) and when they count as received. For lease notices, such as demands and Section 20 notices, follow this clause first.
• Company law. For company documents sent to members, such as notice of a general meeting, a document sent by post is treated as delivered 48 hours after posting, ignoring days that aren't working days, unless the articles say otherwise (s.1147).
• General law. If nothing else applies, a properly addressed and posted letter is treated as delivered when it would arrive in the ordinary course of post (Interpretation Act 1978, s.7).

In practice

Keep proof of service: a certificate of posting, or a note of who delivered it by hand, where and when. Build the deemed-service days into every deadline, and don't cut it fine.