EHC Online: manage access using your Defra account
Updated 2 December 2024
Your Defra account shows the different accounts and services you have access to. You may have access to more than one account and more than one service depending on the type of work you do.
1. Account management roles
For each account you have an account role. This may differ from account to account depending on to what permissions youâre given.
Your account role is different to the role you might have with any one service.
1.1 Admin
As an admin, youâre the super user for your organisation and have access to the account dashboard where you can:
- invite other users in your organisation to the service
- assign user service roles
- manage organisation details
Being an admin does not affect your access to a service.
If you created the account, youâre automatically given the role of admin.
An admin can also create another admin if needed.
Itâs best to have more than one admin so if one admin is absent then another can make changes to an account.
1.2 Standard user
As a standard user you cannot access the account dashboard. A standard user can only be given access to a service shown in your Defra account.
2. The account dashboard (admins only)
To get to the account dashboard for your organisation select âManage accountâ in your Defra account.
Within the account dashboard you can see the number of:
- team members (such as employees)
- intermediaries (such as third parties or agents)
- related organisations
You can also manage:
- user access to an account
- user access to services you have registered this account for
- organisation details
- related organisations
At the bottom of the dashboard there are links for the services the account is registered with.
2.1 Invite a user to work on your account
Go to your Defra account and select âManageâ next to the account you want to add a user to.
You can add a user as:
- a team member who can have standard or admin access
- an intermediary who can only have standard access
Select âAdd a team memberâ or âAdd intermediaryâ as needed. Enter their email address and select âContinueâ.
Youâll be notified that an invitation has been sent to the user and that they must respond to it within 30 days before it expires. Select âContinueâ.
Youâll get an email when the user has registered so you can choose their account role and which service to give them access to.
2.2 Give account and service access for the first time (admin only)
Once the user has registered, you then need to give them an account role and a service role.
You can do this using the link in the email notification sent to you or through their profile page.
Give account role and service role via email link
When you get the notification that the user has registered you must assign the user an account role. If you do not, the user will not be able to use EHC Online.
When the user has registered, youâll get an email notification with a link to âGive this person access to use online servicesâ.
This will take you to the userâs profile page. Select âGive account accessâ.
Choose whether you want that user to have admin or standard access:
- admins can view and edit the information about your organisation and manage other peopleâs access to services
- standard users have no account responsibilities and only perform the tasks you choose within a specific service.
Select âContinueâ.
Intermediary users can only be standard users.
Youâll see a list of service roles you can assign to that user. If your organisation has only signed up to the Exporter Service (EHC Online), youâll only see that one. The service roles available depend on the service. You must select an option, even if there is only one available. Then select âContinueâ.
Youâll then be notified that the user now has access. Select âContinueâ to return to the userâs profile page to check the role appears on their profile.
Giving account and service access on userâs profile page
Go to your Defra Account and select âManage accountâ next to the account which has a user who needs an account role and service role granted.
- In the account dashboard, select âManage team accessâ.
- Select the team member whose needs an account role and service role.
- On that userâs profile page select âGive account accessâ.
- Choose whether you want that team member to have admin or standard user access.
2.3 Change and remove user access (admin only)
Go to your account page and select âManage accountâ and then âManage team accessâ.
Here you can open each team memberâs profile page and change user type from admin to standard by selecting âChange account roleâ or âRemove userâ.
Make sure you remove access from users who no longer need it.
If you leave the organisation and have not given admin access to another team member, no admin tasks can be performed on your organisationâs account. Make sure at least one other team member has admin access.
To remove an adminâs access another admin will need to select âRemove userâ. They will still have access to the account dashboard.
2.4 Manage organisation details
You can view and change your organisationâs details for a specific account.
Go to your Defra account, find the organisation you need to change and select âManage accountâ.
Select âManage your organisationâ.
You can make changes to organisation details such as:
- name
- address
- phone number
Changes to a limited company, public limited company or limited liability partnership
You must update any details you need to change on Companies House first.
Then contact the APHA Service Desk on 0330 041 6999 who will make the changes for you.
Changes to an individual, sole trader, non-UK organisation or charity
Contact the APHA Service Desk on 0330 041 6999 to make the changes for you.
3. Related organisation accounts (parent and child)
Some organisational structures have one or more parts of the business that work separately to the main business, such as a branch of a large supermarket chain. These organisations are âchildrenâ to the âparentâ organisation.
In these cases, the business might want to manage the child organisations separately from the parent.
To do this, add a related organisation account. This organisation will be fully independent, with their own team members, intermediaries and services.
Only the account admin who created the related organisation is inherited from parent to child. There must be at least one account admin who is common between parent and child at all times.
3.1 Add a related organisation account
Go to the Defra management dashboard, find the organisation you need to add a related organisation to and select âManage accountâ. Then select âManage your organisationâ. On the Organisation details page, select the âRelated organisationsâ tab.
Then select âAdd a related organisationâ. Enter the organisationâs details. Youâll need to register for any services the related organisation will need.
3.2 Accessing a related organisation from your Defra account
If you have access to the parent account (as an admin or standard user), youâll see all related (child) organisations listed under the parent organisation.
If you do not have access to the parent account, youâll only see the related organisation you have access to.
4. Registering an account with a new service
An account can have one or more services registered to it depending on the type of work you do. Youâll need to be an admin for that account in order to register new services.
To register an account with a new service, go to your Defra Account, find the account you want to register the service with and select âManage accountâ.
On the account dashboard, select âRegister servicesâ.
If your account has more than one account admins, it is possible the account has already been registered for a service, but you do not have access to it. In this case you would see a list of services already registered to this account.