Fix Your Overdue Companies House Confirmation Statement Fast

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Filing a Companies House confirmation statement is a mandatory annual legal requirement for every active and dormant limited company registered in the United Kingdom.

This statutory filing verifies that the public register holds accurate, up-to-date information regarding your company’s internal structure, including its directors, registered office address, and share capital allocations.

Failing to submit this document within your specific 14-day filing window constitutes a criminal offense under the Companies Act 2006, exposing company directors to personal prosecution and risking the compulsory striking off of the corporate entity from the official register.

Key Takeaways

UK limited companies must file a structural confirmation statement every 12 months within a 14-day window to avoid director prosecution and £5,000 fines.
Under 2026 rules, filings must include a verified email, identity codes, and a statutory fee of £50 for online submissions or £110 for paper forms.
This annual filing reports no financial or tax data, serving instead to verify registry information like directors, shareholders, and active PSC details.
Missing the deadline triggers compulsory strike-off action by Companies House, causing corporate accounts to freeze and assets to pass to the Crown.

What Is a Companies House Confirmation Statement?

A Companies House confirmation statement (Form CS01) is a mandatory annual filing used to verify that a UK limited company’s public registry information is fully accurate. It does not report financial details; instead, it confirms structural data such as directors, shareholders, and registered addresses.

In practice, this filing serves as a snapshot of your company’s regulatory profile. Unlike accounting documents that track financial transactions, it replaces the old Annual Return framework.

This shifts the administrative burden from completely re-entering all corporate data to simply reviewing and confirming the validity of the information already held on the public register.

The Purpose of Confirmation Statement

The fundamental purpose of a confirmation statement is to maintain corporate transparency across the UK business landscape.

By enforcing an annual validation cycle, financial institutions, creditors, stakeholders, and the general public can confidently rely on the accuracy of the data displayed on the government registry.

A common pattern among new business owners is confusing this requirement with a complex tax assessment. It is not an accounting statement; rather, it is a structural health check that ensures identity verification and public transparency remain intact.

Why Do I Need to File a Confirmation Statement?

You must file a confirmation statement to keep your company legally active and maintain its professional standing.

Failing to file flags your business as high risk, which can immediately freeze corporate bank accounts, block credit applications, and lead to compulsory dissolution of the company.

While it doesn’t track your financial profits or losses, the confirmation statement is essentially your company’s passport to the business world. Maintaining an accurate, up-to-date entry on the public register is critical for several practical reasons:

Securing Corporate Credit & Banking: Financial institutions, banks, and payment processors check Companies House before approving corporate accounts or business loans. An outdated or overdue record can instantly trigger a high-risk flag, halting your credit applications.
Building Trust with Stakeholders: Investors, suppliers, and potential clients use the public register to verify who they are doing business with. Regular filings signal transparency and professional legitimacy.
Preventing Identity Theft and Fraud: Inaccuracies or delays in updating your public record leave your business vulnerable to corporate identity theft, where fraudulent actors attempt to hijack your company profile or register fake directors.

Who Is Responsible for Filing the Companies House Confirmation Statement?

The legally responsible party for filing the confirmation statement is every individual company director. While administrative tasks can be delegated to a company secretary or accountant, the directors retain ultimate personal legal liability if the statement is late or inaccurate.

Active Directors: Even if a company has multiple directors, each director shares equal legal accountability. If the deadline is missed, each director can be held personally liable.
Company Secretaries: If your business has an officially appointed company secretary, they can handle the administrative submission process, but this does not absolve the directors of their legal oversight duty.
Third-Party Professionals: You can absolutely delegate this task to an accountant, solicitor, or formation agent. However, if they make a mistake or miss the deadline, Companies House still holds the directors legally responsible, not the third party.

What Is the Deadline for a Confirmation Statement?

The deadline for a confirmation statement is exactly 14 days after your 12-month review period ends. For new companies, this review period starts on the date of incorporation; for existing companies, it starts on the anniversary of your last filing.

The Review Period: This is a 12-month window that begins either on the day of your company’s incorporation or the date of your last confirmation statement.
The Filing Window: Once that 12-month review period ends, you have a strict 14-day grace period to actually submit the Form CS01 and pay the fee.

Important Note: There is no requirement to wait for the full 12 months to elapse. If your company undergoes major structural changes (such as issuing new shares or changing directors) and you want the public record updated immediately, you can file a confirmation statement early. This will simply reset your 12-month clock for the next year.

What Is the Difference Between Annual Accounts and a Confirmation Statement?

The difference between annual accounts and a confirmation statement is that annual accounts report your financial performance to HMRC and Companies House, while a confirmation statement purely verifies your company’s internal structure and legal details directly with Companies House.

Feature	Annual Accounts	Confirmation Statement (CS01)
Primary Purpose	Measures and reports financial performance	Verifies corporate structural data
Where to Send	Sent to both HMRC and Companies House	Submitted exclusively to Companies House
Filing Deadline	Usually 9 months after your financial year ends	Strictly 14 days after your annual review period ends
Late Penalties	Heavy financial penalties apply automatically if late	High risk of criminal prosecution and strike-off action

What Information Is Required for a Confirmation Statement?

The information required for a confirmation statement includes your registered office address, a verified corporate email, active director and secretary details, a Statement of Capital, Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes, and identity verification status codes for all People with Significant Control (PSC).

Before you initiate the filing process, you must review specific core data points to ensure your business records match your actual operations.

Required Data Field	Compliance Purpose
Registered Office Address	Official physical location for legal notices
Registered Corporate Email Address	Mandatory digital communication address
Active Directors and Secretaries	Verifies current corporate officers
People with Significant Control (PSC)	Identifies individuals holding greater than 25% shares/voting rights
Statement of Capital	Details total nominal value of issued shares
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)	Classifies the company’s economic sector

New Identification and Lawful Purpose Rules

As of 1 February 2026, the structural filing process incorporates strict anti-fraud measures introduced under the phased implementation of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA).

When completing your annual verification, you must now explicitly supply:

A verified corporate email address that allows messages from Companies House to be successfully delivered to an internal monitor.
A formal declaration confirming that the future activities of the company are completely lawful.
Unique identity verification status codes for all active directors and People with Significant Control (PSC).

For example, a boutique digital agency in Manchester recently had its validation submission rejected simply because the director omitted the newly mandated registered email address field during their online submission. Ensuring these items are prepared beforehand prevents administrative bottlenecks.

How Much Does a Companies House Confirmation Statement Cost?

The Companies House confirmation statement fee is £50 for online digital submissions via WebFiling, and £110 for physical paper delivery of Form CS01. This government fee is payable once per 12-month review period.

Submission Method	Statutory Filing Fee
Online Digital WebFiling	£50 per single review period
Paper Form CS01 Delivery	£110 per single review period

Payment Rules and Frequency

This fee covers a full 12-month review period. You can file multiple confirmation statements during this timeframe if you need to update structural records frequently, but you will only be charged the fee once per payment period.

Payment must be processed digitally using a valid credit or debit card, or via a pre-funded Companies House presenter account before the submission can be finalized.

How to file the Companies House Confirmation Statement Online?

To file your confirmation statement online, log into the official government portal using your company registration number and authentication code, verify your company details (including the mandatory 2026 corporate email and PSC codes), tick the lawful purpose declaration, and pay the £50 fee.

Navigate to the official GOV.UK portal and access the webfiling Companies House confirmation statement interface.
Input your unique 8-character company registration number along with your specific online authentication code.
Select the option to create a new Form CS01 confirmation statement filing.
Carefully verify your registered office location, digital corporate email, and your current Standard Industrial Classification codes.
Review the statement of capital breakdown and ensure all listed People with Significant Control details remain fully accurate.
Check the mandatory declaration box affirming that the company’s intended operations will remain strictly lawful.
Submit the statutory £50 processing fee using a corporate debit card and download your formal digital receipt.

What Happens If You Miss the Confirmation Statement Deadline?

If you miss the confirmation statement deadline, your company status shifts to overdue. Because non-compliance is a criminal offence, Companies House can immediately initiate personal prosecution against directors, issue court fines up to £5,000, and forcibly dissolve the company.

Understanding the Meaning of Overdue Status

When a company’s dashboard displays an overdue notice, it means the strict 14-day window following the annual review date has closed without a valid Form CS01 submission being processed.

Unlike corporate accounts, which trigger automated financial fines, missing this deadline is handled under a criminal law framework.

What Are the Penalties for Missing the Companies House Confirmation Statement?

Unlike filing your Annual Accounts late, which triggers an automated, escalating financial penalty, missing the confirmation statement deadline drops you straight into a criminal law framework.

Companies House does not issue standard civil fines; instead, they escalate enforcement:

Criminal Prosecution: Failing to file is considered a criminal offense under the Companies Act 2006. The registrar can prosecute directors personally in a magistrates’ court, resulting in a criminal record and fines up to £5,000 per offense.
Striking-Off Actions (Dissolution): If a company goes past its 14-day window and ignores subsequent warning notices, Companies House will assume the entity is dormant or abandoned. They will initiate compulsory strike-off action.
Asset Seizure & Frozen Accounts: Once a strike-off notice is published, banks typically freeze the company’s accounts instantly to protect funds. If the company is fully dissolved, all remaining business assets automatically pass to the Crown (under the legal concept of bona vacantia).

Common Mistakes to Avoid While Filing Your Confirmation Statement

The most common mistakes include treating the statement as a way to update your records retroactively, forgetting the mandatory 2026 ECCTA email and identity verification codes, and misinterpreting the filing as a substitute for your annual financial accounts.

Confusing it with the Annual Accounts: Submitting your financial balance sheets to Companies House does not satisfy your confirmation statement requirement. They are completely separate filings.
Forgetting the 2026 ECCTA Requirements: Under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act rules introduced in February 2026, failing to provide a verified corporate email address or omitting the identity verification codes for your PSCs/directors will cause an automatic rejection.
Treating it as an Update Document: The confirmation statement is meant to confirm data that should ideally already be updated. If you changed your address months ago, you should file Form AD01 first, or consider setting up a reliable registered office address service to manage corporate mail before attempting to alter these details inside the CS01 WebFiling session.
Typing the Authentication Code: Getting your 8-character company registration number or your secure online authentication code wrong can lock you out of the portal, eating into your tight 14-day filing window. Always locate these credentials a few days before your review date.

Summary

Maintaining compliance does not require complex legal intervention if managed systematically. To keep your company in good standing, ensure you track your annual review date via the public registry, verify your corporate details before starting your digital submission, and complete your WebFiling session before your 14-day grace window closes.

Taking these steps protects your business from administrative dissolution and ensures seamless continuity.

Disclaimer: This article provides general administrative information regarding UK corporate filings and does not constitute formal legal, financial, or professional compliance advice.

FAQ

Do I need an accountant for a confirmation statement?

No. While many business owners delegate this task to professional accountants to ensure administrative accuracy, any appointed director or company secretary can complete the filing directly through the online system.

Can I do a confirmation statement myself?

Yes. If you possess your company registration number and your secure online authentication code, you can easily log into the WebFiling platform and complete the entire review and confirmation process without third-party assistance.

What happens if I don’t file a confirmation statement?

Failing to file constitutes a criminal offense. Companies House can prosecute directors personally, impose heavy court fines, and initiate compulsory strike-off action to permanently dissolve the non-compliant business entity.

How often do I need to file a confirmation statement?

You must file a confirmation statement at least once every calendar year. Your specific filing window closes exactly 14 days after the anniversary of your company incorporation or previous statement date.

Is a confirmation statement easy?

Yes, provided your company structure has remained stable throughout the year. The online process simply requires checking boxes to confirm existing records, inputting a verified email, and processing the statutory fee.

How to check confirmation statement?

You can verify your current filing status and review date at any time by searching your business name on the free Companies House online service portal under the filing history tab.

How to correct a confirmation statement at Companies House?

If you discover an error after submitting, you must file an amended confirmation statement using Form RP04 along with a corrected Form CS01 to rectify the inaccurate public data.

How To File A Companies House Confirmation Statement Online? Avoid Late Filing Penalties