Complaints procedure

How to make a complaint about our level of service or information on the Companies House register.

The complaints process

There are 3 stages to our complaints process:

  1. The team or our contact centre.

  2. Response from customer service team.

  3. Escalation to the head of service delivery.

What complaints we can help with

This process deals with complaints about:

  • the accuracy of information on the companies register
  • the level of service we’ve provided

There are separate procedures if you want to:

We do not deal with consumer rights complaints about goods or services.

How to complain about Companies House

Email your complaint to Companies House.

You must:

  • explain the problem
  • give as much information as you can
  • tell us what you want to happen

What happens next

A member of Companies House will reply in writing or by telephone within 10 working days.

If we cannot give a full response in this time, we’ll tell you what we’re doing and when you can expect a full reply. This might happen if your complaint needs more detailed investigation. We’ll give a contact name and a complaint reference number.

If you’re not satisfied

Ask us to review your complaint at the next stage of the process.

Our customer service team will review your complaint and respond.

In some situations we may not be able to help you, for example, if you’re not happy about a legal requirement and escalation will not change the outcome.

At stage 3, the Head of Operational Delivery will respond.

This is the final stage and completes our internal complaints process.

Independent complaint adjudicators

If your complaint is not resolved, you can ask us to refer your complaint to the independent adjudicators. You must finish the internal complaints process first.

Our customer services team can refer your complaint. We’ll tell you about this in more detail if you reach this stage.

The adjudicators only investigate complaints about:

  • level of service
  • mistakes
  • our complaint handling

Your complaint must be less than 6 months old.

If you’re not happy with the adjudicators’ decision, you can ask your MP to take your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

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