Companies House filings
Updated 5 June 2020
© Crown copyright 2020
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/corporate-insolvency-and-governance-bill-2020-factsheets/companies-house-filings
What are we going to do?
We are providing companies and other types of business registered at Companies House with more time to file accounts, confirmation statements and details of relevant events, such as a change in director. We are also providing more time to register charges with Companies House. We are working on creating extensions that give these companies and businesses the appropriate amount of time. We will be set out all the timeframes in regulations as well as in accompanying guidance.
How are we going to do it?
We will retrospectively extend the deadline for public companies to file accounts.
We will then use regulations to temporarily modify the deadlines in the Companies Act and other similar legislation for filings like confirmation statements or notifying a change in director. The new power outlined in primary legislation specifies the deadlines that can be extended and the maximum extended periods that the regulations may substitute for the current periods.
What does this mean in practice?
The regulations mean that for a temporary period, public and private companies and other entities will have more time to file accounts, confirmation statements and notices of certain relevant events covered by the confirmation statement with Companies House. A relevant event would include the appointment of a new director for instance.
The retrospective provision for a public company to file accounts means that when public companies exercise the new flexibilities we are providing for them to reschedule their AGM and hold it in a different way, they will also be able to continue to combine the meeting with their accounts meeting and file their accounts afterwards. For example, a public company which is required to hold an AGM before the end of July could postpone it until nearer to 30 September and hold an accounts meeting at the same time. The company’s accounts could then be filed afterwards in time for that deadline.
Interested parties will also have more time to register a charge against a company’s or other relevant entity’s assets. So, for example, if a secured loan to a company is agreed on 31 July, the lender would normally have until 21 August to register the charge on the company’s assets so that the loan was properly secured. Registering the charge so quickly during the period affected by COVID 19 may be challenging so the regulations will extend the deadline so that the charge could be registered later in August.
Background
The regulations will apply to all relevant deadlines arising from the day the regulations come into force and the temporary power to extend certain filing deadlines expires on 5 April 2021. We expect to provide a 3 month accounts filing extension for public and private companies. The extensions will be automatic and companies will not need to apply for them.
Companies can already apply to Companies House for an extension to their accounts filing deadline. In March Companies House announced that it will grant an extension of three months in response to any application that cites COVID 19 as a reason why the extension is needed. By the end of the week beginning Monday 20 April more than 50,000 such applications had been accepted. Companies and other entities with accounts filing deadlines falling during the time when the Bill is being debated should continue to make these applications where extensions are needed. Most accounts filing deadlines are not being extended retrospectively.
Who does it apply to?
The regulations will apply extensions to relevant filings to public companies, private companies, unregistered companies and to Limited Liability Partnerships. They will also apply to Scottish Qualifying Partnerships, Limited Partnerships, registered overseas companies and certain types of entity set up under EU law in the UK for the filings where relevant.
An indicative list is outlined in this table:
| Entity | Deadlines that will be extended by regulation |
|---|---|
| Company | Accounts filing, confirmation statement, charge registration |
| LLPs | Accounts filing, confirmation statement, charge registration |
| Scottish Qualifying Partnerships | PSC notification |
| Limited partnerships | Notice of changes to the partnership |