Apply for a waiver letter (WA1)
How to apply for a waiver letter when you are restoring a company using administrative restoration.
Applies to England and Wales
Overview
If you are applying for the administrative restoration of a dissolved company, the law says that you must obtain the Crown representative’s written consent. This consent is known as a waiver letter.
Apply for a waiver letter from the Treasury Solicitor
You should only apply to the Treasury Solicitor for a waiver letter if all of the following three statements are true:
1) the company was dissolved within the last six years.
2) the company was compulsorily struck-off by Companies House.
3) the company had assets in England or Wales and is registered within the Treasury Solicitor’s jurisdiction.
If my company was dissolved more than six years ago
Companies that were dissolved more than six years ago are not eligible for restoration except in very specific circumstances such as a claim for personal injury.
If my company was dissolved voluntarily
Companies that have been dissolved voluntarily can usually only be restored by court order. In which case you would need to contact our litigation team on 0207 210 8500 for a court restoration waiver letter.
If my company is registered outside the Treasury Solicitor’s jurisdiction
Your company may be outside the Treasury Solicitor’s jurisdiction if its registered office is in Cornwall, Lancashire, Merseyside or parts of Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Cumbria, known as the Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster.
If your company’s last registered office was in one of these areas, you may need to apply to Farrer and Co. Before you complete any application form for a waiver letter you should carefully check whether the last registered office address was within the areas covered by Farrer and Co.
If your company owned any kind of property in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you will require a waiver letter from the King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer, Scotland or from the Crown Solicitor’s Office, Northern Ireland.
To apply to the Treasury Solicitor complete application form BVC14:
Send the application form to:
Bona Vacantia - Administrative Restoration
Government Legal Department (BVD)
1 Ruskin Square
Croydon
CR0 2WF
Email bvwaiver@governmentlegal.gov.uk
Switchboard 020 7210 4700
Please use this email address for all enquiries relating to the issuing of the Treasury Solicitor's consent to administrative restoration (waiver letter).
Pay the £64 application costs (no VAT will be charged).
Payment should be made by BACS (including internet banking) or CHAPS. Please use the dissolved company’s registration number as the payment reference.
| Account No. | 10004467 |
| Sort Code | 60-70-80 |
| Account Name | CROWNS NOMINEE ACCOUNT |
| Swift Code | NWBKGB2L |
| IBAN | GB15NWBK60708010004467 |
| Bank Address | NatWest, Government Banking Service, CPB Services, London Corporate Service Centre, 2nd Floor, 280 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 4RB |
| Reference | [the dissolved company’s registration number] |
Cheques are no longer accepted.
If the Treasury Solicitor has not dealt with any assets of the company no further costs will usually be payable.
If the Treasury Solicitor has dealt with any assets of the company you should pay the full costs of dealing with those assets before the Treasury Solicitor will issue a waiver letter. We will provide you with a schedule of these costs.
Issuing a waiver letter
The Treasury Solicitor will not issue a waiver letter if one or more of the following applies:
- incomplete or missing application form
- incorrect amount paid
- additional costs not paid
The Treasury Solicitor will issue a waiver letter when:
- the application form is complete
- payment has been received
- there are no outstanding costs
The waiver letter will be issued to the email address provided on your form.
The Treasury Solicitor will not send the waiver letter to Companies House for you.
Applications usually take up to 5 (five) working days to process. You don’t need to contact the Treasury Solicitor unless this time period has expired.
Updates to this page
Published 6 December 2013Last updated 22 March 2024 + show all updates
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Updated department address.
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- increased emphasis on eligibility criteria - gender neutrality for Treasury Solicitor (rather than he/him) - updated BVC14 form - use of company number as payment reference
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Update to contact details
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Minor update to contact link.
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Minor correction to the new form format.
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Format update to BVC14 form.
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Further amendment to the bank account details.
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Minor amendment to departmental bank account details.
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Minor amendment to the NI Direct link
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Update to waiver form
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We have made some minor changes to the application form.
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Change to bank details
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Amendment to turnaround target - 15 working days down to 5 working days
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Policy change - cheques no longer accepted; payment must be made by BACS or CHAPS
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First published.