Confirmation Statement Overdue? What Happens Next — and How to Fix It

The confirmation statement deadline is the date by which your company must file its annual confirmation with Companies House. Every UK company has a review period end date (usually the anniversary of incorporation or the previous confirmation statement), and you have 14 days from that date to file. If you miss that 14-day window, your company is in default. Here is what happens next — and what you should do.

Immediately after the deadline: Companies House marks your company as overdue. No automatic fine is issued at this point — unlike late accounts, there is no fixed monetary penalty for a late confirmation statement. However, the overdue status is publicly visible on the Companies House register. Anyone searching your company can see it has not filed on time. This matters for clients, suppliers, and banks running credit checks on your business.

After several weeks of non-filing: Companies House sends warning letters to your registered office address. If your registered office is a professional service address with mail forwarding — like Fileminder provides — you will receive these. If your registered office is unmanaged, the letters arrive and go unread. This is the critical failure point for Arab directors based outside the UK: the warnings exist, but they never reach you.

After approximately two months of persistent non-filing: Companies House publishes a notice in the London Gazette — the official UK government publication — stating its intention to strike off your company. At this point, a two-month objection window opens. If no objection is filed and the overdue confirmation statement is not submitted, Companies House will dissolve the company at the end of that window.

What to do if you have missed the deadline: file the confirmation statement immediately. The online fee is £50 (raised from £34 under the fee schedule effective 1 February 2026). You can file directly on the Companies House website or through an agent. There is no penalty beyond the risk of strike-off — filing late is far better than not filing at all. If your company has already received a gazette notice, you need to file all overdue documents and contact Companies House or use an agent to object to the strike-off before the two-month window closes. If the company has already been struck off, administrative restoration is possible within six years — but it costs £341 in government fees plus all outstanding filing penalties plus professional fees.

The cost comparison: filing your confirmation statement on time costs £50. Filing it late costs £50. Restoring a struck-off company starts at £341 in government fees alone, before accountancy and legal costs. The risk of losing the company name, losing assets to bona vacantia, and spending months on a restoration process — all to avoid a £50 annual filing — is not a trade-off that makes sense. If you are behind, catch up today.