Companies House filings and COVID-19

For many companies, dealing with Companies House filings will not be an immediate priority when dealing with the impact of COVID-19.

However, there is currently no general relief from having to file documents as required by law, and the time frames for doing so have not been automatically extended, so companies should be mindful on how COVID-19 might impact their ability to file documents.

Where a company has to file its accounts but COVID-19 is causing a delay, there is currently an automatic and immediate three-month extension which should be applied for from Companies House. This is only available if applied for in advance of the due filing date, so should be prioritised, as late filing fees will automatically apply otherwise. There is limited discretion for the registrar to waive these fees, and there is no guarantee that COVID-19 reasons will allow such fees to be successfully appealed.

Companies House are experiencing significant delays processing paper forms, so companies should consider electronic filing. Where a document must be filed by a certain date, there is a risk that if a paper form has to be returned, by the time it is re-submitted, the time for filing may have passed (which can have significant impact if, for example, the form was registering a new charge). By registering for the Companies House webfiling service, many forms can be filed electronically and are often processed and available on the register within hours. Companies House are actively looking to increase the number of forms which can be filed in this way, so it may be possible to file the required forms electronically. Please note that registering for webfiling takes a short period, as the log-in details must be posted to the company's registered office to prevent fraudulent filings, so it is worth applying for in advance, if not already obtained.

Finally, all same-day services are currently suspended, so this service should not be relied upon to deal with any last-minute filings.

This is a difficult time for all companies, but with a little planning steps can be taken to ensure that filing Companies House documents do not become a problem diverting precious management time.