Missing your confirmation statement deadline does not trigger an immediate fine, but it can put your company on a direct path to compulsory strike-off — erasure from the register with no warning beyond a gazette notice. Every UK company and LLP must file a confirmation statement at least once every 12 months, and Companies House will begin enforcement proceedings within roughly two weeks of the review period expiring without a filing.
What the confirmation statement actually is
The confirmation statement (form CS01) replaced the old annual return in June 2016 under the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015. Where the annual return required a full snapshot of company data every year, the confirmation statement works on a different principle: you confirm that all information currently held on the public register is accurate, and you update only what has changed. The filing fee is £50 online or £110 on paper (fees increased from 1 February 2026), and it covers any number of updates made within the same review period.
Every company incorporated in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland must file under section 853A of the Companies Act 2006. The review period runs 12 months from either the company's incorporation date or the date of the last confirmation statement. Directors have 14 days after the end of that review period to get the statement to Companies House.
The strike-off process — how quickly it moves
Companies House does not send reminders by post. The only prompt is an email to the registered email address on file (mandatory since August 2023) and a note in the director's WebFiling account. If the deadline passes without a filing, the Registrar issues a first gazette notice under section 1000 of the Companies Act 2006, published in the London, Edinburgh or Belfast Gazette depending on the company's registered office.
The company then has two months from that notice to file the overdue statement and any outstanding accounts. Fail to respond within that window and a second gazette notice goes out. After a further short period — typically around two weeks — the company is struck off the register and dissolved.
From missed deadline to dissolution, the entire process can take as little as three to four months. Many directors only discover the situation when a bank account is frozen or a customer runs a credit check.
What strike-off actually means for the company and its directors
Once struck off, the company ceases to exist as a legal entity. All assets — including bank balances, intellectual property, and property — vest in the Crown as bona vacantia under section 1012 of the Companies Act 2006. The Treasury Solicitor (or King's and Lord's Remembrancer in Scotland) then holds those assets, and retrieving them requires a formal application plus fees.
Contracts the company had entered into become legally uncertain. Customers and suppliers may treat them as void, and ongoing obligations — employment contracts, leases, insurance policies — do not automatically transfer anywhere. Directors who allow the company to carry on trading after strike-off may face personal liability for debts incurred during that period, as the company no longer has legal personality and the directors lose the protection of limited liability.
The company's credit file does not simply disappear. Credit reference agencies retain the dissolution marker, which affects future applications for finance made by associated directors.
Getting the company back: administrative restoration vs court order
Two routes exist to restore a struck-off company.
Administrative restoration under section 1024 of the Companies Act 2006 is available if the company was struck off the register as a result of a failure to file, rather than a voluntary strike-off. The Registrar can restore the company if the application is made within six years of dissolution, all outstanding documents (confirmation statements, accounts) are filed simultaneously, and any penalties are paid. The company is treated as if it had never been dissolved.
Court-ordered restoration under section 1029 covers a wider range of circumstances — including voluntary strike-offs — and has no strict six-year cap for certain claims. Applications go to the High Court (or Court of Session in Scotland). Court restoration is more expensive, typically requiring solicitors and court fees, and takes longer than the administrative route.
Neither route is free. Administrative restoration requires paying the £50 per overdue confirmation statement (at current 2026 rates) plus the standard accounts penalties if accounts are also overdue. Account late-filing penalties range from £150 for accounts up to one month late to £1,500 for those more than six months late, with those amounts doubling for a second consecutive year of default.
Confirmation statements and outstanding accounts — the combination that kills companies
Directors who miss the confirmation statement deadline frequently have also fallen behind on accounts. The two obligations are distinct, but both feed into Companies House's enforcement queue. Accounts must be filed within nine months of the company's financial year-end for private companies under section 442 of the Companies Act 2006. A company that is behind on both is likely to receive simultaneous enforcement notices, and the combined late-filing penalties can reach several thousand pounds before any professional fees for restoration.
One practical distinction matters: the confirmation statement has no late-filing penalty in cash terms. Missing it triggers the strike-off process, but there is no graduated fine the way there is for accounts. This is precisely what makes it dangerous — directors sometimes assume that because there is no immediate financial consequence, the filing can wait.
Practical steps if you have already missed the deadline
Check your company's gazette status first. A search on The Gazette website (thegazette.co.uk) by company name or number will show whether a first or second dissolution notice has been published. If no notice has been published yet, file the CS01 immediately through WebFiling on the Companies House website. The £50 fee can be paid by credit card.
If a first gazette notice is already in place, filing the confirmation statement will prompt Companies House to withdraw the notice — provided accounts are also up to date. Do not wait until you receive formal correspondence; act the day you discover the gap.
If the company has already been struck off, gather evidence of trading activity and check whether the six-year window for administrative restoration is open. A solicitor experienced in company law can file the application on your behalf in straightforward cases, but for companies with assets, creditors, or ongoing contracts, the cost of professional advice is almost always lower than the cost of bona vacantia proceedings.
How to avoid this situation entirely
Set a calendar reminder for the anniversary of your company's incorporation or your last confirmation statement, whichever is more recent. Companies House sends email reminders to the registered email address, but those emails can land in spam, especially if the company uses a shared mailbox.
Keep the registered email address current. Since the Companies House register became part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 regime, the registered email address is a mandatory field, but it is not publicly visible. Updating it takes about two minutes through WebFiling and means enforcement notices actually reach someone with authority to act.
A free UK confirmation statement template from forms-legal.com can help directors work through the required information before submitting the CS01 to Companies House directly — checking SIC codes, shareholder details, and PSC register accuracy before the filing window closes.
The broader compliance picture
The confirmation statement sits within a larger framework of Companies Act 2006 obligations. Directors' duties under sections 171-177 include an implied obligation to maintain proper company records and file required documents. A persistent failure to file can influence how an insolvency practitioner or court views a director's conduct in any future disqualification proceedings under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986.
The Insolvency Service has disqualified directors for periods ranging from two to fifteen years, and poor record-keeping — including missed filings — consistently appears in disqualification orders. While a single missed confirmation statement is unlikely on its own to reach that threshold, it is often accompanied by other compliance failures that collectively attract regulatory attention.
The practical reality for most small company directors is straightforward: the confirmation statement takes ten minutes to file online and costs £50 (as of February 2026). Strike-off, restoration, and professional fees can run into the thousands. The ratio of risk to effort makes this one of the more costly administrative oversights in UK company law.
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This article is general information, not legal advice — see our accuracy & editorial policy. Confirm the cited law is current before relying on it.