Appealing a Companies House late filing penalty

This guide covers the civil penalty charged to a company when acceptable annual accounts arrive after its Companies House filing deadline. Companies House's published late-filing guidance also addresses public companies and LLPs. It does not cover a late confirmation-statement financial penalty, HMRC/CT600 penalties, criminal prosecution or strike-off decisions; those have different rules and routes.

A penalty appeal is a request for Companies House to reconsider collection of a particular notice. It is not an extension of the filing deadline, a filing of missing accounts or a prediction that the registrar will exercise discretion. Check the actual notice and official company record before deciding what to submit.

Companies House imposes the accounts late-filing penalty when acceptable accounts are delivered after the actual filing deadline. The penalty notice states the deadline, filing date and amount. Confirm those facts from the official record, including a changed period or approved extension; do not infer them from an unverified year end.

If the accounts remain unfiled, finish the filing work. The company may face separate consequences for non-filing; appealing the civil penalty does not supply the missing accounts or stop the statutory filing duty. The reviewed Accounts Filing Deadline tool can check supported deadline facts, while the separate penalty tool checks the standard private-company/LLP band after the due and effective filing dates are known.

The official online service says you can usually appeal where unexpected circumstances, such as serious illness or death, happened close to the filing deadline, or where Companies House made an error. The detailed guidance says the registrar's discretion not to collect is very limited and looks for exceptional circumstances—for example, a fire destroying records at a critical time.

Describe the event, when it began and ended, who or what was affected, why filing could not be completed despite appropriate arrangements, and what happened when the obstacle ended. These are facts to explain and evidence, not a checklist that guarantees an outcome. Companies House makes the decision.

Do not import HMRC's separate 'reasonable excuse' appeal test into this Companies House accounts-penalty process. Likewise, the court route and 28-day period shown for other Companies House financial penalties are not this guide's online accounts late-filing penalty route.

The appeal service asks for the company number, penalty reference, reason and supporting documents. Uploaded documents, such as a doctor's note or insurance claim, must show the full name of the affected person or company and relevant dates; each uploaded file is limited to 4 MB. Retain a copy of the notice, submission acknowledgement and decision correspondence.

If arguing that Companies House made an error, reconcile its stated deadline and filing date with the official company record and your actual acceptance, rejection and correspondence evidence. Do not describe a mere send receipt as proof that compliant accounts were filed. The evidence needed depends on the case; this guide cannot decide sufficiency.

An accountant can help organise the chronology and records, but the director or designated member retains the filing responsibility. Check the official service's access and authorisation requirements before anyone acts for the company.

Companies House identifies dormancy, inability to pay, relying on an accountant and the fact that these are first accounts as reasons unlikely to succeed alone. Its detailed guidance also lists accountant illness, unfamiliarity with filing rules, financial difficulty, postal loss or delay, overseas directors and blaming another director or LLP member.

These examples are not a prediction for a particular case. If a genuinely separate exceptional event or Companies House error occurred, explain and evidence that event instead of relabelling an ordinary preparation or delegation problem as an appeal ground.

Companies House cannot accept accounts that fail Companies Act requirements. Its example is an unsigned balance sheet returned for amendment: if corrected acceptable accounts arrive after the deadline, a late-filing penalty is charged. Rejection alone is not an automatic appeal ground. Keep the rejection, resubmission and acceptance records; if you believe Companies House itself erred, explain the specific error and supporting dates.

An extension is requested before the accounts deadline and must be approved. The official extension guidance says to apply—or file—before the deadline and not to wait for a decision if filing is possible. A later penalty appeal does not retrospectively grant an extension. Verify any approval and revised deadline independently.

Use the official online accounts-penalty appeal service. It says only one appeal can be submitted against a penalty notice, so check the full chronology and evidence before sending it. Companies House can provide accessibility support if the online or email route is difficult because of disability or a health condition.

The reviewed official accounts-penalty appeal page does not specify a fixed appeal-day deadline. Submit promptly, read the actual notice and current service instructions, and do not borrow the 28-day court limit that applies to other Companies House financial penalties. The service says to wait for a decision; the umbrella guidance says recovery is suspended during consideration, while the service warns that debt-collection correspondence may still arrive and should be answered with the pending-appeal fact.

If rejected, Companies House says you may contact its Senior Casework Unit at the appropriate office. After that unit's response, you may ask the independent adjudicators to review the case; they cannot compel the registrar to cancel the penalty. The annual-accounts guidance describes a further final application to the registrar after adjudication. Follow the current official sequence rather than sending all stages at once.