The confirmation statement is the most boring, easily-forgotten task in running a limited company. It’s also the one with the steepest cliff if you miss it: Companies House can strike off your company. The good news: it takes ten minutes online and costs £50. This guide walks you through every step, what you actually have to confirm, and the most common confusions about the PSC register.
What a confirmation statement is (and isn’t)
A confirmation statement is an annual confirmation that the information Companies House holds about your company is up to date. It is not a return of profits, not a tax filing, and not the same as your annual accounts. It replaced the older “annual return” (form AR01) in June 2016, and the principle is the same: every year, you check the public-record information about your company and confirm it’s still correct.
Every UK limited company files one. So does every Limited Liability Partnership. So does every dormant company. There’s no “we didn’t trade this year” exemption: the register is what’s being maintained, not the trading position.
When it’s due
Each company has a 12-month review period. The first review period starts on the date of incorporation. Each subsequent review period starts the day after the previous one ended. You must file the confirmation statement within 14 days of the end of each review period. The review-period dates are on every company’s record at Companies House and don’t move with your accounting year-end – the two run on different timetables, which is one of the most common sources of late filings.
A practical implication: if your accounts and your confirmation statement are about a month apart, it’s easy to file one and forget the other. Diary both, separately.
What it costs
The fee is £50 if you file online and £110 if you file on paper – the digital fee since the Companies House fee changes on 1 February 2026. The fee covers the 12-month payment period, not a single statement. If something significant changes mid-year and you file an additional confirmation statement during the same payment period, the second filing is free. So the £50 is really an annual cost, regardless of how many statements you file.
What you confirm
The statement confirms the registered office address, the directors and any company secretary, the People with Significant Control (PSC), the statement of capital and shareholders for a private limited company, the SIC codes describing the company’s activities, and a registered email address for the company. The email address requirement was introduced in March 2024 and is now mandatory.
Where information has changed during the review period, you can update it as part of filing the statement. Some changes shouldn’t wait that long: a director appointment or a change of registered office should be filed as soon as it happens (within 14 days), not held until the confirmation statement is due. The statement is a confirmation of the current state, not the only opportunity to update it.
Step-by-step: filing online
Filing online takes 10-15 minutes if nothing has changed. The process is the same for a single-director company and a complex shareholding – the difference is just how much there is to check.
- Sign in to Companies House. Go to find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk and sign in with your Companies House authentication code or via Government Gateway.
- Select your company. Choose the company you want to file for from your list of associated companies.
- Choose “File a confirmation statement”. Select the option from the available filings.
- Review the company information. Review the information Companies House currently holds: registered office, officers (directors and secretary if any), People with Significant Control, and SIC codes.
- Update anything that has changed. Update anything that has changed during the review period. Some changes (director appointments, change of registered office) need separate filings during the year, not only at confirmation-statement time.
- Confirm statement of capital and shareholders. Confirm the statement of capital and the shareholders, including any share allotments or transfers in the period.
- Confirm your email address. Confirm a registered email address for the company. A registered email address has been mandatory since March 2024.
- Pay the £50 fee online. Pay the £50 confirmation statement fee online by card or direct debit. The fee covers the 12-month payment period regardless of how many statements you file in that period.
- Receive instant filing confirmation. Companies House issues instant on-screen confirmation that the filing has been accepted. Save or print the confirmation for your company records.
The PSC register: common confusion
PSC stands for People with Significant Control. The defining test: someone who holds more than 25% of the shares, or more than 25% of the voting rights, or has the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board, or otherwise exercises significant influence or control. For a simple single-director-and-sole-shareholder company, the director is the PSC and the answer is straightforward.
For companies with multiple shareholders, share classes, or holding structures, the PSC analysis gets more involved. A common error is forgetting to update the PSC register after a share transfer or restructure: the confirmation statement confirms what’s on the register, so if the register wasn’t updated when the change happened, the confirmation statement perpetuates the error. If your ownership is anything other than “one person owns 100%”, an accountant or solicitor walking through the PSC analysis once is much cheaper than the alternative.
One scenario worth flagging: if the immediate parent of your company is itself a UK company, an LLP, or certain qualifying non-UK entities, you record that parent as a Relevant Legal Entity (RLE) rather than tracing all the way through to the ultimate beneficial owner. That keeps the disclosure tidy when you’re part of a group, but it depends on the parent actually meeting the RLE conditions (broadly: it’s subject to its own disclosure regime). Where the chain runs through a non-qualifying entity (an offshore holding company, for example), you have to keep tracing until you reach a natural person who would otherwise be a PSC.
And if there genuinely is no PSC – say, you have five equal shareholders, none of whom passes any of the four tests – the register isn’t left blank. You record that fact with one of the official Companies House statements (“The company knows or has reasonable cause to believe that there is no registrable person or registrable RLE in relation to the company”). A blank PSC register is a filing error, not a representation that no PSC exists.
What happens if you miss the 14-day deadline
The first thing you’ll receive is a reminder from Companies House. You can still file late, but the company is technically in breach of the Companies Act 2006. Continued failure to file can lead to prosecution of the directors (which is a criminal offence and carries a criminal record), strike-off of the company (the company is dissolved and any remaining assets pass to the Crown), and personal liability for directors if the company is struck off with debts outstanding.
In practice, most strike-offs take several months from the missed deadline through reminders and warnings before the company is actually dissolved – plenty of time to bring the filing back on track. The companies that get caught are usually the ones whose registered email address was stale and nobody saw the warnings.
Common mistakes
Forgetting it’s due. The confirmation statement date is set at incorporation and doesn’t move with your accounts year-end. Diary both.
Treating it as the same as filing accounts. Different filing, different deadline, different fee. Filing your accounts doesn’t satisfy the confirmation statement obligation.
Not updating the PSC register after a share transfer. The transfer is the moment to update; the confirmation statement is just the check that you did.
Filing on paper. Slower, more expensive (£110 vs £50), and less likely to be processed cleanly. Use the digital service unless you have a specific reason not to.
Letting an old registered office address stand. Companies House sends statutory mail to the registered office. If you’ve moved and the address on file is wrong, the reminders go to the wrong place and the strike-off process starts without you knowing.
Frequently asked questions
The questions directors ask most often when they’re filing their first confirmation statement.
Is the confirmation statement the same as filing my company accounts?
No – they're entirely separate. Accounts are a financial filing showing your company's profit, balance sheet and cash flow. The confirmation statement is a non-financial check that the public register information about your company is current. They're filed at different times of year (accounts at 9 months after year-end, confirmation statement within 14 days of the anniversary of incorporation by default), and the fee is different (no fee for accounts, £50 for confirmation statement).
Do I need to file a confirmation statement if my company is dormant?
Yes. Every UK limited company and LLP must file a confirmation statement annually, including dormant companies. The fee (£50 online) is the same.
My company hasn't changed at all this year. Do I still file?
Yes. The confirmation statement confirms that the information Companies House holds is up to date – even if “up to date” means “no change since last year”. You still file, you still pay £50, you just don't update anything.
Can my accountant file it for me?
Yes, and most do as part of an annual service. You can also use a formation agent. Either way you remain responsible as a director – if it's not filed, the consequences fall on the directors, not the agent.
What's the difference between the review period and the payment period?
The review period is the 12-month window of company information you're confirming (e.g. the 12 months from your previous statement). The payment period is the 12-month window during which the £50 fee covers any number of confirmation statements you file. You'd only file more than one in a year if you wanted to update significant changes mid-year, in which case the second statement is free.
I've moved the registered office. Do I update it on the confirmation statement?
You can update it on the confirmation statement, but you should also file a separate AD01 form when the move actually happens – don't wait until the confirmation statement is due. Companies House needs the up-to-date address for service of legal documents.
My company has a holding structure. Who's the PSC?
It depends on the holding company's ownership. The PSC register tracks ultimate beneficial ownership – the natural person(s) at the top of the ownership chain. If your holding company is itself owned by another company, you'd disclose the immediate parent as a “Relevant Legal Entity” (RLE) provided it meets specific transparency conditions, and trace through to the natural-person owners. This area is genuinely complex – get an accountant or solicitor involved.
Can I be prosecuted personally if I miss the deadline?
Yes – the Companies Act 2006 puts the obligation on directors personally, and continued failure to file is a criminal offence. In practice, prosecution is rare for first-time offenders, but persistent failure to file can lead to director disqualification proceedings and a criminal record. Cheaper to file the £50 confirmation statement on time.
