Companies House late filing penalties (and how to avoid them)
What you pay if your accounts are late, from £150 to £1,500, and the free reminder that stops it happening.
Check my deadline before it's late →
What you pay for late accounts
Filing your annual accounts late triggers an automatic penalty, there's no warning and no discretion. For a private company, the current bands are:
| How late | Penalty (private company) |
|---|---|
| Up to 1 month | £150 |
| 1 to 3 months | £375 |
| 3 to 6 months | £750 |
| More than 6 months | £1,500 |
Public companies pay more (£750 up to £7,500 across the same bands). And crucially: if your accounts were also late the previous year, the penalty is doubled.
The confirmation statement is different
A late confirmation statement doesn't carry an automatic financial penalty, but if it's left unfiled the registrar can move to strike the company off, and directors can be personally liable. So it's not something to leave, even without a fixed fee attached.
Can you appeal a penalty?
Companies House will only cancel a penalty in genuinely exceptional circumstances (for example a serious unexpected event that stopped you filing). "I forgot" or "my accountant was busy" won't succeed. In practice the penalty is almost always paid, which is exactly why prevention beats appeal.
How to make sure it never applies to you
The penalty only exists if you miss the date, and the date is fixed and public. Enter your company number to see your exact deadline and days remaining, then let us email you before it, at 30, 14, 7 and 1 days out, and on the day. The check is free; the reminders come with Monitoring (£15/mo). One month of Monitoring is a lot cheaper than one penalty.
Figures are Companies House's published late-filing penalties and can change, always confirm the current amounts on GOV.UK. General information, not legal or accounting advice.