Can you appeal a Companies House late filing penalty?
Yes, but only in limited circumstances. Companies House will only consider an appeal against a late filing penalty where there were exceptional circumstances outside the company's control that prevented the accounts being filed on time, such as a serious illness or accident affecting the only director, a fire or flood that destroyed company records shortly before the deadline, or an error made by Companies House itself.
Appeals are not accepted simply because the company could not afford to pay, because a director was busy, or because an accountant was slow to prepare the accounts. Companies House treats these as within the company's control, since directors remain legally responsible for filing on time regardless of who prepares the accounts. We are an independent firm of Chartered Accountants, not Companies House or HMRC.
How do I appeal a Companies House late filing penalty?
Appeals must be made in writing, explaining the exceptional circumstances that prevented the accounts being filed on time and providing supporting evidence, such as medical letters or insurance correspondence. There is no online appeal form for most penalties; the appeal is sent as a letter alongside a completed penalty appeal form referencing the penalty notice.
Before appealing, you should file the outstanding accounts if you have not already done so, since an appeal does not remove the requirement to file. We can review the circumstances with you, tell you honestly whether an appeal is likely to succeed, and draft the letter and supporting case for a fixed quote agreed after our free review.
What counts as exceptional circumstances?
Companies House assesses each case individually, but examples that have been accepted in the past include the sudden serious illness or death of the only director close to the filing deadline, a fire, flood or theft that destroyed the company's accounting records shortly before filing was due, and technical problems or errors on the part of Companies House itself, such as software failures affecting online filing.
Circumstances that are unlikely to succeed include the accountant being too busy, the company being newly formed and unfamiliar with the deadline, cash flow problems, or the director simply forgetting. If your situation does not clearly fall into an accepted category, it is often worth having a Chartered Accountant assess the strength of your case before you submit a written appeal, to avoid weakening a future appeal with a poorly evidenced one.
- Serious illness, accident or bereavement affecting the only director
- Fire, flood or theft affecting company records
- A Companies House error, such as a failed online filing
- Not accepted: lack of funds, accountant delay, or forgetting the deadline
What happens if my appeal is refused?
If Companies House refuses your appeal, you can ask for it to be looked at again through an independent review. This gives you a further opportunity to present evidence, but the same test applies: the circumstances must still be exceptional and outside the company's control.
If the independent review also refuses the appeal, the penalty remains payable and Companies House can take recovery action, including registering the debt with a court, which can affect the company's credit rating. We can advise on the appeal letter and the independent review request, but we cannot control the outcome, and we will always give you an honest view of your prospects before you commit to paying for an appeal.
Do I still need to file my accounts while I appeal?
Yes. An appeal against a penalty does not pause or replace the requirement to file the accounts, and the penalty will continue to increase the longer the accounts remain outstanding, since Companies House penalties rise on a sliding scale the later filing becomes and double if a company was also late the previous year.
We recommend filing the outstanding accounts as a priority, and dealing with the appeal in parallel or immediately afterwards, so the underlying compliance position is put right regardless of whether the appeal succeeds.