This article relates to an historic circumstance whereby Companies House required a confirmation statement to be submitted on paper when it contained certain combinations of information related to a company’s people with significant control (PSCs).
From 26 June 2017, information about PSCs is no longer submitted as part of the confirmation statement.
It’s great to see so many people filing the new confirmation statement electronically using Inform Direct. Our step by step process makes it easy, and we’ve written a supporting guide to the confirmation statement and an explanation of when companies will need to file it.
Filing electronically is the quickest, simplest and most cost-effective way to file confirmation statements. An inuitively designed, award-winning product like Inform Direct makes it even easier.
While the option to file a confirmation statement on paper is still available, it’s a massive 62 pages long and can be quite complex to fill in. You’ll have to wait for Companies House to manually process it before any updates are reflected on the public record.
Easy confirmation statements
Fully updated with Companies House's revised requirements, Inform Direct makes it easy to put together the required data and then create confirmation statements at the touch of a button.
Start nowWhile Companies House are still developing their systems to support the legislation, unfortunately there are some circumstances – if certain combinations of information about People with Significant Control need to be reported – when electronic filing is not available. In those cases, if the data to be included is correct, then the only option is to file a paper form.
We must stress that this problem relates to Companies House’s own infrastructure. It affects all software systems and direct filing via Companies House. As soon as they fix their problem, all our users will be able to submit confirmation statements electronically.
Unfortunately, where a company must file a confirmation statement on paper because of this issue, Companies House is still insisting that a higher filing fee is payable. While the unfairness of this has been repeatedly pointed out to Companies House, they believe the legislation as it stands does not give them freedom to reduce the fee even in these circumstances.
Why might a company have to file a paper Confirmation Statement?
Firstly, it’s important to say that it doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong. It’s purely that Companies House’s systems can’t yet support all the possibilities related to People with Significant Control defined in the legislation.
At the moment, a paper form will be necessary where, in the period covered by the confirmation statement, PSC-related statements are BOTH notified and removed. Common statements include:
“The company has identified a registrable person in relation to the company but all the required particulars of that person have not been confirmed.”
“The company knows or has reasonable cause to believe that there is a registrable person in relation to the company but it has not identified the registrable person.”
“The company has not yet completed taking reasonable steps to find out if there is anyone who is a registrable person or a registrable relevant legal entity in relation to the company.”
“The company knows or has reasonable cause to believe that there is no registrable person or registrable relevant legal entity in relation to the company.”
You can still file electronically if a statement has only been added in the confirmation period or, indeed, if it’s only been removed. It’s also fine if a statement has been notified and ended but the two are not in the same confirmation period. But if a statement became effective and ceased to be true within the time covered by a single return, a paper CS01 form will be required.
What are Inform Direct doing to help?
Whenever an electronic confirmation statement can be submitted, Inform Direct will do so automatically.
get in contact with us and we’ll be pleased to help
Based on the PSC information you record, our clever software will identify if a paper statement is needed. It will also produce a fully pre-populated paper form ready to be signed, a copy of which will be saved in your personal document library.
If you’ve included statements by mistake and would like help removing them so you can still file electronically, get in contact with us and we’ll be pleased to help.
Where do I send a paper confirmation statement?
You’ll need to print the CS01 form at full size on white A4 paper. The form will need to be posted to Companies House at an address based on the country within the UK in which it is registered.
For companies registered in England and Wales, send the form to:
Companies House
Crown Way
Cardiff
CF14 3UZ
For Scottish companies, the appropriate address is:
Companies House
4th Floor Edinburgh Quay 2
139 Fountainbridge
Edinburgh
EH3 9FF
If your company is registered in Northern Ireland, you’ll need to post it to:
Companies House
Second Floor
The Linenhall
32-38 Linenhall Street
Belfast
Northern Ireland
BT2 8BG
The CS01 form should be accompanied by a cheque made payable to “Companies House”.
How long will this restriction last?
Companies House to plan to implement a fix to their infrastructure so in time we expect that Companies House will be able to receive all Confirmation Statements electronically. Companies House have promised that they are working on a fix but have not been able to indicate when it will become available.
While heartened that they are looking at a solution, they have also advised that this could be a substantial piece of work for them to implement alongside other issues with their infrastructure.
We’ll will post another update as soon as we know more.
Fully updated with Companies House's revised requirements, Inform Direct makes it easy to create confirmation statements at the touch of a button from 30 June 2016.