Published: 16 September 2026 4:11 pm  Author: Oliver Stanley

How to File a Confirmation Statement at Companies House

Every UK limited company and LLP has to file a confirmation statement at least once every 12 months, no exceptions for small companies, dormant companies, or companies that haven’t traded. It’s one of the most routine filings a company makes, and also one of the easiest to let slip past its deadline, especially if you’re managing it alongside everything else involved in running a business or advising clients who are.

This guide covers what a confirmation statement actually is, who’s responsible for filing it, what it costs, what happens if you miss the deadline, and how to check it’s gone through correctly.

What Is a UK Confirmation Statement and Why Does It Exist?

A confirmation statement is a filing that confirms the information Companies House holds about your company is accurate and up to date, or tells them what’s changed. It replaced the old annual return in 2016, and the shift in name reflects the shift in purpose: rather than restating everything about the company every year, you’re confirming that the public record is correct.

It exists because Companies House maintains the public register of every UK company, and that register only stays useful if it stays current. Lenders, suppliers, HMRC, and anyone doing due diligence on a company rely on that register being accurate. The confirmation statement is the mechanism that keeps it that way, giving every company a fixed, recurring point at which its details get checked against reality.

The information a confirmation statement covers includes:

• The registered office address and the address where statutory records are kept
• The company’s SIC code, which describes its business activity
• The statement of capital and shareholder information, for companies with share capital
• A registered email address, which Companies House will use to contact the company

While a confirmation statement does not contain information about directors, secretaries – or LLP member for an LLP – and PSCs, by filing a confirmation statement, the company is confirming that all other information already on the public register is correct, so it implicitly confirms the director, secretary, LLP member and PSC information (ie what is showing on Companies House is the correct information).

What Does “Filing a Confirmation Statement” Mean?

Filing a confirmation statement means submitting form CS01 or LLCS01 to Companies House, either to confirm nothing has changed since your last statement or to update the details that have. It’s a snapshot exercise: at a fixed date each year, called the confirmation statement date, you check the register against what’s actually true and file to confirm or correct it.

It’s worth being clear about what a confirmation statement doesn’t do. It doesn’t file your accounts, and it doesn’t automatically update every kind of change. Some changes, like a new director or a change of registered office, have their own separate notification forms and need to be filed as they happen, not saved up for the next confirmation statement. The confirmation statement is really a checkpoint that catches anything not already reported, plus the specific details (SIC code, statement of capital, shareholder information) that can be updated through it directly.

Since identity verification became a legal requirement for UK companies, the confirmation statement has also picked up a new role for existing directors and LLP members who haven’t yet verified: Companies House guidance confirms that directors or LLP members need to provide their Companies House personal code as part of their company’s next confirmation statement, making this filing the point at which that requirement catches up with you if it hasn’t already.

The director or LLP member wont appear on the filing, but the UID data will be captured as part of the filing process.

In practice, this means that for the first confirmation statement a company files after 18 November 2025, every individual director, and for LLPs every member (designated and non-designated), needs to have passed identity verification and have their personal code on record, or Companies House will reject the filing outright. This only applies to that first post-18 November filing; a director or member appointed after that date has their code captured as part of the appointment filing itself, so it shouldn’t need resubmitting at confirmation statement stage. Once a company has filed that transition statement, or by 18 November 2026 at the latest, the normal process resumes. Companies House is also expected to eventually extend this to require full shareholder details for companies with share capital, though no date has been confirmed for that yet.

Who Is Responsible for Filing a Confirmation Statement?

Legal responsibility sits with the company, and in practice with its directors (or designated members for an LLP). It’s a statutory duty, the same way filing accounts is, regardless of who actually presses submit.

Can You File It Yourself?

Yes. There’s nothing stopping a director from filing a company’s own confirmation statement, and for a straightforward company with no changes to report, it’s a short, well-signposted process through the Companies House online service. You’ll need to register for online filing, verify your identity if you haven’t already, and confirm or update the relevant sections.

Do You Need an Accountant to File It?

No, not as a legal requirement, though plenty of companies choose to have their accountant, company secretary, or another adviser handle it, particularly once there’s more than one director, more than a handful of shareholders, or PSC and share capital changes to reflect accurately. Getting the statement of capital or PSC details wrong is a common source of avoidable correction filings later, so if your structure is anything beyond simple, having someone who does this regularly handle it is often worth the cost. For firms managing confirmation statements across many client entities, this is exactly the kind of recurring, deadline-driven task that benefits from being tracked systematically rather than company by company.

What Happens if a Confirmation Statement Isn’t Filed?

Missing the deadline is a criminal offence, and Companies House is explicit about the consequences: directors can be fined up to £5,000, and the company can be struck off the register if a confirmation statement isn’t filed. A struck-off company stops legally existing, and its remaining assets can pass to the Crown, which is a considerably more disruptive outcome than the filing itself would ever have been.

In practice, Companies House typically gives companies the chance to bring filings up to date before pursuing strike-off, but that’s not a guarantee, and it’s not a reason to treat the deadline as flexible. A pattern of late or missing filings is also the kind of thing that shows up in due diligence, credit checks, and lender reviews, well before it ever reaches strike-off.

What Is the Deadline for Filing a Confirmation Statement?

Every company has a 12-month review period, which starts on the date of incorporation for a company’s first confirmation statement, and on the date of the previous confirmation statement after that. Once the review period ends, you have 14 days to file.

So in total, a company has just over 12 months from its last confirmation statement to file the next one. Filing early is allowed and resets the review period from that new date, which is useful if you know a change is coming and want to report it without waiting for the deadline. What you can’t do is file late and expect the clock to simply reset without consequence.

How Can You Check if Your Company’s Confirmation Statement Has Been Filed Successfully?

The most reliable way is to search your company on the Companies House Find and Update service, which is free and public. Your company’s filing history will show every confirmation statement filed, with the date it was submitted and a link to view the document itself. If a confirmation statement is overdue, that will also show clearly against the company’s filing history, alongside its “next statement date.”

If you filed online, you should also have had email confirmation from Companies House once the filing was accepted. It’s worth checking the public record regardless, rather than relying on the confirmation email alone, particularly if you’re filing on behalf of a client and want a paper trail you can point to.

What Online Services Can Help With Filing a Confirmation Statement in the UK?

There are three broad routes:

• Companies House WebFiling, the free, official online service, is the most direct option for a single company with a straightforward filing.
• Third-party filing software, approved by Companies House, which is where most accountants, company secretaries, and firms managing multiple entities file from. This is usually where confirmation statements sit alongside the rest of a company’s statutory records, so a change to the PSC register or share capital during the year is already reflected when the confirmation statement comes round, rather than being reconstructed from scratch.
• Company formation agents and accountancy practices, who will file on a company’s behalf as part of a wider company secretarial service, particularly useful if you’d rather not touch Companies House filings directly at all.

For firms managing confirmation statements across a client base rather than a single company, doing this through software built for company secretarial work, like Kudocs, means the underlying registers stay accurate year-round, so the confirmation statement becomes a genuine confirmation rather than a scramble to work out what’s changed since last time. Filing itself happens directly from your company (or LLP) dashboard, for both a straightforward confirmation and one that includes updates. See how filing a confirmation statement works in Kudocs, or book a 15-minute demo.

The Cost of Filing a Confirmation Statement at Companies House

Filing a confirmation statement costs £50 online (whether through WebFiling or approved third-party software, and up from £34 as of 1 February 2026) or £110 by paper. This fee covers the first confirmation statement filed within a 12-month payment period, so if you choose to file more than one confirmation statement in that period, for example to update the shareholding information partway through the year, there’s no additional fee for the extra filing.

Paper filing is more expensive and slower to process, so unless there’s a specific reason to file by post, the online route is the cheaper and faster option for most companies. If you file through Kudocs, this fee is included in your subscription rather than charged separately each time a confirmation statement is due.

Full Confirmation Statement vs No Updates Confirmation Statement

A confirmation statement is filed as one of two types, depending on whether anything has changed. A No Updates statement confirms that everything currently on the public register is still accurate, nothing has changed since the last confirmation statement (or since incorporation). A Full statement is filed when one or more details need updating at the same time, such as the SIC code, the statement of capital, shareholder information, share trading status, or an exemption from keeping a PSC or members register.

Both meet the same legal obligation, confirming the register is accurate within the 12-month period, and there’s no difference in the fee charged for either type.

FAQs About Filing a Confirmation Statement

Do dormant companies need to file a confirmation statement?

Yes. Filing a confirmation statement is a legal requirement for every UK company and LLP on the register, regardless of whether it’s trading, dormant, or has never traded. Dormant company accounts are a separate filing with their own rules, but the confirmation statement obligation applies regardless.

Is a confirmation statement the same as annual accounts?

No. A confirmation statement confirms company details held by Companies House, such as directors, registered office, and shareholders. Annual accounts are a separate filing that reports the company’s financial position, filed to a different deadline and, for most companies, also to HMRC.

What happens if I file my confirmation statement late but before strike-off action starts?

Late filing is still an offence and directors can be fined, but Companies House generally allows the filing to go ahead and does not need a special process to accept a late confirmation statement. Filing late and getting the company compliant again is always better than not filing at all, but it doesn’t undo the fact that the deadline was missed.

Can I amend a confirmation statement after it’s been filed?

You can’t edit a filed confirmation statement, but you can file a correction or a further confirmation statement to update the record if something was wrong or has since changed. Some errors, particularly around the statement of capital, may need a specific correction filing rather than waiting for the next confirmation statement.

Does a change of director need to wait for the confirmation statement?

No. A change of director should be reported to Companies House as it happens, using the relevant appointment or termination form, rather than being saved for the next confirmation statement. The confirmation statement is where you confirm the director details are accurate as of that date, not where new director changes should first be reported.

What’s the difference between a Full and a No Updates confirmation statement?

A No Updates statement confirms that nothing on the public register has changed since the last filing. A Full statement is filed when something needs updating at the same time, such as the SIC code, statement of capital, or shareholder information. Both satisfy the same legal obligation, and the filing fee is the same either way.

How Kudocs Handles Confirmation Statements

You can file a confirmation statement, Full or No Updates, directly from your company or LLP dashboard in Kudocs. See how it works. The Companies House filing fee (£50 from 1 February 2026) is covered as part of your Kudocs subscription, so there’s no separate charge each time one’s due.

On identity verification specifically: for the first confirmation statement a company files after 18 November 2025, Kudocs will only allow you to file a Full statement, and will flag any missing director or LLP member personal codes (UIDs) before you submit, since Companies House rejects the filing outright if one’s missing. If a director or member was appointed after 18 November 2025, their UID is already captured from that appointment filing and shouldn’t need resubmitting here. From 18 November 2026, or as soon as a company has filed that transition statement, the normal process resumes.

One thing worth flagging separately: since 18 November 2025, Companies House has also been rejecting some confirmation statement filings on the basis that director details don’t match its own records, which typically comes down to discrepancies in how Companies House records and transmits that data rather than an actual error in the filing. If this affects a filing, it’s a Companies House-side issue to resolve rather than a sign the filing itself was wrong.

The Takeaway

A confirmation statement is one of the simplest filings a UK company makes, but it’s also one where the cost of getting it wrong, whether that’s missing the deadline, filing on paper by habit, or reconstructing PSC and share capital details from scratch every year, is entirely avoidable. File on time, keep the underlying registers accurate as changes happen rather than at the last minute, and the confirmation statement stays exactly what it’s meant to be: a quick, low-drama check that the public record matches reality.

If you’re managing confirmation statements across more than a handful of client entities, see how Kudocs keeps statutory registers and filings accurate year-round, so the confirmation statement is never the moment you find out what’s out of date. Book a 15-minute demo to see it against your own client list.