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What is a confirmation statement, and does a missed one matter?

The short answer

Yes, it can. A confirmation statement is the yearly filing1 that keeps a company's details right at Companies House, due 14 days after each review period2. Miss it and the registrar may strike the company off without anyone asking, usually 2 months after a Gazette notice5. A creditor can object once that notice is out, so you have weeks, not days.

Mara, WolfX research desk
Written with AI, checked by a person · 8 October 2026

The numbers

The dates that give you time.

14 daysAfter each review period ends, to file the statement.2

£50Online or software fee for a year's first statement. £110 on paper.8

2 monthsFrom a Gazette notice to the strike-off date, usually.4 5

2 weeksHow far before the strike-off date to aim. Online, any day before it still counts.5 6

What you can add

A £3,900 invoice, 122 days late on the day you aim to object

Say you invoiced another business £3,900, due on 31 July 2026, and it is still unpaid. On Friday 9 October 2026 the company's page shows its confirmation statement as overdue. Say a first Gazette notice for strike-off appears on Wednesday 14 October 2026, with a strike-off date two months on: Monday 14 December 2026. Aim to object by Monday 30 November 2026, 2 weeks before that date and 47 days after the notice. Online, any day before 14 December still counts. The invoice went late in August 2026, so it carries the 11.75% rate11 set for the second half of 2026. On 30 November it is 122 days late.

£3,900.00The invoice

£153.17Interest: £3,900 × 11.75% ÷ 365 × 122 days10

£70.00Fixed sum (invoices from £1,000 to £9,999.99)12

£4,123.17Owed on 30 November 2026

Then it grows by £1.26 a day until they pay. None of this stops the invoice being chased. The date in the notice only tells you how long you have to decide.

The road ahead

Four steps. No fee listed.

Step 1: Check what it is and when it was due
A confirmation statement is a yearly check that the details Companies House holds about the company are up to date1. Every company files one, even a dormant one, and even when nothing has changed.
It falls due within 14 days of the end of each review period2, and a review period runs for 12 months. It is not the accounts, and it says nothing about whether the company can pay. Missing it is an offence by the company3.
Cost: FreeTime: 5 minutes
Step 2: Look for a strike-off notice
Before any notice, the registrar writes to the company, waits 14 days, writes again and waits 14 more4. Only then may it publish a notice. Search the company's name in the Gazette's notices9.
A copy of the notice also goes on the company's public record5. To hear of it fast, follow the company on Companies House for free email alerts.
Cost: FreeTime: 10 minutes
Step 3: Ask once for a payment date
Email the letter below to the person who approves payments. It says what you have seen, asks for payment by a date, and leaves room for a reply.
Cost: FreeTime: Same day
Step 4: If a notice appears, object before the date
The notice gives the strike-off date. Companies House asks for objections 2 weeks before it5, so diary that day. Online, any day before the date still counts; email or post must arrive by then6.
Send invoices showing the debt, each under 6 months old6. For an older invoice, add a statement of account dated this week; GOV.UK does not say if that is enough. Objections go online only from 1 December 20267.
Cost: No fee listedTime: Before the date

A letter you can copy

Email asking for a payment date

Send it once, when you see the overdue status, unless a letter before action has already gone. If its date has passed, set no new date: start the claim.

New email

SubjectInvoice : date for payment

Dear , Invoice , dated , for , was due on . It has not been paid. While checking the invoice, I saw that your company's confirmation statement is shown as overdue on the public register at Companies House. I would like to be sure the invoice is not caught up in that. Please pay the full amount by to: If that date is not possible, could you tell me the date payment will be made? If you believe any of this is wrong, please tell me before then and say why. Kind regards,

Tap a highlighted gap to see what goes in it.

Send it by email so it is dated, and keep a copy with the invoice. If a Gazette notice appears later, do not send a second letter. Use the objection route in step 4.

When not to bother

When it isn't worth it

It is a few days overdue and they pay on time. Filing costs the company £50 online8, and the registrar writes twice before any notice, so watch the page and keep chasing the invoice as normal.
The company is struck off and the debt is small. Restoring it needs a court order5, which can cost more than the debt. Put the time into your next invoice.
The company is already in liquidation or administration. Then you prove your debt to the person running it, and the strike-off route on this page does not apply.
Your customer is a sole trader. A sole trader is not a company, so there is no statement to check.
The company is Scottish or Northern Irish. It files its statement the same way, but the courts you would use to restore it differ, so ask a solicitor in that country.

The Wolf's note

Overdue is a filing status. The clock that matters starts when a Gazette notice appears, and it runs to the date inside the notice. Ask once for a payment date, then keep an eye on the Gazette.

Mr. Wolf · the AI inside WolfX

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