Companies House

Delivery of Documents to Companies House

Please Note: Companies House does not accept any statutory documents by fax, PDF (except for electronically filed certified copies of charge instruments) or by email.

* All fees must be made payable to 'Companies House'

Companies must ensure that their accounts are delivered to Companies House by the filing deadline. If accounts are filed late, Companies House will levy a late filing penalty.

We will levy a penalty if:

• Accounts are filed late.
• Accounts are sent before the filing deadline but do not reach Companies House by the deadline.

The Registrar of Companies cannot accept delays in transit as a reason to waive a penalty. We want to make sure that customers are aware of their responsibility to file on time and have the information they need to do so. Anyone filing documents at Companies House should:

• Ensure they understand their legal responsibilities.
• Be aware that postal and other delivery services may be subject to loss or delay. Royal Mail's own published figures (April - December 2004) on delivery performance show that as much as 9% of first class mail may not be delivered by the next working day after posting.
• Be aware, particularly, of any industrial disputes or other factors, which may make it difficult for a carrier to meet their advertised standards of service.
• Select a reliable delivery service, using a guaranteed delivery service where time is an important factor.
• Ask us to acknowledge receipt of documents, providing a stamped addressed envelope and a copy of your covering letter. Please note, this only confirms that we have received the document, not that we have examined and registered it.
• Check their own company record regularly to ensure details held at Companies House are up to date.
• Send documents for English and Welsh companies to the Registrar in Cardiff and for Scottish companies to the Registrar in Edinburgh.
• Send documents for Northern Ireland companies to the Registrar in Belfast.

Outside working hours customers delivering documents to Companies House in London and Edinburgh are required to put them through the letterbox. The only office that is manned during the evening and on the weekend is our Cardiff office.

Customers delivering documents to Companies House Cardiff can actually hand deliver documents outside office hours and expect to receive a receipt.

Guidance on the legal responsibilities of company directors, the due dates for filing accounts and the delivery of documents to the Registrar of Companies can be found under 'Guidance Booklets'.

Alternatively telephone the Companies House Contact Centre on: +44 (0)303 1234 500.

Companies House has offices at:

Cardiff

Companies House
Crown Way
Cardiff
CF14 3UZ

Edinburgh

Companies House
Fourth Floor
Edinburgh Quay 2
139 Fountainbridge
Edinburgh EH3 9FF
or
LP - 4 Edinburgh 2 (Legal Post)
or
DX ED235 Edinburgh 1

London

Companies House
4 Abbey Orchard Street
Westminster
London
SW1P 2HT

Belfast

No external mailbox for out of hours delivery in Northern Ireland