Pay a penalty to Companies House

If you’ve received a penalty from Companies House you can:

• pay online
• pay by bank transfer or cheque
• appeal a penalty

Pay online

To use this service, you’ll need:

• the information on your penalty notice (this was sent to you in the post)
• a credit or debit card

You must pay the full amount.

It takes around 5 minutes to pay. You’ll get a receipt emailed to you after you’ve paid.

You’ll need to sign in to use this service. If you do not already have sign in details, you’ll be able to create them.

If you’ve lost your penalty notice

You can email Companies House with the subject line ‘Lost penalty notice’.

Companies House
enquiries@companieshouse.gov.uk

Appeal a penalty

How you appeal depends on the penalty you’ve received.

If you have a late filing penalty

If your penalty is for filing your accounts late, you can appeal through Companies House. You must prove the circumstances were out of your control, for example a fire destroyed your records a few days before your accounts were due.

If you have any other penalty

You need to make an appeal through the courts.

You have 28 days from when the penalty was issued to make an appeal. If you submit an appeal to the courts, you need to tell Companies House by email or in writing within 7 days of submitting the appeal.

You can get advice about making an appeal through the courts from Advicenow. If you need legal advice, you can find a legal adviser.

Pay by bank transfer or cheque

You’ll need the penalty reference that’s on your penalty notice. It will start with the letter A, P or U.

You can only pay by cheque if you have a penalty for filing your accounts late.