You expect the confirmation statement to be a five-minute box-ticking exercise: log in, hit confirm, done for another year. What actually happens in 2026 is a little less forgiving. Companies House now checks whether every director and person with significant control on your company has verified their identity before it will even accept the filing, and one outdated detail or missing personal code can get the whole thing rejected.
That matters because this is not an optional filing you can quietly skip. Every UK limited company and LLP, whether it is trading, dormant, or barely active, has to submit a confirmation statement at least once every 12 months, and not filing it is a criminal offence rather than something that racks up a late fee. New rules brought in under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act have reshaped what the form asks for, how much it costs to file, and who is allowed to submit it on your behalf. Here is what you need to know before your next filing comes due.
KeyTakeaways
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A confirmation statement is an annual check that Companies House still holds accurate information about your company, and it has nothing to do with your accounts or tax return.
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Every UK limited company and LLP must file one at least once every 12 months, even if the company is dormant or nothing has changed since the last filing.
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Your filing deadline is 14 days after the end of your 12-month review period, which is not automatically the same date as your incorporation anniversary.
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Directors and people with significant control now need a verified identity and a personal code before Companies House will accept a confirmation statement.
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The online filing fee rose to £50 and the paper filing fee to £110 as of February 1, 2026
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Failing to file is treated as a criminal offence and can lead to compliance notices or the company being struck off the register.
What is a Confirmation Statement?
Yes, if your business is a UK limited company or LLP, you need to file one, regardless of size, turnover, or whether the company traded at all that year. A confirmation statement, submitted on form CS01, is essentially a snapshot confirming that Companies House still holds accurate details about your company on the public register. It does not report profit, loss, or tax owed, since that is what your annual accounts and corporation tax return are for. Instead, it checks and, where necessary, updates information such as your registered office address, directors, shareholders, people with significant control, and the nature of your business.
The confirmation statement replaced the old annual return in 2016, and the core idea has not changed since. You are not adding new information from scratch every year. You are confirming that what is already on file is still correct, or flagging what needs to change.
When exactly do I need to file my confirmation statement? Your confirmation statement is due within 14 days of the end of your 12-month review period. That review period starts on your date of incorporation or the day after your last confirmation statement was filed. Picture a company incorporated on June 1, 2025. Its first review period runs from June 1, 2025 through May 31, 2026, which means the filing deadline lands on June 14, 2026.
What Information does Companies House ask you to Confirm?
Companies House wants you to confirm that a specific set of details on the public register is still accurate, covering your registered office address, your directors and their service addresses, your company secretary if you have one, your statement of capital and shareholder information, your people with significant control, your SIC codes describing what your business does, and your registered email address.
Since the newer transparency rules took effect, companies have also had to confirm a statement that their intended future activities are lawful and, in some cases, provide a full list of shareholders rather than only reporting changes. If any of these details have changed since your last filing and you have not already updated them separately, the confirmation statement is where you correct the record. If nothing has changed, you are simply confirming the status quo, which is still a legal requirement even when it feels like paperwork for its own sake.
File a Confirmation Statement (CS01) with Companies House
The fastest way to file is online through the Companies House filing service, and for most straightforward companies the whole process takes well under half an hour. You will need your company number, your Companies House authentication code (a six-character code originally posted to your registered office and can be requested again if you have lost it), and, since the identity verification rules came in, a verified personal code for every director and person with significant control.
Once you are logged in, the system pulls up the information currently on file; you review each section, correct anything that is out of date, and confirm the rest.
If you would rather file on paper, that option still exists, but it costs more, takes longer to process, and does not let you make the same real-time corrections that the online service does. Most accountants and company formation agents can also file on your behalf. However, under the newer rules they generally need to be registered with Companies House as an authorised filer before they can submit on your company’s behalf.
What is Identity Verification Requirement?
Identity verification is a new legal requirement under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act that requires every director and person with significant control to prove they are who they claim to be before Companies House will accept certain filings, including confirmation statements. It became compulsory for new appointments starting November 18, 2025. If you were already a director before that date, you need to complete verification by the time your company’s next confirmation statement is due.
Once verified, you receive a unique personal code that has to be quoted on the filing. The transition window for existing directors closes in November 2026, so if you have not verified yet and your next confirmation statement is coming up, this is not something to leave until the last week. You can complete verification through the government’s identity verification service or through an authorised corporate service provider. If you hold directorships in more than one company, you only need to go through the process once.
What happens if I File Late?
Failing to file a confirmation statement is a criminal offence, not a paperwork slip that quietly disappears, and both the company and its directors can be prosecuted for it. In practice, Companies House will usually send reminders first. Still, once your filing is genuinely overdue, your company shows as non-compliant on the public register, which is visible to anyone running a search on your business, including lenders, suppliers, and potential clients doing due diligence.
There is no automatic late filing penalty fee for a confirmation statement the way there is for late accounts, but that does not make it a lower-stakes filing. It is arguably a higher-stakes one, because the consequence is not a fine; it is the company’s legal standing.
How much does a Confirmation Statement Cost in 2026?
Yes, fees increased on February 1, 2026. Filing online now costs £50, up from £34, and filing on paper now costs £110, up from £62. You only pay this fee once per 12-month payment period, even if you end up filing more than one confirmation statement in that time because you chose to file early after a change.
The fee increase was part of a broader set of changes Companies House introduced to help fund the additional identity checking and register verification work brought in by the newer transparency rules.
Can my Accountant File it for me?
Yes, and for most businesses that is the simplest option, since your accountant can review what is on file, catch outdated details before they cause a rejection, and handle the actual submission. Just check that whoever is filing on your behalf is registered with Companies House as an authorised corporate service provider, since that registration is now a requirement for agents and formation companies filing on a client’s behalf. It is being phased in through 2026. authorised
If you handle your own filing, that registration requirement does not apply to you directly. However, you will still need every director’s personal code from the identity verification process before the system will let the filing through.
What Changed for Confirmation Statements in 2026?
Here is a quick side-by-side summary of the requirements that shifted, and what changed.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, these are two completely separate filings with separate deadlines and separate purposes. Your annual accounts report your company’s financial performance and go to Companies House on their own schedule, tied to your company’s financial year end. Your confirmation statement does not touch your finances at all. It simply confirms that the non-financial details Companies House holds about your company, such as directors and registered office, are still accurate. Missing one does not excuse missing the other, and the penalties for late accounts are separate from the consequences of a late confirmation statement.
Yes, dormancy does not affect this obligation. A dormant company still exists as a legal entity on the Companies House register, so it still needs to confirm that its registered details are accurate every 12 months, exactly like an actively trading company. The only filing dormancy affects is your accounts, where a dormant company can usually file a simplified version. The confirmation statement is unaffected.
Yes, nothing is stopping you from filing early, and some companies do this on purpose after a major change such as new shareholders or a change of registered office, so the public record catches up sooner. Filing early resets your 12-month review period from that new filing date. The one thing to know is that you are only charged the filing fee once per 12-month payment period, so filing more than once in that period does not mean paying twice.
You still need to file. The confirmation statement exists specifically to cover this scenario, since it lets you confirm that everything on record remains accurate without having to submit new information. Skipping it because nothing changed is one of the most common reasons companies end up overdue, since directors assume no news means no filing is needed. It does not work that way. The filing itself, even a simple confirmation of no change, is the legal requirement.
