Companies House has temporarily paused voluntary and compulsory strike off processes for one month from 21 January until 21 February 2021.
Companies House is closely following the government’s COVID-secure guidance and has reduced the number of staff in their offices. This has led to delays in processing correspondence, documents and forms.
They have temporarily paused strike off processes so that companies are not adversely affected by these delays.
The first Gazette notices for voluntary strike off applications will continue to be published to minimise the impact on those who have applied to close their company – but Companies House will not be publishing the second Gazette notice and striking companies off during this period. For companies on the compulsory strike off path, they will not be publishing the first and second Gazette notices.
Pausing strike off processes is expected to provide companies with more time to update their records and help them avoid being struck off the register. It’ll also protect creditors and other interested parties who might have had difficulties in receiving notices or registering an objection, or whose objections have not yet been processed.
Companies House will continue to remind customers about their filing responsibilities during this period. Their digital services are available as normal, and all customers are encouraged to file online if they are able to.
The existing automatic 3-month extensions granted by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act will expire for accounts filing deadlines that end on or before 5 April 2021. For filing deadlines that fall after 5 April, companies will be able to apply for a 3-month extension. Companies that have already had their accounts deadline extended may not be eligible, as the law only allows a maximum filing period of 12 months. Companies that are eligible and cite issues around COVID-19 in their application will receive an automatic extension.
You can find your filing deadlines on your company overview page on Companies House service.
Companies House will conduct a review before the end of the one month period.
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