The Confirmation Statement deadline: when it's due, and what happens if it's late

Every company and LLP on the register must file a Confirmation Statement at least once a year. It replaced the Annual Return in 2016 and confirms that the information Companies House holds — registered office, directors, shareholders, SIC codes, people with significant control — is still correct. It is a small filing with an outsized consequence when it slips.

When is the Confirmation Statement due?

The deadline is driven by the review period, not by a fixed calendar date:

• The first review period starts on the date of incorporation and runs for 12 months.
• Each subsequent review period starts the day after the last one ended.
• The statement must be filed within 14 days of the end of the review period.

So a company incorporated on 10 March 2025 has a review period ending 9 March 2026, and a Confirmation Statement deadline of 23 March 2026. File early and the next review period simply resets from the new statement date.

A common misconception: the Confirmation Statement is not tied to the accounting year-end. A client can have accounts due in December and a Confirmation Statement due in March. Tracking them as one date is a frequent source of missed filings.

What does "confirmation statement overdue" mean?

A statement is overdue once the 14-day filing window after the review period has closed without a filing. The company's public record at Companies House shows when its next statement was due, so anyone who checks the company — a lender, a supplier, a customer — can see that date has passed.

Is there a penalty for a late confirmation statement?

Yes, there can be. Since 2 May 2024, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act has let Companies House issue financial penalties for filing offences, including not filing a confirmation statement. GOV.UK says a company can be fined up to £5,000 for not filing it, and the registrar can also move to strike the company off.

• Companies House issues a penalty notice first. If the statement is filed within 28 days of the penalty notice date, no penalty is charged.
• Its published penalty table starts at £250 for a first minor offence and rises with the seriousness of the offence and with repeat offences in the last five years.
• A new penalty can be charged for each day the statement stays unfiled.
• Committing the same serious offence three times in five years can lead to prosecution.

This works differently from late accounts, which carry an automatic penalty of £150 to £1,500 for a private company depending on how late they are. A late confirmation statement is dealt with through a penalty notice, and strike-off is the bigger risk.

What to do if a client's statement is already late

• File it now. A statement can still be filed after the deadline, and filing within 28 days of a penalty notice avoids the penalty.
• Check that every director has verified their identity first (see below), or the filing will stall.
• Record the date it was made up to, so the next review period starts from the right day.
• If a penalty has already been issued, read the notice: it explains how to appeal and the time limit for doing so.

Identity verification now runs through the confirmation statement

Since 18 November 2025, directors must verify their identity with Companies House. For existing directors the checkpoint is the company's next confirmation statement: GOV.UK says a current director needs to provide their personal code in that filing. People with significant control have their own 14-day window to provide theirs.

In practice this turns every confirmation statement due over the coming year into an identity check. The statement needs each director's personal code, so one unverified director holds up the whole filing — and a statement held up past its deadline is still a late statement.

Tracking review periods across a portfolio

The difficulty for a practice is that every client has a different review period anchored to a different incorporation date. With 60 clients, that's 60 independent 14-day windows scattered across the year, none of which line up with the accounts cycle you're already watching.

• Record each company's incorporation date and last statement date once.
• Derive the next review-period end and add 14 days for the filing deadline.
• Set reminders well before the 14-day window opens — not on the day it closes — so there is time to chase directors for their personal codes.
• Mark the filing as submitted, with the date, so the next period resets cleanly.

FilingKeeper does this automatically: add a company and its Confirmation Statement deadline appears in the same view as its accounts, VAT and Corporation Tax dates, each reminded independently. Nothing depends on one person remembering which anniversary falls this month.

Sources: GOV.UK, "Running a limited company: confirmation statement", "Companies House approach to financial penalties" and "Verifying your identity for Companies House". This article is general guidance, not legal or tax advice. Confirm each client's obligations against current Companies House guidance.