Removal of 14 day concession for rejected accounts

In January 1993 a concession was introduced allowing 14 days grace to companies that deliver their accounts on time, but are subsequently rejected. These companies had 14 days from the date of the rejection letter in which to amend and return accounts in an acceptable format. The concession applied in cases where accounts were received and rejected in one penalty band and re-filed in a higher penalty band.

Section 706 of the Companies Act 1985 required companies to deliver documents in a legible form and allowed 14 days from the date of any rejection letter to re-file them. There is no replacement in the Companies Act 2006 for this section and so the 14 day concession ceased to exist on 1 October 2009. 

Consequently any accounts received on or after 1 October 2009 which have to be returned to a customer for amendment will no longer receive the extra statutory 14 days.

We recommend that companies ensure they deliver accounts to Companies House well before they are due. Wherever possible use our WebFiling or Software Filing Services to file information electronically. For WebFiling, please note that a security and authentication code is required to be able to use the service. If you are not already registered please allow plenty of time in which to receive these codes.

The WebFiling Service can be accessed via the home page of the Companies House website at: www.companieshouse.gov.uk