The impact of coronavirus is being felt by everyone and there are various measures being put in place to assist businesses (and Companies House) to deal with the disruption. The following updates from Companies House should be considered by businesses:

• Companies will be given an additional 3 months to file accounts with Companies House to help businesses avoid penalties as they deal with the impact of Coronavirus. This includes accounts, reports and confirmation statements.
• Although companies will have to apply for the 3-month extension to be granted, those citing issues around Coronavirus will be automatically and immediately be granted an extension. See more information on how to extend your accounts deadline here.
• A company must apply for an extension before their filing deadline – if a company does not apply for an extension and their accounts have been filed late, an automatic penalty will be imposed. Companies House has very limited discretion not to collect a penalty although will consider appeals on a case by case basis in light of the disruption caused by Coronavirus (such as sickness).
• Companies House has closed its contact centre and is no longer taking enquiries via telephone – all enquiries must be sent to the following central email address – enquiries@companieshouse.gov.uk;
• Companies House offices have closed their doors to the public. Documents can be delivered to the Belfast office, by dropping them to reception of the The Linenhall (between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday), but it is no longer possible to get a receipt or proof of delivery.
• Companies House have suspended all our same day services until further notice.

Up-to-date information in relation to Companies House is available on the government website here. If you have any concerns or queries arising from the above, please do not hesitate to get in touch with Paul O’Brien paul.obrien@tughans.com or your usual Tughans contact who will refer you.

While great care has been taken in the preparation of the content of this article, it does not purport to be a comprehensive statement of the relevant law and full professional advice should be taken before any action is taken in reliance on any item covered.