11 Aug 2020
Companies House to resume the compulsory strike off process
Companies House has announce plans resume the process to strike off companies it believes are no longer carrying on business or in operation.
In April 2020, the body introduced temporary easement measures in response to coronavirus (COVID-19) and have reviewed these each month.
Following its latest review, the temporary measure to suspend compulsory strike off action will be lifted from 10 October 2020.
From this date, it will resume the process to remove a company from the register if there’s reasonable cause to believe it’s no longer carrying on business or in operation.
For example, if:
- company documents are outstanding, and we’ve had no response to our letters
- letters sent by Companies House are returned undelivered
- the company has no directors
Companies that do not file their annual accounts or confirmation statement will normally receive two letters from Companies House. A notice is then published in the Gazette to tell the public that the registrar intends to strike off the company.
When compulsory strike off action resumes from 10 October - if there are no objections to dissolution and the two month period from the publication of the Gazette notice has expired, your company will be struck off shortly afterwards.
If your company is in default and you want it to remain on the register
You must file your outstanding documents or contact Companies House urgently.
Otherwise, it will resume the process to remove your company from the register on 10 October 2020.
Directors can contact Companies House on 0303 1234 500
Objections to strike off
Any person with an interest in a company which is nearing strike off should register an objection to dissolution at Companies House.
If you’ve already registered an objection, but the time period for that objection is due to expire - you’ll need to register your objection again if it’s still required.
When Companies House receives an objection to strike off, it will respond to advise whether the objection has been accepted or rejected. Every response will give a deadline and if it receives no further evidence that action is progressing by that date, it will resume the process to remove the company from the register.
It’s important to send any objection to Companies House as early as possible after publication of the Gazette notice and at least two weeks before the notice expiry date.
Applications for voluntary strike off (DS01)
Companies House has also confirmed that the voluntary strike off process will restart from 10 September 2020.
Help for businesses
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