Finding the Companies House contact number is rarely as straightforward as it should be. The official number is 0303 1234 500, available Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 6pm. But for most SME owners, the real question is what you actually need from Companies House — and whether a phone call is the fastest way to get it.
This article covers the Companies House contact number, what it handles, what it does not, and how SMEs can deal with the most common filing and registration issues without spending an hour on hold.
Companies House Contact Number: The Official Details
The Companies House contact number is 0303 1234 500. This is the main enquiries line, operated by Companies House in Cardiff. It handles queries about company registration, filing history, confirmation statements, annual accounts, and director changes.
For Welsh-language enquiries, the dedicated line is 029 2038 0065. If you need to contact Companies House by post, the registered address is Companies House, Crown Way, Cardiff, CF14 3UZ. Email contact is available through their WebFiling support at companieshouse@ch.gov.uk, though response times vary and the phone line tends to be faster for urgent queries.
It is worth noting that the 0303 prefix means the call is charged at the same rate as a local 01 or 02 number, so it counts against inclusive minutes on most mobile and landline plans.
The Companies House contact number does not handle HMRC queries. A significant number of calls to Companies House are misdirected — people trying to report tax issues, VAT registration problems, or self-assessment queries. Those go to HMRC on 0300 200 3300, which is a different organisation entirely.
What the Companies House Number Actually Handles
Before you call, it helps to know what falls within Companies House's remit and what does not. After nine years running a marketing agency, we dealt with this distinction more than once — particularly when clients were confused about their obligations to different government bodies.
Companies House manages the public register of companies incorporated in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The contact number can help with the following:
- Confirmation that a company registration has been processed
- Queries about filing deadlines for annual accounts
- Questions about restoring a dissolved company to the register
- Updating registered office addresses
- Understanding why a document has been rejected
- Requesting certified copies of company documents
What it cannot help with: tax liability, VAT numbers, PAYE, corporation tax, or anything related to the Insolvency Service. If your query touches on money owed to the government, you are dealing with HMRC, not Companies House.
Companies House Contact Options Compared
The phone line is the fastest route for most queries, but it is not always the most efficient. Here is how the main contact methods compare:
| Contact Method | Best For | Typical Response Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone: 0303 1234 500 | Urgent queries, rejections, deadline extensions | Same day | Standard rate |
| Email: companieshouse@ch.gov.uk | Non-urgent filing questions | 5–10 working days | Free |
| WebFiling portal | Submitting documents online | Immediate confirmation | Free |
| Post to Cardiff | Certified copies, paper forms | 10–15 working days | Postage only |
| Live chat (GOV.UK) | Basic queries | Minutes during office hours | Free |
For most filing issues — late accounts, rejected documents, or address changes — the WebFiling portal resolves the problem without any contact at all. The Companies House contact number is best reserved for situations where you need a human to confirm something or explain a rejection reason that the system has not made clear.
Company Registration Numbers and What They Mean
A question that often accompanies the Companies House contact number search is about company registration numbers themselves. If you need to look up a registration number — your own or a supplier's — the Companies House register at beta.companieshouse.gov.uk is publicly accessible and free. You do not need to call.
Your company registration number (CRN) is an eight-digit number assigned at incorporation. For companies registered in England and Wales, it starts with a number. For Scottish companies, it begins with SC. For Northern Ireland, NI. This number is permanent — it does not change if you change your company name, registered address, or directors.
If you have lost your CRN, the quickest way to retrieve it is to search the public register using your company name. You will not need the Companies House contact number for this — the search takes under a minute. For more context on what your company registration number is used for and when you need it, see our guide on Company House Number: What SMEs Actually Need.
Annual Accounts, Confirmation Statements, and Filing Deadlines
The majority of calls to the Companies House contact number from SMEs relate to filing deadlines and what happens when you miss them. This is understandable — the penalties are real, and the system does not always communicate clearly when something has gone wrong.
Private limited companies must file annual accounts within nine months of their accounting reference date. Confirmation statements must be filed at least once every 12 months. Missing these deadlines results in automatic penalties: £150 for accounts filed up to one month late, rising to £1,500 for accounts more than six months late.
Companies House does not grant informal extensions. The only way to get more time is to apply formally before the deadline passes — either through WebFiling or by calling the Companies House contact number to discuss your circumstances. Applying after the deadline has passed will not remove the penalty, though Companies House does have an appeals process for cases involving genuine administrative error.
If you are a sole trader rather than a limited company, you do not have Companies House obligations at all. Your filing responsibilities go to HMRC via Self Assessment. This is another common source of confusion when people search for the Companies House contact number.
What Changes in 2026 for Companies House Filings
From 2026, Companies House is continuing to roll out the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act reforms. These include identity verification requirements for company directors and persons with significant control (PSCs). Directors of new and existing companies will need to verify their identity either directly with Companies House or through an authorised agent such as a solicitor or accountant.
This means the volume of queries to the Companies House contact number is likely to increase as businesses work through the new verification process. If you anticipate needing to call, earlier in the day tends to mean shorter wait times — the lines are typically busiest between 10am and 2pm.
For SMEs managing multiple compliance obligations alongside their day-to-day operations, administrative tasks like these sit alongside marketing responsibilities that also require consistent attention. Understanding what tools exist to handle both is increasingly important.
When Companies House Queries Affect Your Google Ads
This might seem like an unlikely connection, but there is one. Google requires verified business information for certain ad formats — particularly for local service ads and Google Business Profile verification. If your registered company name or address at Companies House does not match what you have entered into Google's systems, verification can fail.
We saw this with some regularity during our agency years. A business would change its registered address, update Companies House, but forget to update Google Business Profile. The discrepancy would trigger a verification hold on their ads, and they would spend days trying to work out why their campaigns had stopped spending.
The fix is straightforward: keep your Companies House record and your Google advertising records consistent. If you are managing Google Ads alongside compliance tasks, having visibility into both is genuinely useful. For SMEs who want their Google Ads managed without having to monitor every setting manually, Overtime's AI agent logs into Google Ads accounts directly, adjusts bids, pauses underperforming keywords, reallocates budget across campaigns, and sends plain-English summaries — so compliance-related disruptions get caught quickly rather than quietly draining spend.
For a broader view of what Google Ads actually costs SMEs in the UK, the guide on Ad Cost on Google: What SMEs Actually Pay breaks down typical spend ranges by sector.
Common Mistakes SMEs Make With Companies House Administration
Based on experience working with small and medium businesses across a range of sectors, the following mistakes come up consistently.
First, confusing the Companies House contact number with HMRC. The two organisations are separate, and calling the wrong one wastes time on both ends. HMRC handles tax; Companies House handles the company register.
Second, waiting until after a deadline to call. Companies House can do very little once a deadline has passed. The time to call is before the deadline, not after the penalty letter arrives.
Third, assuming that because a filing has been submitted it has been accepted. Submissions can be rejected, and the notification can end up in a spam folder. Check WebFiling regularly rather than assuming acceptance. If a filing has been rejected, the Companies House contact number can clarify the specific reason.
Fourth, not keeping contact details updated on the register. If Companies House cannot reach you at the registered address or email, penalty notices and reminder letters will not reach you either. This is an easily avoided problem.
Managing these administrative obligations well frees up attention for the parts of the business that drive revenue. For SMEs actively running Google Ads, that means campaigns that are properly monitored and adjusted. Reviewing how Google Pay-per-click management works for SMEs is a useful complement to getting your compliance administration in order.
If you want to understand the broader landscape of advertising options available to your business, Best Way to Advertise Your Business in 2026 covers the current options with practical context for SME budgets.
For SMEs comparing their options on the advertising management side, the pricing overview at Overtime sets out clearly what the AI agent costs and what it handles, without the overhead of a traditional agency retainer.
Before You Call the Companies House Contact Number
The single most useful thing to do before dialling the Companies House contact number is to check the WebFiling portal and the GOV.UK guidance pages. The majority of common queries — filing deadlines, what documents are required, how to change a director — are answered there without any wait time.
If you do need to call, have your company registration number ready. This is the first thing the team will ask for, and not having it to hand extends the call unnecessarily. If your query relates to a rejected filing, have the rejection reference number available as well.
For queries about identity verification under the 2026 reforms, Companies House has published detailed guidance on GOV.UK. The contact number is available for questions that the written guidance does not resolve, but it is not the first place to look.
For SMEs running Google Ads while managing all of this, Overtime handles the ongoing campaign management so that business owners are not context-switching between filing deadlines and bid adjustments at the same time.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Companies House contact number?
The Companies House contact number is 0303 1234 500. It operates Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 6pm, and is charged at standard local rates. Welsh-language enquiries can be directed to 029 2038 0065.
What does Companies House handle that HMRC does not?
Companies House maintains the public register of UK limited companies, including incorporation, filing of annual accounts, confirmation statements, and director information. HMRC handles tax, VAT, PAYE, and corporation tax — these are separate government departments with separate contact numbers.
How can I find a company registration number without calling?
The public Companies House register at find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk is free to search and requires no account. Searching by company name returns the registration number, registered address, and filing history immediately.
Should I call before or after a filing deadline if I am struggling to submit?
Call before. Once a deadline has passed, Companies House has limited scope to waive penalties. Calling the Companies House contact number before the deadline to explain circumstances gives you the best chance of agreeing a formal extension through the proper process.
Do sole traders need to contact Companies House?
No. Sole traders are not incorporated as limited companies and have no Companies House obligations. Their reporting responsibilities go to HMRC via Self Assessment. The Companies House contact number is only relevant to limited companies, limited liability partnerships, and similar incorporated entities.