When a company has no PSC: PSC08 and PSC09 statements

When there’s no PSC to register: statements, and withdrawing them

“Your company’s PSC information cannot be blank”¹. If no one meets the tests for a person with significant control, or the company knows there is a PSC but can’t register them yet, it tells Companies House why in a PSC statement^1,2. Once the statement stops being true, because a PSC is now registered or a notice has been answered, it is withdrawn and the register updated. Treat a statement like any other PSC change, which Companies House must hear about within 14 days⁴.

By Fileyear teamLast checked 5 November 20262 min read

When a company has no PSC

A company has no PSC when nobody holds more than 25% of the shares or votes, nobody can appoint or remove a majority of the board, nobody has significant influence or control over it¹, and no relevant legal entity meets those tests either³. Examples:

five unconnected shareholders with 20% each, and no shareholder agreement giving anyone extra control;
a company owned by four people at exactly 25% each: the test is more than 25%.

Check carefully before deciding there is no PSC. Shareholders who act together under an agreement, or someone with a right to appoint most of the board, can still count.

When there is a PSC you can’t register yet

The company must try to identify and contact anyone who could be a PSC, and can send them a notice asking for their details¹. Until it has the information it needs, the company states why the details aren’t there, for example¹:

someone it has sent a notice to hasn’t replied;
a new PSC hasn’t yet confirmed their details;
a PSC hasn’t confirmed changed details.

Not answering a notice within one calendar month is a criminal offence for the person who should have replied¹. If they keep refusing, the company may restrict their shares or voting rights, which Companies House calls a significant step, to consider only after repeated failure to respond¹. Imposing those restrictions is itself a reason for a statement.

Check your company’s dates and set a reminder

Search the Companies House register. Your company page shows its filing dates, what to file next and a reminder you can set.

Withdrawing a statement

A statement only explains a gap for as long as it is true. Withdraw it when:

a PSC is registered: you have their details and file them as a PSC addition;
the person sent a notice replies, or confirms their details;
a restrictions notice is withdrawn.

Leaving an old statement on the register next to a registered PSC makes the register contradict itself, so file the withdrawal at the same time as the new PSC.

Where statements show

PSC statements appear on the company’s page on the public register under “People with significant control”, alongside any PSCs. The confirmation statement also asks you to confirm the company’s PSC information each year: see what the confirmation statement confirms.

Filing a statement

Fileyear’s PSC statement filing lets you choose the statement that applies and files form PSC08, or picks an existing statement from the register and withdraws it with form PSC09.