What counts as a charge

Any security the company gives over its property or business: a legal mortgage over land, a fixed charge over equipment or intellectual property, a floating charge over stock and book debts, or a debenture combining them1,3. The register shows lenders and anyone dealing with the company what is already secured.

A few charges are excluded, including a landlord’s charge over a cash deposit given for a lease of land3. A personal guarantee from a director isn’t a charge on the company’s property at all.

The 21 days

Count 21 days starting the day after the charge is created3,1:

Lenders often register the charge themselves, because their security depends on it, but the company can file too1. Agree with the lender who is filing, so it doesn’t fall between the two.

The certified copy

If the charge was made by a document (a mortgage deed, a debenture), a certified copy of the whole document must go with the filing3,1. Everything you send becomes public, so before you certify it you may black out1:

  • personal information about an individual, except their name;
  • the number or identifier of a bank or securities account; and
  • signatures, including signature certificates.

Send the details, the certified copy and the fee together.

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.

If you miss the 21 days

A charge that should have been registered and wasn’t is void against a liquidator, an administrator and the company’s creditors, and the money it secured “immediately becomes payable”5. The obligation to repay is unaffected5, but the lender is left unsecured in an insolvency.

Only a court can extend the time. It can do so if the failure was accidental or due to inadvertence or some other sufficient cause, if it doesn’t prejudice creditors or shareholders, or if it is otherwise just and equitable4. That means a court application, so it is far cheaper to file on time.

When the loan changes later

When the company buys property that already has a charge on it, that’s a different registration with no 21-day limit: see buying property that already has a charge. When the loan is repaid, read clearing a charge from the register. If the lender releases some property while the loan continues, read releasing property from a charge.

Filing the charge

Fileyear’s charge registration works out your 21-day deadline, takes the charge details and the certified copy you upload, and files form MR01, paying Companies House’s online fee for you from what you pay at checkout.