Registration of charges

New regulations come into effect on 6 April 2013 making various changes to the scheme for registering charges with Companies House.

The current position is that the Companies Act lists the types of charges that are registerable, whereas the new regime will provide that all charges are registerable other than certain specific categories of charge, the most notable of which is a rent deposit deed. In practice, apart from rent deposit deeds no longer being registered, the new provisions are unlikely to have much impact on what charges are registered or not: the consequences of failing to register are so draconian (the charge is void against a liquidator) that a ‘safety first’ attitude will still prevail in terms of deciding whether or not to register.

There are some procedural changes being brought in as well, the most important of which is the introduction of an electronic filing facility. Companies will be able to file charges against their own company using their existing company authentication code. A lender will also be able to file charges electronically and any lenders who wish to be able to do so should visit the Companies House website to apply for a lender authentication code.

In addition, from 6 April 2013, Companies House will no longer accept the original instrument. A certified copy of the instrument will have to be filed with the application to register a charge and any originals submitted will no longer be returned.

Once registered a copy of the instrument will be placed on the public record and will be capable of being downloaded.

It will be possible to redact any personal information from the filed instrument such as:

personal information relating to an individual (other than the name of an individual);
the number or other identifier of a bank or a securities account of a company or an individual; or
a signature.

If you would like any further information about these changes please do get in touch, by emailing david.kinch@edwincoe.com.

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