COMPANIES HOUSE ELECTRONIC FILING

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT

The Electronic Filing Service was introduced in 1998 and Electronic Incorporations Service launched in July 2001, as another component in Companies House's response to the central government target on electronic commerce and in response to demand from incorporation agents. The Incorporation Service is directed at those agents who incorporate more than 5 companies per week. More than 90% of all incorporations are now undertaken via this service.

The key responsibilities of the presenters of electronic documents to Companies House are to comply with the requirements set out in the Electronic Filing Technical Interface Specification (TIS).

We aim to process 95% of incorporations and 90% of electronically filed General Documents within 24 hours of receipt (to the point of acceptance or rejection). In addition, we aim to process all Same Day incorporations on the day of receipt provided applications are received by 3pm. Processing of electronic information takes place between 07.30 and 17.00 hours Monday to Friday and there are currently no plans to process during weekend overtime.

The Companies House Contact Centre operates from 08.30 to 18.00 hours Monday to Friday. Outside of these hours, customers can log calls on a telephone answering system or by email. Such calls will be actioned at the start of the next working day.

The telephone number of the contact centre is: 0303 1234 500 and e-mail for incorporations

is: einc@companieshouse.gov.uk  and for general documents:

enquiries@companieshouse.gov.uk  

Companies House aims to answer all routine calls (e.g. rejection issues or requests to reissue messages) immediately. If the calls concern matters, which require investigation/ consultation a response will be provided within 4 hours. If the matter is not resolved a further progress report will be provided in no more than a further 4 hours. These targets relate to the normal working day 07.30 to 17.00 hours Monday to Friday.

Incidents that have, or are likely to have, a major impact on the service, such as service downtime, will be dealt with under Companies House standard procedures for major incidents. Account holders will be provided with a notification by e-mail within 30 minutes of an incident being identified and receive notification when the service is restored.

Requests for maintenance during service hours, which might degrade or interrupt the service, must be authorised by Senior Management. In general such requests are only likely to be authorised where they are necessary to resolve or prevent a major incident.  

Companies House

May 2013