You applied to strike off your limited company.
The application went through, the proposed strike-off was advertised and then Companies House recorded:
“Voluntary strike-off action has been suspended.”
What did you do next?
For a surprising number of directors, the answer is: nothing.
At DCA Business Recovery, we are increasingly speaking to directors who applied to strike off their company months or even years ago, had the strike-off suspended following an objection and then simply left the company sitting on the Companies House register.
Sometimes they assumed Companies House would eventually remove it.
Sometimes they did not understand what the suspension meant.
Others knew there had been an objection but did not know what they were supposed to do about it.
The important point is:
If your strike-off has been suspended, your company has not been dissolved.
It still legally exists.
If you have recently discovered an objection, you can also read our guide on what to do when a strike-off application has been objected to.
What does “voluntary strike-off action has been suspended” mean?
When the directors of a company apply for voluntary strike-off using form DS01, Companies House publishes notice of the proposed strike-off in The Gazette.
The company is not dissolved at this stage.
GOV.UK confirms that, where nobody objects, the company will normally be struck off after the period stated in the Gazette notice. A second Gazette notice is then published confirming the dissolution. It is only at that point that the company ceases to legally exist.
You can read the official Companies House guidance on applying to strike off a limited company.
If an interested party objects before dissolution, Companies House can suspend the proposed strike-off.
That may be exactly what has happened to your company.
How long is a strike-off suspended for?
Where Companies House accepts an objection, GOV.UK currently states that the company will not be struck off for another six months.
The person or organisation that objected can contact Companies House before that period expires and request more time.
However, Companies House can require evidence that they are actually taking steps to resolve the matter. For example, a creditor who has begun legal action to recover a debt may be able to demonstrate that further time is justified.
If no further objection is made before the deadline, and the company still meets the conditions for strike-off, Companies House states that it will then be struck off.
See the official Companies House guidance on what happens after an objection.
This means that a suspended strike-off does not necessarily mean you have to submit another DS01 application.
But it also does not mean you can safely assume the company will eventually disappear.
“I applied for strike-off years ago”
This is the situation we are seeing more often.
Imagine this:
You stopped trading in 2022.
You submitted a DS01 application.
A creditor objected.
Companies House suspended the strike-off.
You assumed there was nothing else you could do and forgot about the company.
You then check Companies House in 2026 and discover:
the company is still active.
In the meantime there may now be:
- several years of overdue accounts;
- overdue confirmation statements;
- Companies House penalties;
- unresolved HMRC liabilities;
- outstanding creditor balances; and
- a company that you believed had closed but legally never did.
That is why leaving a company indefinitely after a suspended strike-off can create further problems.
Applying for strike-off is not the same as closing the company
This distinction is crucial.
A DS01 is an application asking Companies House to remove the company from the register.
Submitting it does not dissolve the company.
Even publication of the first Gazette notice does not dissolve the company.
GOV.UK confirms that the company ceases to legally exist when the final notice confirming the strike-off is published.
Until then, the company remains registered.
So if you look at your Companies House filing history and the last relevant entry says:
“Voluntary strike-off action has been suspended”
with no later entry confirming dissolution, you should not assume the company has closed.
Why would someone object to the strike-off?
One of the most common reasons is that the company owes money.
A creditor may not want the company removed from the register while their debt remains unresolved.
This might include:
- HMRC;
- a supplier;
- a lender;
- a landlord;
- a former employee;
- a customer;
- another company; or
- another party with an outstanding claim.
HMRC objections are particularly common where there are outstanding VAT, PAYE, Corporation Tax liabilities or unresolved tax matters.
If HMRC appears to be the issue, see our guide to HMRC debt advice for limited company directors.
An objection does not necessarily mean the company has to go into liquidation.
But it does mean you need to understand why the objection was made before deciding what to do next.
How do you find out who objected?
Start with the company’s filing history on Companies House.
You will normally be able to see the sequence of events, such as:
Application to strike the company off → First Gazette notice → Voluntary strike-off action suspended.
The public filing history may not tell you exactly who made the objection.
You can contact Companies House and ask what information they are able to give you regarding the suspension.
If you believe HMRC may have objected, you can also check whether there are outstanding tax returns, liabilities or other unresolved matters.
Once you know why the application was stopped, you are in a much better position to decide what happens next.
What happens if you just leave the company there?
Technically, doing nothing is an option.
But it is important to understand the consequences.
If the company remains on the register, it continues to exist.
That means certain company obligations can also continue.
For example, private limited companies generally remain required to prepare and file statutory accounts with Companies House. GOV.UK confirms that statutory accounts must be sent to Companies House.
See the official guidance on annual accounts for private limited companies.
Being dormant or no longer trading is not the same as being dissolved.
So simply stopping trading and ignoring the company does not necessarily bring the matter to an end.
The creditor has not disappeared either
If the strike-off was suspended because the company owes money, the liability does not disappear simply because the company stopped trading.
A creditor may continue pursuing the company.
Depending on the circumstances, that could include:
- correspondence and payment demands;
- court proceedings;
- obtaining a County Court Judgment;
- enforcement action; or
- ultimately seeking to wind the company up.
If creditor action has already escalated, our business debt advice for company directors explains some of the options that may be available.
The key point is that leaving the company on Companies House does not prevent a creditor taking further action.
Could a creditor wind the company up?
Potentially, yes.
A creditor can, where the legal requirements are met, seek to have a company wound up through the courts.
Whether they actually choose to do that is a different question.
If the company has no assets and no prospect of making a meaningful payment, a creditor may decide that incurring further legal costs is not commercially worthwhile.
But that decision belongs to the creditor.
A director should not assume that because nothing has happened for a year or two, nothing ever will.
If matters do escalate to a winding-up petition, we have a separate guide explaining whether a company can still enter voluntary liquidation after a winding-up petition.
Will Companies House eventually strike the company off anyway?
Possibly.
Where an objection expires and is not renewed, GOV.UK states that if the company still meets the conditions for strike-off, the company will be struck off.
However, the important words there are:
if the objection is not renewed.
Where the underlying problem still exists, the objector may request that the suspension continues.
This is why relying on Companies House eventually removing the company can leave you in limbo for a very long time.
It is not unusual for a director to assume:
“It has been sitting there for three years, so presumably it will eventually disappear.”
Maybe.
But it may also still be sitting there another year later.
Can you deal with the objection and allow the strike-off to continue?
Sometimes, yes.
That is why the first step should be to identify the issue.
It may be that:
- a relatively small creditor can be paid;
- an outstanding return needs dealing with;
- HMRC needs further information;
- an old dispute can be resolved; or
- the creditor is willing to withdraw or not renew its objection.
Where the issue is resolved, the strike-off may then be able to continue.
But where the company owes significant sums that it simply cannot afford to pay, the position is different.
What if the company owes money it cannot pay?
If the company cannot afford to pay its creditors, you should consider whether it is insolvent.
At that stage, repeatedly hoping that the company will eventually be struck off may not deal with the real problem.
Instead, directors should understand the formal options available.
This does not automatically mean liquidation.
Depending on the circumstances, there may be options involving repayment arrangements, restructuring or other solutions.
Our business debt advice page explains some of the main routes available to company directors.
However, if the company cannot pay its debts and there is no realistic prospect of recovery, one option may be a Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation (CVL).
What is a Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation?
A CVL is a formal insolvency procedure used to bring an insolvent company’s affairs to an orderly conclusion.
A licensed insolvency practitioner is appointed as liquidator.
The liquidator then deals with matters including:
- company assets;
- creditors;
- employees where applicable;
- outstanding company affairs;
- statutory reporting requirements; and
- the eventual closure of the company.
You can read our full guide to Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation.
Importantly, this is very different from voluntary strike-off.
With strike-off, an interested creditor can object to the proposed dissolution and suspend it.
A creditor cannot simply prevent a properly commenced CVL by sending an objection to Companies House.
Creditors do have rights within the liquidation process, including rights regarding the appointment of the liquidator, but they cannot simply keep the company alive indefinitely by objecting to its dissolution.
Does a suspended strike-off mean you need to liquidate?
No.
A suspended strike-off is not, by itself, a reason to put a company into liquidation.
It may turn out that the issue is simple to resolve.
For example, the solution could be:
- paying an outstanding liability;
- dealing with a missing return;
- resolving a dispute;
- communicating with HMRC;
- agreeing matters with a creditor; or
- simply allowing an objection to expire once the issue has been dealt with.
Liquidation becomes relevant where the wider financial position means the company cannot pay its debts and there is no realistic way to resolve matters.
That is why we would always recommend understanding the company’s position first rather than immediately jumping to liquidation.
The real danger is believing the company has already closed
This is the main reason we wanted to write this article.
We are seeing directors who made a strike-off application years ago and believed that was effectively the end of the company.
It wasn’t.
If you applied to strike off your company in 2022, 2023 or even earlier, it is worth checking the Companies House register today.
Look at the current company status.
Then look at the filing history.
If you see:
“Voluntary strike-off action has been suspended”
and there is no subsequent confirmation that the company was dissolved, investigate it.
Do not simply assume the company has gone.
What should you do now?
If you discover that your old strike-off application was suspended, start with three questions.
1. Is the company still active?
Check Companies House.
2. Why was the strike-off suspended?
Review the filing history and contact Companies House if necessary.
3. Can the underlying issue be resolved?
If it can, the strike-off process may still be capable of completing.
If the company owes money that it cannot afford to pay, get advice about the alternatives.
The important thing is making an informed decision rather than leaving the company untouched because you thought it had already closed.
Has Your Company Strike-Off Been Suspended?
If you applied to strike off your company months or years ago and have now discovered that the application was suspended, speak to us.
At DCA Business Recovery, we offer company directors free, confidential initial advice.
We can help you understand:
- what the Companies House filing means;
- why the strike-off may have been suspended;
- whether the underlying issue can be resolved;
- whether the strike-off may still proceed;
- what happens if you do nothing;
- what options are available where creditors are still owed money; and
- whether formal liquidation should even be considered.
Speaking to us does not mean you have to liquidate the company.
Sometimes the best outcome may simply be understanding the objection and resolving it.
But if your company has been sitting on the Companies House register for years following a suspended strike-off, it is worth finding out exactly where you stand.
Contact DCA Business Recovery for free, confidential advice.
Or, if you already know that the company cannot pay its debts and simply want an indication of the likely cost of liquidation, you can get a free provisional liquidation quote online.
