In this article we summarise the key features and advantages of the online charge registration service launched by Laserform at the beginning of this year.1

As you may recall, significant changes to the Companies House charges registration came into effect back in April 2013. One of the changes was to permit online registration of charges as an alternative to registration by post; however the uptake among firms using this method to file charges on behalf of their clients was slow as a consequence of scepticism over the effectiveness and user friendliness of the electronic system provided by Companies House.

Since then a new online service has been launched (the "Advanced Laserform Hub Service") as an easy and efficient way of managing and submitting online "mortgage filing" forms. Fieldfisher is now fully enlisted as a user of this service and from now on shall be submitting all "mortgage filing" forms (i.e. Forms MR01, MR02, MR04, MR05, LLMR01, LLMR02, LLMR04 and LLMR05) via this online method.

The service is a cloud-based application underpinned by a platform, and is available to users twenty four hours a day. The service has the necessary security and data protection features.

The key advantages of the online service to your firm or institution are:

  1. Speed of registration: Over recent months Companies House has been taking longer and longer to process paper-based registrations and this has, in the most unfortunate cases, lead to charges missing the strict 21 day deadline for registration as Companies House rejections have been received outside the time limit. Online submissions have a 2 day turnaround target (compared to the 8 day target, which does not include postal delivery time for the form to reach Companies House, for paper-based submissions). In practice, we are finding the turnaround is even quicker – often charges are registered within 24 hours of submitting the form online. Once registered, the Certificate of Registration is immediately downloadable from the online system.
  2. Decrease in fees: The fee for online submissions is £10 rather than £13 for postal submissions.
  3. Quick submission: The forms can be drafted and edited very easily. They can also be downloaded as PDF files at any stage – for example if the borrower's (chargor's) counsel wishes to review the form before submission. Once the form has been submitted, it can also be downloaded at any time.
  4. Full visibility: all forms are fully visible by the Fieldfisher team and any responses from Companies House are immediately circulated, so that if a form is rejected for whatever reason, it can be picked up and dealt with as soon as possible by the team.

Footnotes

[1] We should mention that we have no connection, financial or otherwise, with Laserform!

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.