Correcting a Companies House filing with form RP04

Q: How does this look in a real case?

Illustration only. An accountant files AP01 for a new director of Oakfield Ltd. Two errors come to light a month later. The service address reads "14 Chruch Lane" instead of "14 Church Lane". The address is still unmistakable, so this is a trivial inaccuracy. The accountant sends RP04 with a corrected AP01. The original AP01 stays on the register with the second filing next to it. The director's date of birth was entered as 1987 instead of 1978. That changes the information itself and stops the director verifying their identity. The accountant files a replacement AP01 online through the replace a previous filing option, and does not use RP04 or CH01.

Q: What cannot be fixed with a second filing?

Substantive errors. Anything that changes meaning needs RP01. Later changes. A director who moves house is a change of particulars, filed on CH01 within 14 days; see changing director details. A PSC change goes on PSC04; see notifying PSC changes. Unauthorised or false filings. These are removed, not corrected; see removing wrong information from the Companies House register. Old documents. Anything delivered under the 1985 Act or the 1986 Northern Ireland Order. Getting rid of the original. A second filing never removes the first document. A rejected filing is different again: a document that is rejected is treated as never delivered, so it is simply refiled correctly; see why Companies House rejects filings. Company directors can protect the business against the cost of an HMRC check with tax investigation insurance, which pays up to £100,000 of accountant's fees with Solar Protect. Read how our cover works or get a quote.

A second filing on form RP04 corrects a trivial inaccuracy, such as a misspelt street name, in a document that was otherwise properly delivered to Companies House. The original stays on the register with the corrected copy alongside it. Anything that changes the meaning of the information, such as a wrong date of birth, a wrong date or the wrong house number, is not trivial and needs a replacement document on form RP01 instead.

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What exactly is a second filing?

Companies House describes a second filing as a copy of the original document with the inaccuracy corrected, delivered with form RP04. It is a practice that rests on the idea of “proper delivery”. Under the registrar’s rules a document is properly delivered when, among other things, it contains all the required information and its contents are factually accurate. Companies House’s guidance says that, as a general rule, a document with a trivial inaccuracy that does not affect the underlying meaning of the information is still regarded as properly delivered.

Because the original is properly delivered, it cannot be replaced or removed. The original form stays on the register and Companies House makes the second filing available to searchers to explain the inaccuracy. Nothing is deleted.

What counts as a trivial inaccuracy?

Companies House uses one example repeatedly: an address given as “23 Station Roaad” instead of “23 Station Road” is treated as properly delivered, but “32 Station Road” instead of “23 Station Road” is not. The first is a typing slip that leaves no doubt about the address; the second points to a different building.

On 30 January 2026 Companies House added a warning to the RP04 page that the form can be used only in very limited cases and that in most cases you will need to file a replacement document on form RP01. The safe working rule is to ask whether a reader of the register could be misled by the error. If they could, it is not trivial.

Error	Likely route
Misspelt street or town in a service address, where the address is still clear	Second filing, RP04
Wrong house number or postcode pointing to another property	Replacement, RP01
Wrong date of birth for a director or PSC	Replacement, RP01, following Companies House’s date of birth guidance
Wrong appointment date, shareholding or statement of capital figure	Replacement, RP01
Details that were right when filed but have since changed	The ordinary change form, such as CH01 or PSC04
A filing the company never authorised	Report to Companies House and seek removal

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Which documents can RP04 be used for?

The form sets clear limits. It can be used only for a document delivered under the Companies Act 2006 on or after 1 October 2009 that contained trivial inaccuracies. It cannot be used for a document delivered under the Companies Act 1985 or the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986, whenever it was delivered, and it cannot be used to correct information that was not properly delivered in the first place, where RP01 must be used.

Companies House’s guidance says a second filing can correct a very minor inaccuracy in any type of previously submitted form. For a document with legal consequences on registration, such as an incorporation application, you do not resubmit the whole document. Companies House gives the example of a minor error in an officer’s service address on form IN01: it needs the relevant page of the application, fully completed, and the covering RP04. Annual accounts are different: a correction is made by delivering amended accounts, which are covered in revised and defective accounts.

How do you file RP04?

Identify the original document by type and the date Companies House registered it, adding distinguishing details if more than one document of that type was filed on the same day. The filing history on the register shows both.
Prepare the corrected copy, for example a fresh AP01 with the street name spelt correctly, and send it with RP04.
Do not send a fee if the original document carried one.
If the company has joined the PROOF scheme, include form PR03, consent for paper filing.
If the person has applied for or been granted an exemption under section 243 or 790ZF and the corrected document contains their usual residential address, the form says to post everything to the separate PO Box address given on it.

Everything on RP04 goes on the public record, including any presenter details you add. The form notes that paper takes longer to process than online filing.

Why is RP01 the answer more often than RP04?

Section 1076 of the Companies Act 2006 lets the registrar accept a replacement for a document that did not meet the requirements for proper delivery or contained unnecessary material. The replacement must come from the person who delivered the original or from the company itself, and must itself be properly delivered. A factually inaccurate document is not properly delivered, so the fix for a real error is replacement, and the registrar can then decide whether to remove the original. The register is annotated to show that a document was replaced and when (section 1081(1)(c)).

Companies House now allows replacements of AP01, PSC01, CS01 (where the statement of capital or shareholder information was wrong) and SH01 to be filed online; other replacements go on paper with RP01. A replacement is not available for documents delivered under the company charges rules, which have their own court based rectification process under section 859M; see registering a charge.

Wrong dates of birth have become common since identity verification began, because a verification will not complete if the date on the register is wrong. Companies House’s date of birth guidance says the fix is a replacement of whichever filing first recorded the person, that processing can take up to 20 working days because of high demand, and that a director appointed before 1 October 2009 is corrected with a change of particulars form instead. See Companies House identity verification.

How does this look in a real case?

Illustration only. An accountant files AP01 for a new director of Oakfield Ltd. Two errors come to light a month later.

The service address reads “14 Chruch Lane” instead of “14 Church Lane”. The address is still unmistakable, so this is a trivial inaccuracy. The accountant sends RP04 with a corrected AP01. The original AP01 stays on the register with the second filing next to it.
The director’s date of birth was entered as 1987 instead of 1978. That changes the information itself and stops the director verifying their identity. The accountant files a replacement AP01 online through the replace a previous filing option, and does not use RP04 or CH01.

What cannot be fixed with a second filing?

Substantive errors. Anything that changes meaning needs RP01.
Later changes. A director who moves house is a change of particulars, filed on CH01 within 14 days; see changing director details. A PSC change goes on PSC04; see notifying PSC changes.
Unauthorised or false filings. These are removed, not corrected; see removing wrong information from the Companies House register.
Old documents. Anything delivered under the 1985 Act or the 1986 Northern Ireland Order.
Getting rid of the original. A second filing never removes the first document.

A rejected filing is different again: a document that is rejected is treated as never delivered, so it is simply refiled correctly; see why Companies House rejects filings.

Company directors can protect the business against the cost of an HMRC check with tax investigation insurance, which pays up to £100,000 of accountant’s fees with Solar Protect. Read how our cover works or get a quote.

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Sources

Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 19 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.