Business loan declined: accounts overdue at Companies House
Filed accounts more than 1 month overdue at Companies House. Mainstream lenders treat overdue filings as evidence of weak financial control and decline at the gate.
Why this triggers a decline
Lenders cannot underwrite without current accounts. Overdue filings often correlate with deeper trading-difficulty issues (cashflow, dispute with accountant, restructuring).
Alternatives that work
- File the overdue accounts.
- Apply to lenders that accept management accounts in lieu (rare on mainstream products).
- MCA against card flow where bank statements substitute for filed accounts.
Lenders we route to
- Capify (with bank statements)
- 365 Business Finance (case-by-case)
What to do first
- File the overdue accounts. Most mainstream lenders accept the application within 30 days of filing.
- If filing is blocked by an audit dispute, document the dispute to the lender.
- Pay any Companies House late-filing penalties before reapplying.
Not for
Companies under active strike-off action; companies with multiple consecutive years overdue.
Run the matcher
Tell us your sector, ticket size and trading time. We score each panel lender and surface the ones most likely to approve given the decline reason above.
Open matcher →Last reviewed: 2026-04-26.