Mint Formations vs Companies House:What you don't get when you register direct

An honest comparison

Anyone can register a UK limited company directly with Companies House for £100. No agent required. This page explains honestly what you get when you do — and what you give up.

At a glance

When DIY registration works

Registering directly with Companies House is a legitimate option — and for some founders, it is perfectly adequate. It is worth being honest about this.

Direct registration through Companies House works well if:

• You are forming a straightforward private limited company with a simple share structure
• You already have a UK registered office address you are happy to use publicly
• You are confident choosing the correct SIC codes for your business activities
• You understand how to complete the memorandum and articles of association
• You have no questions about director responsibilities, share allocation, or PSC requirements
• You are prepared to manage all ongoing compliance yourself

If all of those are true, saving the agent fee is a reasonable decision.

For most first-time founders, however, at least one of those conditions does not hold. And when something goes wrong after a direct filing, Companies House has no obligation to help you fix it.

The privacy problem

When you register directly with Companies House, your registered office address becomes publicly visible on the Companies House register.If you use your home address as the registered office — which many first-time founders do — that address is publicly searchable by anyone, indefinitely.

This means your home address appears on a public government database, accessible to anyone who searches your company name. It can attract unsolicited mail, cold callers, and in some cases, more serious privacy concerns.

Companies House does have a process to suppress your home address from historical filings, but it requires an application, takes time, and is not guaranteed in all cases.

At Mint, privacy protection is built into the formation process from the start. Our registered office and director service address options mean your home address never appears on the public register in the first place — which is significantly simpler than trying to remove it afterwards.

If you are registering directly and want to protect your home address, you will need to arrange a registered office address separately before you file. This is an additional step and an additional cost that many founders only discover after it is too late.

No pre-submission review

When you file directly with Companies House, there is no one checking your application before it is submitted. The form goes in as you completed it.

Common mistakes that founders make on direct applications include:

• Incorrect or inappropriate SIC codes - which can create unnecessary complications with HMRC
• Errors in director or shareholder details - dates of birth, addresses, nationality
• PSC (Person with Significant Control) information completed incorrectly
• Standard articles of association used where a different structure would have been more appropriate
• Share structure set up in a way that is difficult to change later

These mistakes are not always fatal, but correcting them after filing takes time, involves additional Companies House forms, and in some cases requires professional advice to untangle.

At Mint, every application is reviewed by a formation specialist before it reaches Companies House. Mistakes are caught before they become problems - not after.

No structural guidance

Companies House processes your application. It does not advise on whether your company structure is right for your business.

Questions that Companies House cannot help you answer:

• Should I have one share class or multiple?
• How should I split shares between co-founders?
• Do I need bespoke articles of association, or will standard ones work?
• Should my business be an LTD, an LLP, or a company limited by guarantee?
• What SIC code best describes what my business actually does?
• How do I structure things to protect my personal assets properly?

Getting these decisions right at the start is significantly easier than changing them later. Once shares are issued and articles are filed, restructuring a company involves additional filings, potential stamp duty, and sometimes legal advice.

Mint's formation specialists guide you through these decisions before anything is submitted — not as a paid consultancy service, but as part of the standard formation process.

When things go wrong

Companies House has over 5 million companies on its register and processes hundreds of thousands of filings every year. If your application is rejected, delayed, or filed incorrectly, Companies House will tell you there is a problem. It will not tell you how to fix it.

Common post-formation situations where founders registered directly find themselves without support:

• An HMRC letter arrives and they do not know what it means or what to do
• They need to register for VAT but are unsure of the process or timing
• They want to add a director or transfer shares and do not know how to file correctly
• Their confirmation statement is due and they are not sure what information to include
• They receive a compliance notice and have no one to call

Mint's lifetime support means you have someone to call — in year one, year two, and year three. Not a FAQ page. Not a contact form. A named person who knows your company and can give you a straight answer.

Ongoing services

Company formation is the beginning, not the end. Every limited company has ongoing obligations — and none of them are handled by Companies House on your behalf.

None of these involve Companies House. When you register direct, you manage all of them yourself — or pay separately for each service as you need it.

The real cost of DIY

The headline comparison — £100 direct vs £104.99 with Mint — understates the actual cost difference significantly.

When you factor in what direct registration does not include, the costs accumulate:

• A registered office address to protect your home privacy: typically £35–£100/year separately
• A director service address: additional annual cost
• VAT registration assistance if needed: typically £50–£150 from an accountant
• Any corrections to the original filing: time, forms, and sometimes professional fees
• Ongoing compliance management: your time, every year, indefinitely

More than the financial cost, there is the cost of time and confidence. For a founder in the early stages of building a business, spending hours navigating Companies House forms, HMRC registration processes, and compliance deadlines is time not spent on the business itself.

The question is not "can I register directly for £100?" — the answer is yes, you can. The question is whether doing so is actually the most efficient use of your time and money when you factor in everything that comes after the certificate.

Who should register direct / who should use mint

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