Register of charges in United Kingdom – official record
A register of charges extract for a company in United Kingdom lists the secured charges entered against that entity: the chargee, the date each charge was created, and whether it has since been satisfied or released. It does not show the amount owed under every charge, unregistered security, or the company's financial standing. Availability and the applicable fee are being confirmed against the primary source.
What this document shows
The United Kingdom register of charges lists the charges that have been entered against a company, in the order in which they were registered. Where the underlying register records more than one charge, each entry usually carries its own reference, so the extract sets them out as a sequence rather than as a single summary line.
- Chargee – the person or institution in whose favour the charge was created.
- Date of creation – the date the charge came into existence, as distinct from the date it was registered.
- Short particulars – a brief description of the property or undertaking charged, where the entry includes one.
- Satisfaction status – whether the charge has been marked as fully or partly satisfied, or remains outstanding.
- Instrument reference – an internal reference allowing the underlying charge instrument to be requested separately, where it is held.
Some fields are simply absent from older filings. Where a charge has been registered but not yet marked as satisfied, the extract shows it as outstanding even if the underlying debt has in practice been repaid: satisfaction is a filing, not an automatic consequence of repayment. Where a company carries several charges from different periods, the extract does not rank them by priority – it lists what was filed, in the order it was filed, and priority between charges is a separate question the entry does not answer on its own.
Not every entry on a United Kingdom company document of this kind holds the same fields for older filings: a charge created some years ago is more likely to carry only the particulars required at the time, while a recent entry usually follows the current filing format in fuller detail. The extract reflects what was filed, not a standardised template applied retrospectively.
What it does not show
The register of charges records what has been filed against the company. It does not show whether a charge is enforceable, whether it has priority over another charge, or what the underlying loan agreement actually says. That question sits elsewhere, inside the charge instrument itself, not inside the register entry that points to it.
Where a charge secures a fluctuating amount – a revolving facility, for instance – the register commonly states only that a charge of that type exists, not the sum currently owed. A reader looking for a current balance will not find it here.
Security interests that fall outside the charges-filing regime, such as certain retention-of-title arrangements or unregistered informal security, are structurally absent: they were never required to be filed, so no search of this register – however wide – will surface them. Where that matters, a separate enquiry against the counterparty's own assets, outside any single register, is the only route, and it sits outside what this document is.
The register also does not confirm the company's solvency or its trading position: those are not fields this register holds, in United Kingdom or elsewhere.
How it is obtained
The underlying register is understood to be open for searching without a subscription or a national identifier, and the search itself is free of charge; what is paid for, where an order is placed with REGISTRUM, is the handled route – locating the correct entity, retrieving the current extract and returning it in a usable form – rather than access to information that is otherwise closed.
The access regime for the specific extract requested here, and the fee that applies where a certified United Kingdom extract is required, are being confirmed against the primary source at the time of writing. Where confirmation changes either point, the order form states the position before payment is taken.
Normal turnaround follows the register's own processing and is confirmed as part of the order rather than quoted here as a fixed figure. Where the extract is required urgently, a rush add-on is available, addressed in the timeline section below.
The extract is issued in English, and no separate translated version is produced by the register itself. Where a reader is based outside United Kingdom, the extract can normally be requested without a locally resident representative, though the format expected by the receiving authority abroad should be confirmed before the document is ordered, not after.
As with any United Kingdom company document intended for use abroad, apostille or further legalisation may be required in addition to the extract itself, depending on the receiving country's own rules – a separate step, not a feature of the register entry.
Reuse of the extract is limited to the single matter for which it was obtained: the register's terms do not extend to republication or resale of the content, and each further use calls for a fresh extract rather than a copy of the first.
Price and timeline
The fee for this document is confirmed before any order is accepted, and is shown to the reader ahead of payment rather than estimated here. Add-ons – apostille, certified translation, courier delivery or a rush service – extend or compress the stated timeline; each is priced and scheduled individually, not bundled into a single figure. If the document does not exist in this jurisdiction or cannot be obtained for you, we say so before you pay and we do not take the order.
How long does a register of charges / pledges from United Kingdom take?
Turnaround depends on how the underlying register processes the request at the time of ordering, and is confirmed as part of the order rather than fixed in advance here. Where a rush service is added, the confirmed timeline is shortened accordingly, and the revised figure is given before payment.
Will a United Kingdom document be accepted abroad without an apostille?
Acceptance is decided by the receiving authority abroad, not by REGISTRUM, so no document is accepted automatically on its own. Where the receiving authority requires legalisation, an apostille or further legalisation can be added as a separate step; where it does not, the plain extract is normally sufficient.
What does a register of charges / pledges in United Kingdom not show?
It does not show enforceability, priority between charges, the current balance under a fluctuating facility, or unregistered security that was never required to be filed. It also does not confirm solvency or trading position: those sit outside any charges register, in United Kingdom or elsewhere.
Can an extract be obtained for a company that has since been dissolved?
Where the company's record remains held by the register after dissolution, an extract can usually still be requested, though the charges shown may be limited to what was filed before the company was struck off. This is confirmed case by case before an order is placed.
Does a satisfied charge disappear from the record, or stay marked as released?
A satisfied charge is not normally removed from the record: it remains listed, marked as satisfied or released, so the extract still shows that the charge once existed even after the underlying debt has been cleared.
State the entity, the jurisdiction and the date you need it by; we confirm availability and the fee before you pay. For the wider view of this document across jurisdictions, the register of charges overview page sets out what varies from one register to another before you order.
REGISTRUM obtains and delivers official records issued by public registers and licensed registered agents. This page describes what those records contain and how they are obtained. It is not advice on the legal effect of any record. To order, write to info@registrumfirm.com.