How to check a UK company before you do business with it

The 9 checks at a glance

Nine checks on the free Companies House register cover most of what you need before you sign a contract, pay a deposit or extend credit. Each one takes a minute or two.

1. Status and age: is the company Active, and how long has it existed?
2. Name, number and address: do they match the invoice, contract and website?
3. Filing history: are accounts or the confirmation statement overdue?
4. Accounts type: what do the filed accounts actually show?
5. Net assets trend: is the balance sheet getting stronger or weaker?
6. Directors and people with significant control: who runs and owns it?
7. Charges: has a lender taken security over its assets?
8. Gazette notices: is it heading for strike-off or insolvency?
9. Gaps: what Companies House cannot tell you.

Key facts:

• Private companies must file accounts within 9 months of their year end; first accounts are due 21 months after incorporation (Companies Act 2006, s.442).
• Filing history documents from 2003 onwards are free to download from the register (Companies House guidance).
• On 1 October 2026, 423,006 companies on the register carried the status "Active - Proposal to Strike off" (UK Company Data, overdue accounts study).

1. Status and age

The first check is the status line on the company overview: you want "Active", not "Dissolved", "Liquidation", "In Administration" or "Active - Proposal to Strike off". A company with a strike-off proposal is still on the register but Companies House or the directors have started the process of removing it.

Age matters too. A company incorporated last month has no accounts on file yet, so you are trusting the people, not a track record. In our 1 October 2026 snapshot, 26.0% of active companies had not filed any accounts yet, which reflects how many companies are young (accounts type study).

2. Name, number and address match

The company number on the invoice, contract and website footer must match the number on the register exactly. A UK company number has eight characters; companies registered in Scotland start with SC and in Northern Ireland with NI.

Check that the trading name points to the right legal entity. Fraudsters often use a name that differs from a real company by one word, or quote the number of a genuine company with their own bank details. Since 4 March 2024 a company must keep an "appropriate address" as its registered office and cannot use a PO Box (Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023). A registered office at a formation agent is normal; one that Companies House has replaced with its own default address is a warning sign.

3. Filing history and overdue flags

The filing history shows whether the company meets its legal deadlines, and late filing is one of the earliest visible signs of trouble. Look at the "Next accounts due" and "Next statement due" dates on the overview: if either date has passed and nothing new appears in the filing history, the filing is overdue.

A confirmation statement must be filed at least once every 12 months, within 14 days of the end of the review period. Read our guide to what "accounts overdue" means for the penalties and what happens next.

From our data: on 1 October 2026, 93,785 active companies (1.8%) were past their accounts due date, and 74% of them were less than three months late. Lateness is more common among larger companies: 8.4% of companies filing full accounts were overdue, against 1.5% of micro-entities (full breakdown).

4. Accounts type and what it hides

The accounts type tells you how much the company has chosen to publish, so check it before you draw conclusions. Most small UK companies publish only a balance sheet and notes; turnover and profit are often absent.

Source: UK Company Data analysis of the Companies House register, 1 October 2026. See accounts categories and micro-entity for definitions.

A dormant company that invoices you for goods or services is a mismatch worth asking about. See dormant company.

5. Net assets trend

Compare net assets across the last three sets of accounts, because the direction tells you more than any single year. Falling net assets mean losses or distributions are eating into the balance sheet; rising net assets mean the company is retaining profit or raising capital.

Negative net assets do not by themselves mean a company is insolvent: young companies and companies funded by director loans often show them. They do mean that, on paper, creditors are owed more than the company owns. Our guide on how to read company accounts walks through each balance sheet line.

6. Directors and people with significant control

The officers and PSC tabs show who runs the company and who controls it, both current and resigned. Look for frequent director changes, a director with dozens of appointments, or a controlling owner who is another company in a jurisdiction you cannot check.

Since 18 November 2025, new directors must verify their identity with Companies House before they are appointed. Existing directors confirm their verification when the company files its next confirmation statement, during a 12-month transition period that runs to mid-November 2026.

7. Charges

The charges tab lists security that lenders hold over the company's assets, such as a debenture to a bank or an invoice finance provider. Outstanding charges are normal for a trading business with a loan, but they mean secured lenders rank ahead of you if the company fails.

A charge to an invoice finance provider also tells you the company may have sold or pledged its debtors, so payments to you may depend on that facility. A charge registered very recently by a lender of last resort is worth a question.

8. Gazette notices

A "First Gazette notice for compulsory strike-off" in the filing history means Companies House intends to remove the company from the register, usually because it has stopped filing. The company can be struck off not less than 2 months after the notice unless someone objects or it brings its filings up to date.

Insolvency events such as winding-up petitions and the appointment of liquidators are also published in The Gazette, the official public record. Our guide to the first Gazette notice for compulsory strike-off explains the timeline and how a creditor objects.

9. What Companies House cannot tell you

Companies House is a register, not a credit agency, and it carries out only basic checks on the documents it receives. It does not show county court judgments, payment behaviour, bank balances today or a credit score.

County court judgments are on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines, run by Registry Trust Ltd for the Ministry of Justice; searches carry a small fee. Paid credit reports combine that register with trade payment data and their own scoring models.

Red flags table

Any one red flag is a reason to ask questions; two or more together are a reason to reduce credit or ask for payment up front.

Free vs paid checks

Free checks on Companies House are enough for most small orders and new supplier onboarding. Paid reports add judgments, payment data and a score, which matter more when you extend meaningful credit.

To run the first five checks in one place, search the company on our accounts page: it shows status, due dates and the multi-year net assets trend from iXBRL filings. For a step-by-step method, see our free credit check guide.

Sources

1. Searching the Companies House register, GOV.UK, accessed 17 October 2026.
2. Companies Act 2006, section 442: period allowed for filing accounts, legislation.gov.uk, accessed 17 October 2026.
3. Running a limited company: confirmation statement, GOV.UK, accessed 17 October 2026.
4. Companies House confirms identity verification rollout from 18 November 2025, GOV.UK, accessed 17 October 2026.
5. Companies House begins phased roll out of new powers to tackle fraud, GOV.UK, accessed 17 October 2026.
6. Striking off or dissolving a limited company, GOV.UK, accessed 17 October 2026.
7. County court judgments for debt: CCJs and your credit rating, GOV.UK, accessed 17 October 2026.

FAQ

How can I check if a UK company is legitimate?

Search the company name or number on the Companies House register and confirm the status is Active. Then match the number, name and registered office to the invoice or contract, check that accounts and the confirmation statement are not overdue, and look at who the directors are. A legitimate company can still be in financial difficulty, so read the latest accounts as well.

Is it free to check a company on Companies House?

Yes. The company overview, officers, people with significant control, charges and filing history are free to view, and filing history documents from 2003 onwards are free to download. Searching for county court judgments costs a small fee on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines, and full credit reports from agencies are paid.

What are the biggest red flags on Companies House?

The strongest warning signs are a status other than Active, overdue accounts or confirmation statement, a first Gazette notice for compulsory strike-off, and net assets falling over several years. Frequent director changes and a registered office moved to the Companies House default address also deserve a question before you trade or extend credit.

Does Companies House check the accounts companies file?

Only at a basic level. Companies House says it cannot always closely review each document during registration, so the figures in filed accounts are the company's own. Small companies are usually exempt from audit as well, which means nobody independent has checked the numbers. Treat filed accounts as a useful signal, not as verified fact.

Sources: Companies House register and accounts data (Open Government Licence v3.0), legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK guidance where linked. This page is general information, not legal, tax or credit advice. Spotted an error? Email info@globalmindsetmarketing.co.uk.