How to Check a Company Is Legitimate in the UK

If you are searching “how to check a company is legitimate UK”, there is no one-click answer. Search the exact company number and review status, filings, officers, PSCs, accounts, confirmation statements, charges and insolvency information. Then confirm the contact, business purpose, provider, regulatory claims and appointment documents through sources you found independently.

An active Companies House record is only a starting point. It does not approve the business, authenticate the person contacting you, audit each filing, guarantee solvency or make a directorship safe. This page starts when an exact company is named: use the scam guide for an unverified first approach and the red-flags checklist for the final appointment pack.

Turn “legitimate” into claims you can test

Before searching, list what the offer asks you to believe:

1. The legal entity exists and is correctly identified.
2. The contact is authorised by that entity.
3. Filings are current and consistent with the story.
4. The owners and controllers are accurately disclosed.
5. The business activity and flow of value make sense.
6. Current financial information supports continued operation.
7. Regulatory claims match official records.
8. The proposed appointment can be performed with proper information and independent judgement.
9. The payer and any indemnifier or insurer can be identified.

Record the source, exact name or number, date and result for each claim. Keep “not found”, “inconsistent” and “not yet answered” visible. Do not replace missing evidence with an overall impression.

Use evidence closest to the claim. Companies House is appropriate for registered filings; a named regulator for regulatory status; the contracting party’s signed document for its offer; and independently obtained current financial information for the company’s present position. A provider’s own website cannot independently verify the provider.

What Companies House can and cannot show

The Companies House service provides free access to basic information, status, filing history, document images, officers, charges and available insolvency data (official search guidance). It is the correct first place to establish the registered identity and see what has been filed.

Companies House also says the information is not intended to be comprehensive, occasional inaccuracies may occur, and accounts receive basic checks rather than an audit. Documents can be accepted and later queried, annotated or removed. A filing therefore has evidential value without becoming a government warranty.

Use the register to form questions:

• Does the registered history match the offer?
• What changed, when and who filed it?
• What current information is missing?
• Which facts require confirmation outside the register?

Do not treat a green “active” status, a long incorporation history or an official-looking PDF as the end of the check.

1. Identify the exact legal entity

Ask for the legal name and company number before sending sensitive information or consenting to anything. Search by number, not just name. Brands, similar names, former names and cloned websites can misdirect a search.

Record:

• legal name, number, type and status;
• incorporation date and previous names;
• registered office;
• stated SIC activities;
• the entities named in the contract, privacy notice and payment terms.

Reconcile any difference. A trading name can be legitimate, but the documents should explain which entity contracts with you, controls personal data and pays the fee.

Companies House does not endorse links placed in filed documents. Use the record as evidence of what was filed, not certification of every statement made by or about the company.

2. Verify the contact and their authority

Do not confirm the contact through a telephone number, link or email supplied only by that person. Find a separate, reliable route to the named organisation and ask whether the person, address and proposed appointment are genuine.

Check that the email domain, website legal notice, contract and privacy information point to the same entity. A copied logo or genuine company number can appear in an impersonation. A different entity is not automatically wrong, but its role must be explained before you proceed.

If the contact says they represent an adviser or provider rather than the company, verify both parties and ask for evidence of authority. Knowing that the company exists does not prove that an intermediary may offer its directorship, collect identity documents or promise payment.

Call authority a separate claim. A genuine employee may still exceed their authority, and a genuine provider may not bind the proposed company. Final appointment and payment documents should identify who has agreed to what.

3. Read the filing history as a chronology

Open the filing history and relevant document images. Review:

• incorporation documents and articles;
• annual accounts and overdue markers;
• confirmation statements;
• registered-office changes;
• director appointments and resignations;
• PSC statements and changes;
• share allotments;
• charges;
• strike-off, restoration and insolvency filings.

One late filing does not prove fraud. Repeated overdue accounts, missing periods, abrupt officer turnover, several unexplained address changes or records inconsistent with the stated activity require questions and current evidence.

Build a short timeline. Note changes immediately before the offer, but do not infer misconduct from timing alone. Ask for a documented explanation and compare it with other evidence.

4. Establish who owns and controls the company

Review current and resigned directors and their appointment dates. Check official disqualification information where control concerns arise.

Then examine PSC information. Companies House explains that PSC status follows conditions involving shares, voting rights, appointment rights or significant influence and control (official PSC guidance). It is not determined by who agrees to appear as director.

Ask:

• Who owns the shares and voting rights?
• Who can appoint or remove a majority of directors?
• Who makes major decisions in practice?
• Who is the provider’s client?
• Who will pay the director fee?

Compare the answers with filings and contracts. A nominee director does not replace the beneficial owner or erase a PSC. Stop if the proposal relies on keeping a controller hidden. The legality guide explains why accurate control disclosure matters.

The PSC register is not a substitute for broader due diligence. A provider subject to AML duties may need to identify and verify beneficial ownership and understand the ownership and control structure beyond simply reading a public entry.

5. Check addresses and the real business

A registered office is an official communications address, not proof of trading premises. Companies may lawfully use an accountant, solicitor or address service.

Check whether the address appears consistently across filings and documents. If the company claims a warehouse, shop, office, staff or particular jurisdiction of operation, verify those material claims separately. Do not infer physical operations from a registered office or website photograph.

Ask for a plain description of what the company sells, its customers, suppliers, locations, management and reason for seeking an outside director. You do not need trade secrets to understand the commercial purpose.

Compare the explanation with SIC information, filed accounts, material contracts or licences, operational contacts and the decisions the new director would face. Social-media activity and reviews can provide context, but cannot replace legal, regulatory or financial evidence.

6. Examine current finances, charges and insolvency

Filed accounts can show reporting dates and some historical financial information. They may be old by the appointment date. Ask for current management accounts, cash-flow information, tax status, significant creditors and material disputes, then have them reviewed where necessary.

Useful questions include:

• When were the latest internal figures prepared, and by whom?
• Do bank and debtor information support the stated trading activity?
• Are tax, payroll or supplier liabilities overdue or disputed?
• Has any creditor threatened recovery, winding-up action or termination?
• What funding keeps the company operating, and on what terms?
• Are there guarantees or security affecting the proposed director?

These questions do not let a candidate declare the company solvent. They identify when a qualified accountant, solicitor or insolvency practitioner should review the position.

A registered charge usually records security for borrowing. It is not automatically a warning. Check the charge holder, creation date and status, then ask how the borrowing relates to the business.

Review Companies House insolvency information and official notices in The Gazette, preferably by company number. Strike-off action, a winding-up notice, an insolvency appointment or another formal event needs an explanation and independent insolvency advice before consent.

If the company is or may be unable to pay debts, a director’s priorities shift towards creditors. Do not accept an owner’s unsupported assurance that financial concerns are temporary.

7. Verify regulatory and provider claims

If the company says its activity is regulated, identify the exact regulator, legal entity, permission and status. Use the regulator’s official current register. Permission for one entity or activity does not cover another merely because the names are similar.

A provider acting as, or arranging for another person to act as, a director by way of business may be a trust or company service provider. Ask which AML supervisory body covers it and match the exact legal or trading name on the official source.

HMRC says appearing in its supervised-business register is not an endorsement of a transaction (official register guidance). Companies House says its public ACSP list may be incomplete or out of date and does not recommend listed agents. If ACSP status is claimed, also check ceased or suspended information.

Keep these separate:

• the company’s Companies House registration;
• the provider’s AML supervision;
• any Companies House ACSP status;
• KYC or onboarding carried out by a website.

Each supports a limited fact. None proves the whole appointment. Use the AML overview to frame questions, not to treat the site as self-verifying.

8. Inspect the appointment documents

Request readable, final or near-final documents naming:

• the company, appointment date and all parties;
• the person obtaining informed consent;
• responsibilities, reserved decisions and information rights;
• board, filing and record arrangements;
• the payer, fee trigger and tax treatment;
• conflicts and escalation;
• D&O insurance and indemnity wording;
• resignation, handover and disputes;
• data controller and document handling.

The arrangement must let the director exercise independent judgement. Read the director responsibilities before deciding whether the role is workable. Confirm that the payer and any indemnifier exist, and request actual insurance wording rather than a summary.

A written promise is not proof of payment or complete protection. Never sign blank, unread, inaccurate or backdated documents.

Do not let a request for identity documents jump ahead of these checks. Companies House identity verification, provider AML due diligence and a website’s onboarding are distinct. Before uploading sensitive material, verify the recipient, controller, purpose, necessity, channel and retention information.

9. Classify and reconcile discrepancies

Use a record with:

• claim;
• source and URL;
• exact name or number checked;
• date;
• result;
• discrepancy;
• explanation and supporting document;
• next action.

Classify an issue by response, not by points:

• explain and evidence: for example, a documented trading name or address service;
• pause for professional review: for example, old financial information, a disputed liability or complex ownership;
• stop: for example, concealed control, a false filing request, an impersonated contact or unexplained access to funds.

One serious contradiction can outweigh many ordinary filings. “Not sure” means obtain more evidence or pause, not half a pass.

The nominee director scam guide covers impersonation and unsafe document requests. Use the short red-flags list immediately before a decision.

Compare two hypothetical outcomes

Continue checking: the same company number appears across independently verified documents. Filings are current and coherent. Officers and PSCs match the explanation. A separately found contact confirms the offer. Regulatory claims match official sources. Current financial information and final terms are available for advice. These facts justify further review, not automatic acceptance.

Stop: a contact borrows a real dormant company’s number but uses an unrelated domain, refuses to identify the controller, requests immediate ID and bank access, and asks the candidate to confirm false trading information. The active company record does not cure those contradictions.

These examples are illustrative. They do not certify or accuse a real business.

Verification must continue after appointment

Pre-appointment checks become stale. If ownership, control, business activity, counterparties, financial condition or requested authority changes, repeat the relevant checks. Follow Companies House filings and require ongoing company information.

A clean review on day one does not authorise later blind approval. Record changes, questions and decisions. If information is withheld or the explanation no longer matches the evidence, pause the relevant act and obtain advice.

Decide, pause or decline

Proceed only if:

• the entity, intermediary and contact are independently verified;
• filings, controllers and business purpose are consistent;
• current financial and insolvency questions have evidence-based answers;
• regulatory claims match official records;
• final documents identify duties, information access, payer and exit;
• no request involves hidden control, false information, unexplained funds or loss of account access;
• independent legal and, where needed, insolvency advice is available.

A “no” or “not sure” means pause. Verification is not a route to an immediate application. It supports a decision, including a decision to decline.

If your name or address appears on a company without permission, preserve the evidence and use the Companies House reporting process. Report suspected crime through the appropriate official police route.