Is this company legit? How do I check a UK company before I work for it?
The short answer
Not from its name. A company can trade under a different name, and a name too like another's can stand until someone complains3, so ask for the company number and check that. Four searches take about ten minutes: Companies House, HMRC's VAT checker, The Gazette and the judgments register, which costs £69. The records show who the company is and what it has filed, not whether it will pay you.
What you can add
A £2,500 first order: what the check costs
Say a new customer asks for £2,500 of work on 30 days' terms. Before you quote, you run the check on the company number they gave you.
- Companies House: company, officers and filings2£0.00
- HMRC VAT number check (no fee shown)5£0.00
- The Gazette: insolvency notices7£0.00
- Judgments register: county court judgments, England and Wales9£6.00
- The cost of knowing£6.00
That is 24p in every £100 of the first order, for about ten minutes of searching. It buys the public record, not a promise to pay. Only the company number changes from one customer to the next.
The road ahead
Six steps. One £6 search.
Step 1: Ask for the company number
Send the email below before you quote. A limited company has to show its registered number4 on its letters, order forms and website, so answering costs it one line.
Step 2: Look the number up on Companies House
Search the number on Companies House1. The name should match what they gave you, the status should be active with no strike-off proposal, the registered office should fit the order, and nothing should be marked overdue2. Then read the officers, their other companies and any insolvency entry.
Treat it as what the company says about itself: the search page says Companies House does not check the accuracy of the information filed1.
Step 3: Check the VAT number
Put it into HMRC's VAT checker5. It returns the name and address the number is registered to, which should match the company. It cannot search by name, so you need the number from them.
Step 5: Search the judgments register
Search the company on the register of judgments. £6 for one register9, such as county court judgments in England and Wales; £8 for every England and Wales section, which adds High Court judgments. For a company registered in Scotland or Northern Ireland, choose the register that fits.
It reaches back 6 years10, but a judgment paid within one month can be removed10, so a clean result is not a clean history.
Step 6: Weigh what you found
Clean and established: your usual terms. Thin, such as a weeks-old company with a big rush order or a director behind several dissolved companies: ask for a deposit up front. Off, such as a mismatched name: hold the work until they explain in writing.
A winding-up petition: do not start, even for cash.
None of it shows how the company pays. Its newest accounts can describe a year that ended up to 21 months ago11.
A letter you can copy
Set-up email to a new customer
Send it as soon as an enquiry comes in, before you quote, and to every new customer the same way.
Tap a highlighted gap to see what goes in it.
Send it by email so it is dated, and keep it with the reply. If the reply comes from a different email domain from the enquiry, ask why before you go on. The register shows a company exists, not that the person writing to you works there. Ring the company on a number from its own website before you start.
When not to bother
When it isn't worth it
- The first order is small and paid in full before you start. Once the payment has cleared you have given no credit. Run the check before you offer terms on the next order.
- It's a large business you know. The register would only confirm that. A business with at least two of £54 million turnover, £27 million on its balance sheet or 250 employees12 must publish how fast it pays, so read that report instead.
- It's a council, an NHS trust or a government department. You do not need to prove the body exists. Check the order instead: ring their switchboard, from a number on their own website, and ask whether they sent it.
- They're a sole trader. There is no company number. Ask for their full name and trading address, check any VAT number, search the judgments register for that name at that address9, and search The Gazette for their name.
The Wolf's note
A clean record says the company is real and nothing has been recorded against it. It does not say when it pays. Let the terms of the first order cover that gap, and judge the second by how the first was paid.
Mr. Wolf · the AI inside WolfX
What comes next
Your next move
How do I check a new client can pay before I start work?
Only partly. Ten minutes on the free records shows who a client is, not whether it will pay.
6 min read · Letter included
How do I check if a company is insolvent or about to go under?
Three searches, ten minutes and £6: Companies House, The Gazette and the judgments register.
6 min read
How do I check if a company has a CCJ?
Search TrustOnline, the official register of judgments.
5 min read
Don't want to do this yourself?
The Wolf does every step for you. He works out the sums, writes the letters and keeps track of every date. Nothing goes without your yes.