Running a check

A check starts with a search. Searching only lists candidates and records nothing. Running a check records it for good, so make sure you have the right company first.

Search for the company

On Check a company, type in Company name or registration number and select Search, or press Enter. Country is already United Kingdom, the only market the panel covers.

The search text needs between 2 and 200 characters, not counting spaces at the start or the end. The box does not take more than 200.

While the panel searches, it shows Searching Companies House…. The Clear the search button (the cross at the end of the box) empties the box.

A search is not recorded and does not appear in the history. The search is part of the page address, so your browser's Back button takes you back to the results.

By company number

The company number is the most reliable search. A name can match several companies; a number matches one.

The panel looks your text up as a Companies House number when, once spaces are removed, it is:

• 6 to 8 digits, such as 00445790. Leading zeros are added up to 8 digits, so 445790 is looked up as 00445790.
• two letters followed by six digits, such as SC173198. Lower case works too: sc173198 is looked up as SC173198.

Spaces are ignored, so SC 173198 and 00 44 57 90 work as well.

A number lookup returns one candidate, marked Matched by registration number. If Companies House has no company with that number, the panel runs a name search with the same text instead.

Anything else is searched as a name, including numbers with fewer than six digits. If a company number starts with zeros, type at least six digits.

By name

A name search returns up to 20 companies from Companies House, with exact-name matches first. If the company you want is not among them, add more of its name or search by its number.

Use the legal name as it is registered. Dissolved companies are listed too, so check the status of each candidate.

The candidate list

The results start with a heading such as 20 candidates (or 1 candidate) and a line such as "in Companies House for “tesco”. Choose the exact company: nothing is picked for you."

On a wide screen the columns are Company, Number, Address and dates and Status. Each row shows:

• the company name;
• Matched by, followed by name or registration number;
• an exact name badge when the company name has the same significant words as your search, in any order, ignoring capital letters, punctuation and legal endings such as Ltd, Limited or PLC;
• the company number;
• the registered office address and the date of incorporation;
• the status.

If nothing matches, you see "No company in Companies House matches “...”." and "Try the registration number, or the legal name as it is registered."

Choose the company and run the check

Nothing is picked for you, and selecting a row does nothing. Only the Run check button starts a check. Before you select it, confirm that the company number, the address, the date of incorporation and the status match the company you mean.

Select Run check next to the right company. While the check runs:

• every Run check button in the list is disabled;
• the panel shows a message such as "Checking TESCO PLC: querying Companies House, GLEIF and the sanctions lists. This can take up to 30 seconds."

When it finishes, the check opens on its own page. See Reading a check.

Every check is recorded:

• in your organisation's history, with your email address, the time and what you searched for;
• even when the register says the number does not exist (the check is titled No company found) or does not answer (Register unavailable);
• for good: it cannot be edited or deleted.

So run a check only on a company you mean to check. To look at a company you checked before, open its check from Check history instead. See Getting started.

How long it takes

A check takes up to about 30 seconds. After 30 seconds the panel stops waiting for any source that has not answered.

The check is still recorded and opens. In Sources, each query that was not answered in time shows timeout. When a missing answer affects the recommendation (the company's status, its officers, its beneficial owners or the sanctions screening), Recommendation and reasons says so and the check is not approved automatically. Select Run again a little later to fill in what is missing.

If Companies House does not answer a search in time, the search ends with an error message (see the table below), and nothing is recorded.

Run a check again

On the check page, select Run again. Its tooltip reads "Query every source again, without cache".

• It runs a new check, with its own reference, and opens it. The earlier check stays in the history unchanged.
• Decisions do not carry over. Record your decision on the new check.
• While it runs, the same "Checking ..." message appears in the header of the check page. If it fails, the error message appears there instead and the button works again.

Run a check again when a source did not answer, when a source was rate limited, or when you want an up-to-date picture: the panel does not watch companies after a check. Selecting Run check again from the search results also records a new check.

Cached answers

To save time, Run check and the search reuse a Companies House answer that is less than 10 minutes old, and Run check reuses a GLEIF answer that is less than 24 hours old. The Sources section of the check marks these as cached, with the time of the original query.

Run again skips those saved answers and asks Companies House and GLEIF afresh. The sanctions screening uses the same copy of the lists either way, which Bouncer refreshes daily. See Data sources.

Messages you may see

Problems with a single source during a check, such as Companies House not answering one of its queries, do not show as error messages: the check opens, Sources shows which query failed, and the reasons say what is missing when it affects the recommendation. See Results and reasons.