Why Would I Want a Company Monitoring Service?

That's a good question to which there is more than one answer:

1 - To Combat Corporate Identity Fraud

Back in 1998 when we first raised concerns over the ease with which criminals could hijack the identity and good credit ratings of limited companies and carry out fraud. What we said then is as relevant today but unfortunately no-one wanted to know and we were asked by Government ministers to "keep quiet" as they didn't want to let company directors know how simple it was. Have a look here at what we said then.

Since then company directors and their professional advisors have become much more aware of what is now called "corporate identity theft" but as yet few realise that a few simple steps are all it takes to combat the problem. Prime among these is the regular monitoring of the Companies House record for the company but that does entail someone actually remembering to check regularly and unfortunately although the free web service records some information, mainly accounts and annual return, it doesn't record everything.

2 - To Confirm That Documents Have Been Received by Companies House

Identity Fraud is possible only when no-one spots that documents which they know nothing about have been filed at Companies House. But there are also potential serious problems when documents which should have been filed at Companies House have not arrived or not even sent.

For example, when a new company is registered it will be required to complete and file its first Annual Return 12 months later but it has an extra 10 months before it has to file its first set of accounts. If that first Annual Return isn't received Companies House will start proceedings to strike off the company and surprisingly often complete the process before the accounts are filed. The first the directors know is either when their bank calls to say they have frozen the account or when their Accountant has the accounts returned because the company has been struck off. This can be put right by applying to the Court to have the company restored - a service which AR Corporate Secretaries has offered for several years and one which we are increasingly being asked to carry out. A simple restoration will cost about £1,000 not to mention the aggravation and problems caused as it can take 6 weeks or so from start to finish.

It isn't just the lack of a return that can cause problems, consider the problems where there are changes of Registered Office or of Directors and the forms go missing in the post. It's a nightmare for Anti Money Laundering and we know of instances where property transactions have fallen through because the directors on file at Companies House were not the ones who applied for funds or signed contracts. On at least one occasion a company was forced into insolvent liquidation because of a deal collapsing.

3 - To Monitor Your Competitors or Customers 

Companies House records are public and anyone can access them, usually for a fee. By subscribing to our Company Monitoring Service in respect of companies which we didn't set up you can keep an eye on what is happening with your competitors. We will advise you when they change directors, file their accounts, register a mortgage, or file any document at all.

In a recent case we alerted a client that the Registered Office address of one of their customers had been changed and our database reported that the new address was that of an Insolvency Practitioner. There were no Court records of any insolvency proceedings but our client contacted the Insolvency Practitioner who confirmed that he was looking to put our client's customer into a Corporate Voluntary Arrangement in the near future. Our client wasn't owed very much but was soon to deliver nearly £40,000 of components to the customer. Forewarned they delayed delivery until the CVA was agreed so keeping their debt outside of the CVA and they were paid in full within normal trading terms - having insisted on being given directors' guarantees for these components and for all future deliveries.

FREE MONITORING SERVICE

In order to help company directors, owners and professional advisors AR Corporate Secretaries are pleased to announce the introduction of our free monitoring service. This will automatically alert you whenever a document - any document - is filed at Companies House. From 1st January 2007 we will automatically enrol all new companies in this service, which we previously charged for, and over the following weeks we will gradually include every company we have formed for professional clients (accountants and solicitors) since January 2000. Our system is totally automatic. We will alert you by email or fax every time something changes on the Companies House record. We will tell you what the form or document is and if you want a copy we will provide this at our standard charge.

CHARGEABLE MONITORING SERVICE

This is exactly the same as our free service but is offered in respect of companies we have not set up be they your competitors or client companies set up by other registration agents.

All we need from you is the company name and number and from that point on we will alert you by fax or email every time there is any activity on the Companies House record. We will tell you what the form or document is and if you want a copy we will provide this at our standard charge.

Our pricing structure is as follows:

 

1 company	£12 (plus VAT) per annum
2-5 companies	£10 (plus VAT) per annum, per company
6-10 companies	£8 (plus VAT) per annum, per company
11-20 companies	£6 (plus VAT) per annum, per company
21-25 companies	£5 (plus VAT) per annum, per company
26 + companies	£3 (plus VAT) per annum, per company

To order, simply send us an email (click here) or a fax (01952 275000) with the company name(s) and number(s). We will send you an invoice in due course.