2 min read
Why credit-check a business customer?
Extending trade credit — supplying goods or services before payment — creates a receivable on your balance sheet. If the customer fails to pay, that receivable may become a bad debt. A credit check gives you structured information about the customer's financial health, payment history, and legal standing before you commit.
For limited companies, credit checking is particularly important because owners' personal liability is capped. A company with a poor credit profile can fold, leaving creditors unsecured. Directors of the supplying business have a duty to manage credit risk responsibly to protect their own company's solvency.
Free and low-cost sources of information
Companies House (find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk) publishes filed accounts, confirmation statements, director details, and company status free of charge. Look for: how recently accounts were filed (late filing is a warning sign), whether the company is active or has been struck off, and whether directors have been disqualified.
- Filed accounts — check net assets, creditor days, and audit qualifications
- Gazette notices — winding-up petitions and liquidation notices appear here
- Insolvency Register — GOV.UK tool shows current insolvency proceedings
- HMRC CCJ register — accessible through commercial bureaus; also via Registry Trust
Commercial credit bureau reports
Paid bureau reports from Creditsafe, Experian Business, or Dun & Bradstreet aggregate payment data from trade creditors, court judgement records, and filed accounts into a credit score and recommended credit limit. Most offer subscription access or pay-per-report pricing. For a high-volume business, a subscription with an integrated API feed into your ERP or accounts system is worth considering.
Bureau scores are a useful starting point but are not infallible — they lag behind real-time events such as a very recent winding-up petition. Supplement bureau data with your own trade references, particularly for accounts above your materiality threshold.
Translating the check into a decision
A credit check should feed a documented decision: approve, approve with conditions (proforma, reduced limit, personal guarantee), or decline. Keep a record of the information reviewed and the decision made. This protects your company if a debt later arises and the customer disputes your process.
For new customers, consider requiring one or two satisfactory trade references alongside the bureau check. Ask referees about payment behaviour specifically — prompt, occasionally late, or habitually slow — rather than just whether a relationship exists.
Frequently asked questions
Do we need the customer's permission to run a credit check?
For checks on limited companies using data held at Companies House or commercial bureau databases of company-level information, no consent is required under UK GDPR because you are not processing personal data about an identified individual. If the check involves sole trader or personal guarantee data, different rules apply — confirm with your adviser.
How often should we re-check existing customers?
Best practice is to re-run checks annually for all accounts above a materiality threshold, and immediately if a customer's payment behaviour deteriorates or you hear adverse market intelligence about them.
Funding for UK limited companies
Credicorp lends to your company, not to you personally — short-term working capital with no personal guarantee. See what your business could access.