SILLY ME- I thought Companies House data was authoritative!

Last month, the Business and Enterprise Committee appointed by the House of Commons, and made up of a number of MPs, published its report on the workings of Companies House. Like most people, the MPs seemed to be somewhat surprised that the data filed there by companies, accountants etc was not checked and validated in some way. Therefore, a strong recommendation was made that Companies House should take steps “as a matter of urgency” to explain to the public that it cannot guarantee the accuracy of information there. They go on to say “It is understandable- but wrong- that some users of its services assume that, because CH is an agency of government,its data can be relied upon to be authoritative- it cannot”.
Fraudsters have known about this lack of validation at CH for some time now, and have bombarded the agency with fictitious balance sheets,directorships, and registered office changes in order to fool the public and unsuspecting suppliers. Some credit agencies like Experian, D&B and Graydon do run checks for fraud/unusual filings received from Companies house, but there are several low cost credit agencies that don’t do this and literally take Companies House data in good faith and attach a credit rating to it. Don’t be fooled !! It could cost you thousands!!