There are many risks when you run a company, but there are simple, and free, ways to reduce some of them and gain some peace of mind. Companies House offers two services that we believe every company owner should make use of. The first is the PROOF Scheme. This protects your company from Corporate Identity Fraud, which is an ever increasing problem.

Companies House deals with 50-100 cases of Corporate identity theft every month, so use PROOF to make sure you don’t become a statistic!

What is the danger?

Fraudsters use paper forms to change key information about the company, borrowing in its name or running up large debts. The first the Directors know is when the creditors track them down to recover their losses.

What can you do?

Register for PROOF, which prevents the submission of key documents in paper format.

The only way to file or amend existing records is online, requiring an authentication code and password.  Not all forms are restricted, but those that are include the appointments and terminations of officers and changes of key addresses. This dramatically reduces the opportunities for fraudsters.

How do you register?

Follow this link to Companies House, and the simple steps to join the scheme. You will need to be registered for online filing to do so. You’ll receive email confirmation that your company has been registered. If you wish to leave the scheme you can do so at any point.

 

We would strongly recommend that every company should be registered to this scheme. All of our clients are automatically registered as part of our onboarding process, as there are simply no downsides.

Part 2 of this Blog gives details of the second Companies House scheme that will reduce the risks to your Company.

 

Finally, if you suspect fraudulent activity against a company you can report it to Companies House.