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Frequently Asked Questions

We have compiled a comprehensive list of FAQs in order to answer your questions.

1. What is Company Search MadeSimple?
2. What is the domain address?
3. What are company reports used for?
4. What information is included in a report?
5. What company report products does CSMS offer?
6. What savings do I enjoy when buying a package product?
7. Do I have to set up an account to order a single report?
8. How do I order a single report?
9. How is a single report delivered?
10. Why set up an account?
11. How do I order a subscription package?
12. How do I access my reports?
13. How long are reports held online?
14. How long is a Package valid for?
15. What if I have an annual requirement greater than 100 reports?
16. What is Company Tracking?
17. What tracking products are offered?
18. Why should I track my own company?
19. Can I use a subscription credit to track a company?
20. How do I order the tracking service?
21. Where does the report information come from?
22. Do you provide reports for companies outside the UK?
23. Why doesn't my report have all the information shown in the sample report?
24. What do these CCJ (County Court Judgement) statuses mean?
25. Why use a company credit report?
26. How long does by company credit report stay in my account?
27. Do you notify me before my company credit report expires?
28. How do I know which credit report is the right one for me?
29. Why isn't the information I'm looking for on the report?
30. Why have I received a tracking alert for changes to a company when it has only just been incorporated?
31. Why is Turnover often '0' when I know the company is definitely turning money over?
32. What does “Analysed – Non balancing” mean on the reports balance sheets?
33. Do the reports show Scottish Decrees from the Sheriff Courts?
34. Why are there no shareholder details shown?
35. Is the credit rating affected by when I file my accounts?
36. Do the insolvency figures for my industry sector affect the credit score of my company?
37. What are winding up petitions?
38. I received an alert to say a company report has been updated but when I check it there has been no change.
39. Do your director reports include disqualified directorships?
40. How long are CCJ records kept on your reports?
41. Do 'possible' CCJs affect the company's credit score?
42. How can I remove a company or director report from your site?
43. Can I stop the reports from appearing in search enginges, such as Google?

 

1. What is Company Search MadeSimple?
This site provides the most competitively priced range of company credit reports on the web.

  • Range of report packages for purchase, from 1 to unlimited credit reports
  • The most competitively priced credit reports on the web
  • Single reports from only £1.95 + VAT.
  • You can buy credit reports online, very simply and very cheaply
  • Subscriptions Packages - huge discounts when you buy monthly or yearly subscriptions.
  • Company tracking service to notify you of changes in company reports and helping you to combat company identity theft.

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2. What is the domain address?
www.companysearchesmadesimple.com
Company Search MadeSimple is part of The Made Simple Group - a group of online businesses dedicated to providing effective online business solutions.  www.madesimplegroup.com .

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3. What are company reports used for?

  • Checking credit history, or the credibility of new suppliers or customers
  • Researching competitors
  • Assessing joint ventures or new business partnerships
  • Seeing how others see you  - check your own company credit report

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4. What information is included in the reports?
The reports we provide are Snapshot, Standard and Fully Comprehensive.  Dependent upon which report you select will depend on the level of information within the report.  Generally the reports cover:

  • Company information (name, reg no, office, type, incorporation date, latest accounts date, trading address, telephone numbers)
  • Credit rating score, limit and date
  • CCJ's and Mortgages
  • 1,3 or 5 Year Summary of accounts
  • Detailed Account Data (profit and loss, balance sheet)
  • Key Ratios / Advanced Ratios
  • Shareholder Summary
  • Detailed Director Data
  • Event history (changes to board, directors, accounts etc)
  • Group structure

 

NB: Some details, such as financial account information, is only made available if it is provided by a company. If, for example, a company has not submitted their accounts to Companies House then these details will not be available on the report. This will be the case regardless of which company you choose to purchase the report from.

To better understand what you get in each report please view the Report Comparison Table

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5. What company report products does CSMS offer?

  • Snapshot credit report - company base data, abbreviated accounts from £1.95
  • Standard credit report - Current credit rating, CCJs, 3 years accounts, Directors info from £3.95
  • Fully Comprehensive credit report - Standard report plus 5 years of accounts and Group Structure from £5.45
  • Non Limited Company - credit rating and limit, CCJs, Proprietor, business information from £4.95
  • Directors Reports - name, address, personal details, appointments, event history from £1.95
  • Company documents - Original filed documents £2.50 each.
  • Company Tracker - FREE with Fully Comprehensive reports. 1 year tracking for £2.50. Lifetime tracking for £4.95.

All prices shown above are exclusive of VAT.

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6. What savings do I enjoy when buying a subscription package?
The monthly and yearly subscriptions offer considerable savings, whether you just want a few reports a month or are a high volume user. View the subscription pricing for more information.

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7. Do I have to set up an account to order a report?
When you order a credit report an account is created for you via the checkout process.  You access your account to view your report online, save it or print it.  Reports will stay in your account online for 12 months.

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8. How do I order a report?

  1. Search for the company or director you require a report on
  2. Add the report to your basket
  3. Buy - complete the simple checkout process
  4. The company report is automatically added to your account.  You can access your account to view your report online, save it or print it.  Reports will stay in your online account for 12 months. 
     

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9. How are reports delivered?

UK Reports:
Reports are inserted into your online account, they are not emailed to you.
The online account is automatically created as part of the initial checkout process.
If you have purchased a subscription you will see how many credits you have left.

International reports:
International reports are sent as PDF files to your email address once purchased.
They are also inserted into your online account. Please note that it can take up to 24 hours (Mon-Fri 9am-4:30pm GMT+0) for you to receive the report and for it to be displayed in your account.

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10. Why set up an account?

  • An account is set up as part of the checkout process.
  • Reports are stored online for easy access 24/7
  • Access to a range of discounted subscription packages
  • Easy access to get new reports
  • Access to tracking package
  • View and manage your reports online including a full event history
     

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11. How do I order a subscription package?

  1. View the monthly and yearly subscription options here.
  2. Complete checkout process and an account is automatically created
  3. Search for the company/director you wish to review and 'add to account'
  4. Your account credit is debited each time you add a report

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12. How do I access my reports?
Login to your account here. Username and password and you are in!

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13. How long are reports held online?
Reports are held online for 12 months.

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14. How long is a Package valid for?
If you purchased a monthly package the credits are valid for 1 month. If you purchased a yearly package the credits are valid for 1 year. NB. Reports redeemed using your credit will remain in your account for 12 months..

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15. What if I have an annual requirement greater than 50 reports?
We have created some yearly subscription packages for high volume users, including an Unlimited option for £199.95 +VAT. Click here for more information.

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16. What is Company Tracking?
The Tracking service sends an alert via email every time any updates are made to a company report that you are tracking. You will be notified of activities such as; the filing of latest accounts, board appointments and resignations, change of credit rating & limit and share capital amendments. The Company Tracking service is included with the Fully Comprehensive company reports.

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17. What tracking products are offered?
Tracking a company for 1 year is £2.50. Tracking a company for a lifetime is £4.95 (reasonably capped at 10 years). The company tracking service is also included with every Fully Comprehensive report. NB. If you have a subscription you may use your credits towards a company tracker.

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18. Why should I track my own company?
To combat identity fraud on your company. Fraud in the form of business identity theft cannot be underestimated. The Home Office states that identity fraud costs Britain 1.7 Billion pounds a year. As a director of a business you need to ensure that you have a sound understanding of what is happening with your business at all times.

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19. Can I use a subscription credit to track a company?
Yes, a credit can be redeemed for 1 of any product. So you can redeem it for a 1 year tracker or a lifetime tracker.

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20. How do I order the tracking service?

  1. Search for the company you want to track.
  2. Add either 1 year or lifetime tracking to your basket.
  3. Checkout and make payment.
  4. You will now be emailed whenever there is a change to the company report

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21. Where does the report information come from?
Some of the key information within the reports is based on data from Companies House and therefore the information is in accordance with Companies House submission rules.
For example, new companies do not have to provide any financial information until the end of the month, 22 months after the month of incorporation (21 months for accounting periods starting after 6 April 2008), though they can provide this information earlier.
For each subsequent year accounts must be placed on public record within 9 months of the accounting year end.

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22. Do you provide reports for companies outside the UK?
Yes, we can provide International company reports for £19.99. All International reports are emailed to you as a PDF after purchase and are also displayed in your Company Search MadeSimple account.

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23. Why doesn't my report have all the information shown in the sample report?
It depends on which report you have purchased (ie. a Snapshot report will not show as much informaiton as a Fully Comprehensive report. See Reports Comparison). Also, if the company has not yet filed its first set of accounts this whole section will be blank.

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24. What do these County Court Judgement (CCJ) statuses mean?

  • SS - This means the CCJ has been satisfied (paid).
  • JG - This means the CCJ is still an active Judgement.

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25.  Why use a company credit report?

Given the current climate, it's important that you check out who you are doing business with.  Running company credit check reports on businesses you are about to do business with is good business practice.  After all, you want to ensure that they have the funds and credibility to be able to pay for your services.  It may be that you are using the company credit reports for competitor analysis;  running company searches on your  competitors provides you with a company report packed with valuable information about their business performance and directors and shareholders. 

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26. How long does the credit report stay in my account?

Credit reports will stay in your account for a 12 month period.  You can access them 24/7 to view, save or print.

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27.  Will you notify me before the report expires from my account?

No, you can see when each report will expire from within your account, however we will not notify you by email of this.

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 28.  How do I know which credit report is the right one for me?

The best thing to do is to check out our Credit Report Comparison Table this provides a clear list of the factors each report includes.   

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29.  Why isn't the information I'm looking for on the report?

NB: Some details, such as financial account information, is only made available when the company files the information with Companies House / HMRC. If, for example, a company has not submitted their accounts to Companies House then these details will not be available on the report. This will be the case regardless of which credit report company you choose to purchase the report from.
 

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30. Why have I received a tracking alert for changes to a company when I it has only just been incorporated?

Information such as director and secretary information, is added to our reports after incorporation. For this reason, sometimes you can receive an alert stating there have been changes to a company, when in fact this is just our databse being updated. Occurences of this are rare and should only appear during the first few weeks after incorporation.

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31. Why is Turnover often '0' when I know the company is definitely turning money over?

There is a Disclosure Threshold for small companies which means they do not have to file their turnover or their detailed profit and loss account at Companies House. Further information can be found at Companies House (Opens in a new window).

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32. What does “Analysed – Non balancing” mean on the reports balance sheets?

“Analysed – Non balancing” means that the company’s Balance Sheet does not balance properly and as a result we are unable to give a rating/limit.

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33. Do the reports show Scottish Decrees from the Sheriff Courts?

Yes, Scottish Decrees will be displayed in the CCJ section as per usual CCJs.

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34. Why are there no shareholder details shown?

Until the Company files their first set of Annual Returns, we will not supply the Shareholders Information. This Information is available in the Incorporation Documents. However, this information is not analysed until the first years returns are submitted.

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35. Is the credit rating affected by when I file my accounts?

Yes, the scorecard works dynamically in that, as the due date for accounts approaches, the lower the score will be (usually this only happens during the last few weeks before the due date). However, as soon as the new accounts are submitted to Companies House then the rating will go back up (as long as the financials haven’t got any worse).

The reason for this is that it is statistically proven that when a company files their accounts late (or leave it up until the very last minute) then these companies are nearly 3 times as likely to fail.

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36. Do the insolvency figures for my industry sector affect the credit score of my company?

Yes, each quarter we assess the Insolvency figures by industry. We then apply the results to the credit rating depending on if the industry was worse/better than the previous quarter.

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37. What are winding up petitions?

A winding up petition is a court action which is heard in a court and is usually placed against a company by a creditor who is owed money. The winding up petitions are only issued to Companies House if the outcome of the petition is that the company is to be wound up and then dissolved.

The petitions are usually published in the gazette however they can be unadvertised which means the information is not published to the public. However the unadvertised petitions are displayed on the HMCS website in the daily court hearings list (this is public information) and this is where we can gather this information from.

NB. Even if a petition has been dismissed, there will still be a history of the petition and it will still show on the report.

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38. I received an alert to say a company report has been updated but when I check it there has been no change.

Reports are only valid from the time of purchase. If you have received an alert after the day you purchased the original report you will need to purchase a new, up-to-date report to see the changes.

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39. Do your director reports include disqualified directorships?

Yes, if a director has been disqualified we will still show their report.

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40. How long are CCJ records kept on your reports?

CCJs are removed from the reports after 6 years.

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41. Do 'possible' CCJs affect the company's credit score?

No, they have no impact on the company's credit score and are on the report for informational purposes only.

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42. How can I remove a company or director report from your site?

The information in our company and director reports is sourced from Companies House (The Registrar of Companies). We are unable to change or remove the reports as they reflect what Companies House publicly holds on their records. For more information, please see our Listing Policy.

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43. Can I stop the reports from appearing in search enginges, such as Google?

While we cannot remove the reports or change their details we do allow you to request the results be removed from search engines. Please see the search engine removal page for more info.

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