Credit Check a Non-Limited Business

Confusion often arises regarding the difference between limited and non-limited companies. Fundamentally, the difference is thus: limited is short for “limited liability”, which essentially means that if a limited company is sued or goes bankrupt, liability does not extend to the shareholders in the business.

On the other hand, a non-limited company has unlimited liability. Non-limited companies are typically sole traders or partnerships, and are liable for any problems encountered. One such example involves a plumber – if a plumber were to accidentally flood your house and cause damage to your property, you would have grounds to sue them. The majority of non-limited firms take out insurance policies which cover such scenarios.
 

Non-Limited Business Information

Another major difference between limited and non-limited companies is the level of publicly-available information. Limited companies must be registered with Companies House, a government agency whose duties are to incorporate and dissolve companies, to store and examine information under the Companies Act, and to make this information readily available to the public.

While this means that there is generally more data available regarding limited companies, it’s not to say that doing a check on a non-limited company is out of the question – quite the opposite, in fact. Although such checks might not yield quite as much information as Companies House there are still avenues to go down to ensure who you’re doing business with has a reasonably good track record.

It’s important to do some background checks before entering into business with a non-limited company because owners are legally liable for business debts – it can be all too easy for somebody to enter into a business partnership by non-limited means only to incur serious debt. A check on a non-limited company can provide enough information to allow a person to decide whether they are worth doing business with.

There are a number of ways in which non-limited companies can be checked out, and arguably the easiest way is to do it online. First Report provides non-limited business checks online allowing users to ascertain whether a particular business looks worthy of entering into business with, in a concise, simple to understand report broken down into various sections of data.
Firstly, the summary of the business will provide the basics – the company name, the earliest they were known to the reference agency, and the number of employees.

A credit rating of the company will then advise on the level of risk in doing business with a particular company, as well as offering a status analysis outlining the size of the business, whether it’s particularly well-established, and whether any transactions or dealings with them should require further monitoring.

Further business information can provide the trading name of the company, their trading address, their legal form (for example a non-incorporated sole trader, or a partnership) and what their activities are.

Such checks also reveal any public record information, typically dating as far back as 72 months. Any CCJ’s or bankruptcies will be recorded here, along with the value of such court orders, as well as whether the company currently holds any consumer credit licences.

Of course, such checks might not provide as detailed a report as one would expect from a limited company, although it’s ultimately wise to gain as much information as possible on a non-limited company before deciding to do business, as it can strengthen a decision to work with a reliable company or save an awful lot of financial heartache by revealing discrepancies in those with a less than exemplary record.
 

Check business owners

ConsumerCheck.com can provide information on the people running a non-Limited business. A consumer credit search can reveal the personal credit standing of the business owners. As the owers are themselves liable for the debts of the business they run, then the credit standing and history of the individuals running the business may be significant.

A Consumer Credit Licence is required to run searches on individuals, however obtaining the necessary licence is a straight-forward process and the ConsumerCheck website includes more information about how to obtain a Consumer Credit Licence.

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