Companies House in firing line

The Federation of Small Business (FSB) has launched a scathing attack on Companies House

The Federation of Small Business (FSB) has launched a scathing attack on Companies House and its inability to combat corporate identity fraud.

It has lodged a formal complaint to the Registrar of Companies highlighting the fact that a number of small business are falling victim to the corporate version of identity theft, a problem that is rife in the channel ( CRN, 22 November).

The FSB claimed Companies House is not doing enough to safeguard companies from the threat, and said the measures taken by Companies House are “fundamentally flawed”.

An FSB representative told CRN: “We would like Companies House to write to every company and let them know what is being done. It has been working with the police to try to tackle ID theft, but it hasn’t gone far enough.”

However, Paul Reynolds, head of corporate affairs at Companies House, hit back at the FSB.

“It is a little bit wrong in what it is saying. We have implemented a three-point plan to help companies protect themselves and have improved our security checks.”

The plan consists of electronic filing, protected online filing and also the Companies House Monitor scheme, which sends out alerts and copies of any documents received to registered companies.

The scheme costs 50 pence a year, but companies must pay £5 a month to remain registered with it.

But Alan Norton, head of intelligence at Graydon, was critical of these safeguarding measures.

“It wasn’t hard to improve on doing absolutely nothing. Any public body should be more than just a big filing cabinet. There are not enough stringent checks in place to combat ID fraud, and it’s a disgrace to charge firms for something Companies House should have been doing in the first place,” he said.