Published: 11 November 2026 11:14 am  Author: Oliver Stanley

Companies House data accuracy: where register errors really start

Almost four in 10 large UK businesses have found discrepancies between what Companies House holds and their own records, according to new research reported in the Financial Times this week.

The survey, carried out by management software group Board Intelligence, asked 200 general counsel and company secretaries at businesses with revenue of £50m or more about their Companies House data. The findings come as we approach the anniversary of the implementation of the new identity verification (IDV) requirements brought in by ECCTA, and therefore, in theory, the end of the transition period where all existing directors, PSCs, LLP members should have completed their identity verification. This has not happened (there are still a large number of outstanding verifications), but that is a separate point.

These findings are a useful prompt for anyone responsible for company secretarial (CoSec) work to look again at their own records.

What the research found

• 39% had uncovered inconsistencies on the public register, including outdated information about their directors
• All respondents acknowledged an accuracy issue with their filings while preparing for IDV
• One in five had received a penalty or fine from Companies House linked to inaccurate, incomplete or hard-to-access information
• Two-thirds said it would take them 13 hours or longer just to give an exact number of legal entities in their organisation
• Some groups with more than 1,000 legal entities spend an estimated 37 hours a week recording entity changes

Companies House says more than 75,000 personal data corrections have been made since the IDV changes began a year ago. It told the FT that “thousands of companies have contacted us to make sure information on the register matches verified identity documentation. That is exactly the type of behaviour we wanted to encourage.”

Where the errors come from

Headlines about the reliability of Companies House data can give the impression the register is getting things wrong on its own. It isn’t: with only a few minor anomalies, Companies House records what it’s sent.

When a director’s details are out of date or a shareholding doesn’t match, it’s almost always because the wrong information was filed, or a change was never filed at all. It’s a filing problem, not a register problem.

And the responsibility sits with the company. Under the Companies Act 2006, directors have a legal duty to make sure their own details, and their company’s details, on the public register are accurate and up to date.

Why it happens, even in well-run businesses

The pattern behind the numbers is familiar. In many groups, CoSec work sits with someone for whom it isn’t the day job: an in-house lawyer, a finance lead, or whoever inherited the spreadsheet.

Records end up split across spreadsheets, email threads and hard copy registers. A change gets made in one place and not another. A director’s address is updated internally but never filed. Multiply that across dozens, or hundreds, of entities and small slips become the 39%.

Advisers face the same challenge at scale. Lawyers, accountants and corporate service providers (CSPs) managing CoSec for many clients are often working from the same kind of spreadsheets, just with more tabs.

Five ways to reduce Companies House filing errors

1. Check your entities against the register now. Directors, people with significant control (PSCs), registered office and share capital are the usual suspects.
2. Keep one source of truth. Your statutory registers and your filings should come from the same record, so what you file matches what you hold.
3. Make each change once. Re-keying the same information into a register, a spreadsheet and a Companies House form is where mistakes creep in.
4. Know your entity list. If counting your entities takes hours, that’s where errors are hiding.
5. Line up IDV with your records. Make sure every director and PSC is verified, and that their details on the register match their verified ID.

How Kudocs helps

Kudocs is a Companies House authorised filing software provider, built to take the manual slips out of CoSec.

Your statutory registers and Companies House filings work from the same records, so what you file matches what you hold. When you set up, data is pulled from Companies House, and our team can help with bulk upload of historic records. The mismatch tool helps you spot where your records and the public register don’t agree, and every entity sits on one dashboard, so “how many entities do we have?” takes seconds, not hours.

The result: up to 90% of time saved on Companies House filings, with fewer opportunities for error along the way.

Book a 20-minute demo to see how it works for your entities.

FAQs

Why is Companies House data sometimes wrong?

Companies House publishes the information companies file with it. Most inaccuracies come from incorrect or incomplete filings, or changes that were never filed, rather than errors made by Companies House itself.

Who is responsible for keeping Companies House information accurate?

The company and its directors. Under the Companies Act 2006, directors have a legal duty to make sure their own details and their company’s details on the register are accurate and up to date.

How do I check whether my company’s details are correct?

Search for your company on the free Companies House service and compare the officers, PSCs, registered office and share capital against your statutory registers. Any differences should be corrected with the relevant filing.

Does identity verification affect existing records?

Yes. Details on the register need to match verified identity documents. Companies House says more than 75,000 personal data corrections have been made since IDV was introduced.

Can Companies House take action over inaccurate information?

Companies House has stronger powers under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) to query information on the register. In the Board Intelligence survey, one in five respondents said they had received a penalty or fine linked to inaccurate, incomplete or hard-to-access information.

The takeaway

The research shows register errors are common, even in large, well-resourced businesses. But the cause is rarely Companies House. It’s what goes in. With IDV now in full force, it’s a good moment to check your records, tidy your processes, and make sure what you file matches what you hold.