Sarah Champion MP Urges Action to Tackle Rising Levels of Fraud

Sarah Champion MP has highlighted rising levels of fraudulent company registrations and called for the Government and Companies House to take urgent action to protect people in Rotherham.

Sarah has been contacted by several constituents whose addresses have been used without their knowledge to register companies with Companies House. Upon raising these issues with Companies House, Sarah was shocked that, currently, the registrar has no authority to verify registrations or to act if they are found to be fraudulent.

Following a Written Parliamentary Question, Sarah was shocked to discover that Companies House does not even hold a record of fraudulent registrations.  

Under existing regulations, Companies House must register a company if an application contains the information required in law, is completed in the proper form, and includes the correct fee. No address verification is performed. 

Commenting, Sarah said:

“It is shocking and absurd that a company can register itself at your address without even the most cursory of checks being performed. While addresses can be removed from the register of companies, this is a lengthy process and places responsibility on innocent, potentially vulnerable residents.”

“We need to ensure that the new powers proposed in the Economic Crime Bill work in practice to protect people from fraud and streamline the process for removing inaccurate information from the register. It cannot be right that it involves more checks to get a library card than it does to register a company and I will be working to ensure that regulations are fit for purpose.”   

New powers to verify registrations are currently being considered by Parliament as part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill. The Bill will introduce compulsory identity verification for all company directors and will provide Companies House with greater authority to investigate and reject applications.

ENDS