Check company charges

What a registered charge tells you

The register records who the charge is in favour of, the date it was created and registered, a short description of what it covers and whether it remains outstanding or has been satisfied.

Charges are entirely normal. Most trading companies that have ever borrowed money, leased equipment or taken invoice finance will have them. Their presence is not a sign of difficulty.

• Persons entitled, meaning the lender or secured party
• Created and registered dates
• A brief description of the security
• Status: outstanding, satisfied or partly satisfied

Fixed and floating charges

A fixed charge attaches to a specific identified asset, such as a property or a particular piece of plant, and the company cannot dispose of that asset freely while the charge is in place. A floating charge sits over a shifting class of assets, such as stock or book debts, and only crystallises onto specific assets on a defined event, typically default or insolvency.

Many bank facilities are secured by a debenture containing both, described on the register as a fixed and floating charge over the whole undertaking. That phrase looks dramatic but is routine for a company with a bank facility.

Outstanding versus satisfied

One practical caution: a charge stays recorded as outstanding until someone files to say otherwise. Old, long-repaid charges are frequently left on the register because no one got round to filing the satisfaction, so an outstanding entry does not automatically mean money is still owed.

• Outstanding: the charge is still registered and has not been recorded as discharged
• Satisfied: the debt has been repaid and a satisfaction has been filed
• Partly satisfied: part of the secured property has been released

Reading charges sensibly

What can be informative is the pattern over time: a series of recent charges from short-term funders, or a fixed and floating charge over the whole undertaking, tells you something about how the business is financed. It does not tell you whether the company can pay its bills.

The register does not show outstanding balances, repayment history or arrears. Nothing here is a credit assessment, and no credit score, credit limit or payment behaviour information is provided by this service.

Why people check charges

• Understanding how a potential customer or supplier is financed
• Checking whether assets you are buying are already secured to a lender
• Reviewing a company before entering a long-term contract or lease
• Keeping a dated record of the secured position at the time of a transaction

Where charge information appears on this site

Searching and viewing the company summary is free. Registered charges, with their status and the parties entitled, are included in the optional PDF report alongside officers, control and filing information. The sample company report shows how the charges section is laid out.

Free website search compared with the paid PDF report

Searching this site and viewing a company summary is free. The optional PDF report is paid, and what you are paying for is convenience: retrieval, formatting, a dated snapshot and a document you can download and keep. The underlying information is public and is also available directly from Companies House at no charge.

Frequently asked questions

Related pages

• Check Filing HistoryHow to read a UK company's filing history, what the common filing types mean, and what a company's filing pattern does and does not tell you.
• Check Company AccountsHow UK company accounts appear on the public register, what micro-entity, small, dormant and full accounts mean, and how to check accounts filing dates.
• UK Company Information ReportSee exactly what the UK Company Information Report contains, how it compares with the free company summary, and when a dated downloadable PDF of register information is worth ordering.
• Sample Company ReportSee the structure of the UK Company Information Report PDF section by section, page by page, so you know exactly what you receive before you order one.
• Check Company StatusWhat UK company status values mean, including active, dissolved, liquidation, administration and proposal to strike off, and how to check the status of a company.
• Company reportsThe optional downloadable PDF report and what it costs.
• Accounts SearchFind a UK company's accounts position at Companies House: accounts type, made-up dates, next due dates and whether filings are overdue, plus what small company accounts do not show.