How to Verify Business Licenses and Permits Online (2026)

Verifying a business license means confirming, through official registers, that a company holds the legal authorisations required for its stated activities. In the UK, this involves checking Companies House for incorporation status, the FCA Financial Services Register for regulated activities, HMRC for VAT registration, and sector-specific registers for professions such as law, accountancy, and healthcare.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or regulatory advice. Regulatory references are accurate as of the publication date. Consult a qualified professional for guidance specific to your situation.

The Companies House register, maintained under the Companies Act 2006, is the primary public record of all incorporated businesses in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland (Companies House). As of April 2026, it holds records for over 5.3 million companies, with real-time search available at no cost via the Companies House API and WebCHECK service.

Users on compliance forums frequently ask: "How do I actually check if a supplier's trading licence is legitimate?" and "What's the fastest way to verify multiple business registrations at once?" This guide answers both questions with verified official sources.

Why Verify a Business License Before Engaging a Supplier

Verifying a counterparty's licences is a due diligence obligation, not a box-ticking exercise. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 introduced enhanced identity verification requirements for Companies House, making it harder to file false information — but not impossible to operate with lapsed or incorrect authorisations (legislation.gov.uk, Economic Crime Act 2023).

Failing to verify can expose your organisation to:

• Liability for enabling regulated activities without proper authorisation
• Tax and VAT fraud via phantom supplier schemes
• Reputational damage from associating with struck-off or dissolved entities
• Breach of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017) if the counterparty is a high-risk entity

Under the MLR 2017, firms conducting enhanced due diligence on high-risk third parties must verify that those parties hold all required licences and permits for their stated activities (MLR 2017, Reg. 33).

Official UK Registers for Verifying Business Licences

Companies House — Incorporation and Filing Status

The starting point for any business verification in the UK is Companies House WebCHECK. A free search by company name or registration number returns:

• Incorporation date and status (active / dissolved / liquidation)
• Registered office address
• Director names and appointment history
• Persons with significant control (PSC) — beneficial owners
• Confirmation statements and accounts filing history

A company showing "Active" status at Companies House may still face enforcement action or hold invalid trading licences. Companies House status confirms legal existence, not trading authority.

FCA Financial Services Register

The FCA Financial Services Register (FCA Register) is the definitive source for verifying whether a firm or individual is authorised to provide regulated financial services in the UK. It covers:

• Banks, building societies, and credit unions
• Investment firms and portfolio managers
• Insurance intermediaries and providers
• Payment institutions and e-money issuers

A firm not listed on the FCA Register but claiming to offer regulated services is operating illegally. The FCA publishes a Warning List of known unauthorised firms.

HMRC VAT Verification

To verify a UK VAT registration number, use the HMRC VAT number checker at gov.uk/check-uk-vat-number, or query the EU VIES system for EU VAT numbers. VAT fraud using fake registration numbers is common in supplier fraud schemes: always verify directly rather than trusting the number on an invoice.

ICO Data Protection Register

Any organisation that processes personal data must register with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), unless exempt. The ICO Register is searchable by organisation name or ICO reference number and confirms whether data processing activities are lawfully registered.

Verifying Sector-Specific Permits and Authorisations

Registration at Companies House confirms a business exists. It does not confirm that it holds the necessary sector permits to operate legally. Sector-specific verification is frequently overlooked.

Construction Industry: CIS and CSCS

Contractors in the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) must be registered with HMRC. Sub-contractors should verify their contractor's registration via HMRC's CIS verification service. The CSCS (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) card system verifies individual worker qualifications on-site.

Solicitors and Legal Firms: SRA Register

Law firms must be authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The SRA's Find a Solicitor tool confirms firm authorisation, individual practising certificates, and any regulatory action taken. Engaging an unauthorised legal firm voids professional privilege and creates personal liability for directors.

Healthcare Providers: CQC Registration

Care providers, including hospitals, care homes, and dentistry practices, must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The CQC Register confirms registration status, most recent inspection rating, and any enforcement notices. Commissioning services from an unregistered provider can constitute a criminal offence under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Food Business Registration: FSA and Local Authority

Food businesses must be registered with their local authority and may require approval for higher-risk activities. The Food Standards Agency provides food hygiene ratings and registration status.

Automating Business Licence Verification

Manual verification across multiple registers — Companies House, FCA, ICO, SRA, HMRC — is time-consuming and error-prone. CheckFile's document verification platform processes an average of 4.2 seconds per document with 98.7% accuracy, enabling compliance teams to verify hundreds of supplier dossiers per week without backlogs.

What Automated Verification Covers

An automated verification system connected to official registers can simultaneously check:

• Company status and filing currency at Companies House
• FCA authorisation and permission scope
• VAT registration validity
• Published enforcement actions or regulatory sanctions
• Matches between declared information and official records

Our platform reduces document processing costs by 67% per dossier compared to manual verification, while providing a complete audit trail for regulatory inspection. Explore CheckFile's KYB solutions to see how automated business verification integrates with onboarding workflows.

Companies House API

Companies House provides a free REST API (developer.company-information.service.gov.uk) enabling programmatic lookup by company number. The API returns filing history, officer information, PSC register, and charges — all suitable for automated compliance workflows.

For technical teams building verification pipelines, our document verification API integration guide covers authentication patterns, rate limiting, and error handling best practices.

Common Pitfalls in Manual Verification

Compliance teams consistently make the same errors when verifying licences manually:

1. Checking status without checking filing currency. A company marked "Active" at Companies House may not have filed accounts in three years — a significant red flag indicating possible dormancy or financial distress. Check the confirmation statement date and last accounts filing.

2. Trusting a certificate image. Scanned or photographed licence certificates can be forged. Always verify against the live register, not a document supplied by the counterparty.

3. Ignoring the Insolvency Register. The Insolvency Service Register records company and individual insolvency proceedings, including liquidation, administration, and disqualified directors. A business not yet dissolved at Companies House may already be in voluntary liquidation.

4. Skipping beneficial ownership checks. The PSC register at Companies House confirms who ultimately owns or controls the entity. Failure to check beneficial ownership is a common gap identified in FCA supervisory reviews of MLR 2017 compliance.

5. Not setting verification renewal dates. FCA authorisations, ICO registrations, and sector licences can be revoked or suspended after initial verification. A one-time check is insufficient for long-term supplier relationships.

For a complete due diligence framework, our KYB business verification guide details the risk-tiered approach used by UK financial institutions and professional services firms. See also our document verification guide for the full operational framework.

Building a Repeatable Verification Process

A structured licence verification process should be documented, traceable, and scalable. The minimum viable process for UK businesses:

1. Initial check: Companies House status + relevant sector register + HMRC VAT (where applicable)
2. Enhanced check (high-value or high-risk counterparties): FCA/SRA/ICO + Insolvency Register + PSC review
3. Ongoing monitoring: annual refresh for active suppliers; immediate re-check on adverse news alerts
4. Audit trail: timestamped record of source queried, date, result, and analyst sign-off

CheckFile pricing covers both one-off verification and continuous monitoring subscriptions. Our security page details data handling, SOC 2 Type II certification, and UK GDPR compliance.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I check if a UK company is legally registered?

Search the Companies House register at find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk by company name or registration number. This is free, requires no login, and returns real-time status including whether the company is active, dissolved, or in liquidation.

Is there a single register that covers all UK business licences?

No. The UK has separate registers by sector: Companies House for incorporation, FCA for financial services, SRA for solicitors, CQC for healthcare providers, and HMRC for VAT and CIS. A complete due diligence check requires querying multiple registers.

How do I verify an FCA-regulated firm quickly?

Go to register.fca.org.uk, search by firm name or FCA reference number. The result shows the firm's permissions (what regulated activities it can carry out), any regulatory actions, and whether it is currently authorised. This check takes under two minutes.

Can I automate business licence verification for multiple suppliers?

Yes. The Companies House API (free) and FCA Register API provide programmatic access. Platforms like CheckFile aggregate these sources and can process batch verification requests with full audit trail generation, reducing per-check time from minutes to seconds.

What is the penalty for engaging an unauthorised financial services firm?

Conducting or facilitating regulated financial activity through an unauthorised firm can result in criminal prosecution under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000), Section 23. Individuals face up to two years' imprisonment; organisations face unlimited fines.