Can I check a company's credit for free in the UK?

Some of it, yes. A company's own financial filings, its record of paying debts, and the history of its directors are matters of public record, and you can look at them at no cost. What is not free is a single credit score or a recommended credit limit, which are paid products. And no check, free or paid, stays current for long.

How do I check a company's credit score for free?

You cannot get the headline score for free. A credit score is a paid product that bureaus such as Experian, Creditsafe and Red Flag Alert build with their own models. The information underneath is largely public, but the score itself, and the suggested credit limit that comes with it, are what you are paying for.

What is a good company credit score?

It depends which bureau you use, because each scores on its own scale. A common pattern is a 0 to 100 scale where a higher number means lower risk, with bands from very high risk to very low risk. Because the scales differ, a score is most useful for comparing companies within one bureau, or for tracking whether a single company's score is rising or falling over time, rather than as an absolute pass mark.

What does a paid company credit check add?

A paid report from Experian, Creditsafe or similar typically adds three things: a single credit score, a suggested maximum credit limit, and ongoing alerts when the company's profile changes. You are paying for the model and the convenience, rather than for information that was hidden.

Is a company credit check the same as a personal credit check?

No. A company credit check looks at a limited company's financial standing and payment record. A personal credit check looks at an individual's borrowing history and is protected data you generally cannot pull on someone else without their consent. For a sole trader with no limited company, there is little company record to check, which is itself worth knowing before you offer terms.

How often should I check a company's credit?

A credit check, free or paid, is a snapshot of one moment. A company that checks out today can lose a contract, fall behind and drift toward insolvency over the following months, after you have already extended terms. This is why ongoing monitoring exists: rather than re-running the check by hand, you are told when something changes.

Administrator.uk

How to check a company's credit for free in the UK

By the administrator.uk editorial teamLast reviewed 16 June 2026

You can learn a lot about a UK company's credit standing for free. The headline score that bureaus like Experian and Creditsafe sell is a paid product, but much of what feeds it is public: how the company is doing financially, whether it is behind on what it owes, and the track record of the people running it. For most trading decisions that picture is enough. What you will not get for free is a single score or a recommended credit limit, and no check, free or paid, stays current for long.

If your question is less "what is their score" and more "should I offer this customer terms, and which terms", see how to check a customer before you give them credit.

In one minute

The score is paid, but much of what feeds it is public. A bureau score is a model built on largely public information.
For free you can gauge a company's financial health, whether it owes others, and its directors' track record.
A paid bureau report adds a single score, a suggested credit limit, and ongoing alerts.
You pay the bureau for the model and the monitoring, not for hidden data.
Any check is a snapshot. A one-off score is only as good as the day you ran it.

For free

What a free look can tell you

A company credit score is, in the end, someone's model applied to information that is largely public. A good deal of what that score reflects, you can gauge for yourself at no cost, if you know what you are weighing.

Whether it is trading from strength or strain. A company's own financial filings show how it is doing, and whether it keeps them up to date. A business that is profitable and reports on time reads very differently from one that owes more than it owns, or that has gone quiet.

Whether it is already behind with others. Court judgments for unpaid debts, and heavy borrowing secured against the company's assets, both signal that other creditors are ahead of you. The guide on how debts are paid explains where an unsecured supplier ranks.

Who is running it. The directors, and their track record. A trail of failed companies behind the same people, especially in the same trade, is worth pausing over. The guide on director disqualification covers the more serious end of that.

What this free picture will not give you is a single number, or a view that stays current. For those, and for keeping an eye on many customers at once, a paid tool earns its place.

Free vs paid

What a paid bureau score adds

A paid report from a bureau such as Experian, Creditsafe or Red Flag Alert adds three things. A single credit score, usually on a scale where higher means lower risk, so you can compare companies at a glance. A suggested maximum credit limit, the bureau's view of how much exposure is sensible. And ongoing alerts when the company's profile changes.

The scores are genuinely useful, particularly across a large customer book. What you are paying for is the model and the monitoring. A reasonable approach for most small businesses is to weigh the free picture for one-off decisions on a handful of customers, and to consider a paid tool when the number of accounts, or the size of the exposure, makes that impractical.

The limit of any check

A credit score is a snapshot. Risk keeps moving.

Free or paid, a credit check captures one moment. The most carefully scored customer can lose a major contract next quarter, fall behind, and slide toward insolvency, all after you checked and set their terms. The signs of that appear afterwards, not when you ran the check.

Re-running a full check on every customer, every few weeks, is not realistic for most businesses, which is why a score quietly goes stale and the first sign of trouble is often a missed payment.

What we do

A score checks them once. We keep an eye on what happens next.

administrator.uk is not a credit bureau and does not sell a score. We tell you when a customer goes under. There are two ways, and the difference is how early you want to know.

ConfirmedFreeAn alert the day a customer enters administration.

Protect£24/moAn alert at the first warning sign, well before it's official.

We can't stop a customer failing, but you will never be the last to know, and you will know you did all you could.

Get Protect, £24/mo →

Frequently asked

Common questions

Can I check a company's credit for free in the UK?: Some of it, yes. A company's own financial filings, its record of paying debts, and the history of its directors are matters of public record, and you can look at them at no cost. What is not free is a single credit score or a recommended credit limit, which are paid products. And no check, free or paid, stays current for long.
How do I check a company's credit score for free?: You cannot get the headline score for free. A credit score is a paid product that bureaus such as Experian, Creditsafe and Red Flag Alert build with their own models. The information underneath is largely public, but the score itself, and the suggested credit limit that comes with it, are what you are paying for.
What is a good company credit score?: It depends which bureau you use, because each scores on its own scale. A common pattern is a 0 to 100 scale where a higher number means lower risk, with bands from very high risk to very low risk. Because the scales differ, a score is most useful for comparing companies within one bureau, or for tracking whether a single company's score is rising or falling over time, rather than as an absolute pass mark.
What does a paid company credit check add?: A paid report from Experian, Creditsafe or similar typically adds three things: a single credit score, a suggested maximum credit limit, and ongoing alerts when the company's profile changes. You are paying for the model and the convenience, rather than for information that was hidden.
Is a company credit check the same as a personal credit check?: No. A company credit check looks at a limited company's financial standing and payment record. A personal credit check looks at an individual's borrowing history and is protected data you generally cannot pull on someone else without their consent. For a sole trader with no limited company, there is little company record to check, which is itself worth knowing before you offer terms.
How often should I check a company's credit?: A credit check, free or paid, is a snapshot of one moment. A company that checks out today can lose a contract, fall behind and drift toward insolvency over the following months, after you have already extended terms. This is why ongoing monitoring exists: rather than re-running the check by hand, you are told when something changes.