Companies House runs a free Follow service that emails you whenever a filing for a company you follow is accepted onto the register, and when a filing is removed. Anyone signed in to Find and update company information can follow any company. Directors use it as an early warning system: a director appointment, resignation or registered office change they did not make reaches their inbox as soon as it is accepted, rather than months later.
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What is the Follow service?
Companies House describes Follow as a free service that sends email alerts of company transactions. Its guidance on searching the register says the alert tells you what has been filed as soon as Companies House has accepted it, and includes a link to the company’s filing history where you can download the document free of charge. Its fraud guidance adds that you will also receive an alert when Companies House removes a transaction, and that for a director or auditor Follow is a convenient way to keep track of changes so problems can be dealt with quickly.
Follow is separate from the company’s own contact details. Since 4 March 2024 section 88A of the Companies Act 2006 has required every company to keep an appropriate registered email address, meaning one where emails from the registrar would be expected to come to the attention of someone acting for the company. That address is not published on the public register, and Companies House may use it to contact the company. Follow alerts go to whoever set up the follow, so a director, a company secretary and the company’s accountant can all receive them independently.
How do you follow a company?
Viewing the register needs no account, but following does. Companies House sets out the steps:
- Register an email address and password, then sign in to Find and update company information.
- Search for the company you want to follow.
- Select the company.
- Select “Follow this company”.
Because the register is public, you can follow companies you have no role in, such as a customer you give credit to or a supplier you rely on. For fraud prevention, the most useful companies to follow are your own, any company where you are named as a director, and, for practices, client companies where the firm acts as registered office or filing agent.
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Why do directors use it to spot fraudulent changes?
Companies House warns that fraudsters are known to hijack a company by changing the details of its directors and registered office, which leaves the company open to further fraud. Its guidance on the registrar’s powers recognises that some information delivered is entirely false: a person appointed to a role without their knowledge or consent, a transaction that never happened, or a document delivered without the company’s authority.
A hijack usually starts with filings that move control or redirect post: a new director appointed, the real directors removed, and the registered office moved so that letters from banks, HMRC and Companies House no longer reach the owners. Without alerts, the first sign may be a refused payment or a letter from a creditor. With Follow, each accepted filing produces an email, so the real directors can act within days.
Which alerts should prompt a closer look?
| Filing | What it does | Why an unexpected one is a concern |
|---|---|---|
| AP01 | Appoints a director | Someone may be taking control of the company |
| TM01 | Ends a director’s appointment | The genuine directors may have been removed |
| AD01 | Changes the registered office address | Official post is redirected away from the owners |
| CH01 | Changes a director’s details | A service address may have been altered |
| PSC01 or PSC07 | Adds or removes a person with significant control | Ownership may be misrepresented |
| SH01 | Returns an allotment of shares | New shares may dilute the real owners |
| MR01 | Registers a charge | Assets may have been pledged as security |
| DS01 | Applies to strike off the company | The company could be dissolved |
| NM01 | Changes the company name | The identity of the business is altered |
Routine filings, such as the confirmation statement (CS01) and accounts, also trigger alerts. An unexpected confirmation statement is worth opening too, to check what it says about officers and shareholders.
What should you do when an alert shows a filing you did not make?
- Tell Companies House quickly. If you have been appointed without your knowledge or consent, its guidance says to contact it as soon as possible; it can remove your details if satisfied you were falsely named. There is an online form for reporting a name or address used without permission, and Companies House asks you not to report the same case more than once.
- Ask for false material to be removed. Under section 1094 the registrar can administratively remove material that was not properly delivered. Applications are usually made on form RP08, and in urgent cases the registrar may remove material without notice first.
- Fix a hijacked registered office. Any person can apply on form RP07 under section 1097A where a registered office is not an appropriate address.
- Object to a strike off. If a DS01 appears, Companies House says any interested party can object after the first Gazette notice, and the objection should be delivered at least two weeks before the dissolution date stated.
- Report the crime. Report Fraud is the national reporting centre (0300 123 2040); for a company registered in Scotland, report to Police Scotland.
- Change the authentication code. Companies House says anyone who knows the code can change the company’s details online, and that it should be changed if it is known by someone no longer authorised, such as a former accountant.
More detail on each route is in our guide to reporting fraudulent filings.
What does Follow not do?
Follow tells you about a filing after Companies House has accepted it. It does not block anything. Three other measures work alongside it:
- PROOF. The free protected online filing scheme stops certain paper forms, including AP01, TM01, CH01, AD01 and NM01, from being accepted; paper versions are rejected and returned to the registered office. A company with an ongoing internal dispute between officers cannot join until it is resolved.
- Protecting the authentication code. Companies House describes it as the equivalent of an officer’s signature for online filing and says it will never ask for it by phone or email.
- Identity verification. From 18 November 2025 new directors must verify their identity to be appointed, and existing directors confirm verification with their next confirmation statement during a 12 month transition. See our guide to Companies House identity verification.
How might this work in practice?
Illustration only. Priya is the sole director of a small consultancy and follows her own company. One evening she receives three alerts: an AD01 moving the registered office to an address she does not recognise, an AP01 appointing a stranger, and a TM01 removing her. She downloads the three documents from the links in the emails, reports the false appointment and her removal to Companies House, applies on RP07 to restore the registered office, reports the matter to Report Fraud, and changes the authentication code. Because she acted the same week, she can warn her bank before any account changes are attempted. Afterwards she joins PROOF and asks her accountant to follow the company as well.
What mistakes come up most often?
- Assuming the registered email address will receive Follow alerts. It will not unless someone uses it to follow the company.
- Following only your main company and not dormant or subsidiary companies, where a false change could go unnoticed for months.
- Ignoring alerts for routine filings without opening the document.
- Relying on Follow alone, without PROOF and a protected authentication code.
- Leaving a former adviser with the authentication code after the relationship ends.
- Waiting for a DS01 strike off to complete instead of objecting in time.
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Related Accountapedia entries
- Companies House fees
- Who pays a penalty when the accountant files late
- Reading a company’s accounts from Companies House
- Dormant for Companies House vs dormant for HMRC
- What is a Companies House personal code
Related cover: Directors and officers insurance. Ask for a quote or call 01795 841 310.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Searching the companies house register
- GOV.UK: Protecting your company from fraud and scams
- legislation.gov.uk: Act 2006 c. 46, section 88A
- GOV.UK: Company address
- GOV.UK: Protect your company from corporate identity theft
- GOV.UK: Company registrars rules and powers
- GOV.UK: Companies house forms for limited companies
- GOV.UK: Report a company using your personal details without your permission
- GOV.UK: Striking off or dissolving a limited company
- GOV.UK: Companies house confirms identity verification rollout from 18 novembe
Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.