Terms and conditions

Last updated: 11 September 2024

These terms govern your use of Company Lookup (“the service”). By using the service you accept them. If you do not accept them, do not use the service.

1. Who we are

Company Lookup is a website published at companylookup.org.uk. In these terms, “we”, “us” and “our” mean the operator of that website; “you” means the person using it.

Service

Company Lookup

Website

companylookup.org.uk

2. We are not a government service

Company Lookup is independent. It is not operated by, endorsed by, affiliated with, or acting on behalf of Companies House, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Department for Business and Trade, His Majesty’s Government, or any other public body.

We cannot amend the register, accept filings, process applications, issue certificates, or take any action on a company record. To do any of those things, use the official Companies House service at find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk.

We never ask for payment for information that Companies House provides free of charge.

3. What the service does

The service provides a search interface to the public register of companies maintained by Companies House. When you search, your browser requests data directly from the Companies House Public Data API. We do not operate a server that stores or processes register data on your behalf.

4. API keys and fair use

The service ships with a shared API key so that it works without setup. That key carries a single rate limit shared by everyone using the site — currently 600 requests every 5 minutes. You must not exhaust it deliberately, script against it, or use it as a data source for another application. We may withdraw or replace it at any time.

You may instead supply your own API key obtained from Companies House, in which case you must comply with the terms on which it is issued to you. A key you supply is stored in your browser’s local storage on the device you are using, is transmitted only to Companies House, and is never received by us.

5. Accuracy of the information

All company information shown by the service originates from Companies House. We do not verify, correct, supplement or endorse it.

Companies House does not verify the accuracy of most information filed with it. Records may be incomplete, out of date, or contain errors made by the filing company. Information may also be withheld or suppressed under statutory protection regimes.

The service displays a summary. It does not show every filed document. Where a decision matters, consult the official Companies House record and the underlying filed documents.

6. Not professional advice

The service provides information only. Nothing on it constitutes legal, financial, tax, accounting, investment or credit advice, and it must not be relied on as a substitute for advice from a suitably qualified professional. It is not a credit reference, a due-diligence report, or a verification of identity for anti-money-laundering purposes.

7. Acceptable use

You must not:

• use the service unlawfully, or for any fraudulent or deceptive purpose;
• use the data to harass, intimidate, defame or stalk any person;
• attempt to circumvent rate limits, or place an unreasonable load on the service or on Companies House systems;
• use automated means to extract data in bulk — Companies House publishes a free bulk data product for that purpose;
• use personal data obtained through the service for direct marketing, or in any way that breaches data protection law;
• attempt to gain unauthorised access to the service, or introduce malicious code.

8. Intellectual property and licensing

Company information supplied by Companies House is Crown copyright and is made available under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If you reproduce it, you must comply with that licence, including its attribution requirement.

The design, layout and source code of the service are owned by us or licensed to us, save where stated otherwise.

9. Availability

The service is provided free of charge and on an “as is” and “as available” basis. We do not guarantee that it will be available, uninterrupted, or free from error. We may change, suspend or withdraw all or part of it at any time without notice. Availability also depends on the Companies House API, over which we have no control.

10. Our liability

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

Subject to that, we exclude all implied conditions, warranties and representations to the fullest extent permitted by law, and we are not liable for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, loss of data, or loss of anticipated savings arising from your use of, or inability to use, the service, or from reliance on any information shown by it.

If you are a consumer, these terms do not affect your statutory rights.

11. Changes to these terms

We may revise these terms at any time. The version published on this page applies to your use of the service on the date you use it. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last changed.

12. Governing law

These terms and any dispute arising out of them are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction. If you are a consumer resident in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you may also bring proceedings in your local courts.

13. Contact

Questions or complaints about these terms should be sent to [email protected]. We aim to acknowledge within 5 working days.

Questions about personal data should go to [email protected] — see our privacy notice.

Requests to correct or remove information held on the register itself cannot be actioned by us. Contact Companies House directly.