Get a credit report on a company

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Get a full credit report on a UK company.

Using a full company number, get a credit report on a Limited Company. Information returned includes: a current credit rating, company financial information, shareholders, CCJ Information and comments.

If you do not know the company number you can find it using our business_search method.

This Service provides a credit report on a Limited Company. Enter the Companies House number of a limited company to receive a report giving a current rating and a calculation of the recommended total credit amount that should be awarded at any one time.

The credit report also includes the following additional information:-

  • Company Financial Information
  • Shareholders
  • CCJ Information
  • Comments

The financial information is offered as a list of periods, and includes balance sheet, profit and loss, ratio and capital reserves. This document lists the elements in those sections; a detailed explanation of financial report information is beyond the scope of this document.

The method offers a free test mode; use of this is highly recommended during the initial integration.

Mandatory Parameters


Name Description
api_key or javascript_key Use your API key if invoking server-side. If invoking from the browser via JavaScript, generate a JavaScript key using the javascript_key method.
company_number The limited company number - returned, where available, from the business_search method.

Optional Parameters


Name Description
client You can optionally include an identifier for your final client or user. This is logged in your usage log and you will be able to view your usage statistics by client.
output Set to json for a JSON response; the default response is XML. Not applicable to the SOAP API.
callback When using JSON, specify a JSONP wrapper in which the JSON response is to be wrapped.

Returned Values


The XML response is contained within a <company_credit_report_res> element.

Name Description
status Returns ok if the operation has succeeded, or error if an error has occurred; Returns the error_code for error details.
error_code Returns the error code when the status is error. See below for error codes.
t2a_version_number The current API version number.
credit_used The number of credits used in order to execute the request.
mode Returns normal or test when executed in the free test mode.
report The credit report information.

Credit Report Response Details


This is the <report> element of a credit report.

Element Description
rating score The credit worthiness of the company.
rating_desc A description of the current rating.
rating_date Date of current rating YYYY-MM-DD
prev_rating_score Previous rating.
prev_rating_desc Previous description.
prev_rating_date Date of the previous rating YYYY-MM-DD.
limit Recommended credit limit in GBP.
limit_date Date of the recommended credit limit YYYY-MM-DD.
prev_limit Previous credit limit.
prev_limit_date Date of the previous credit limit YYYY-MM-DD.
company_shareholder_list List of company_shareholder elements
company_financial_list List of company_financial elements
ccj_payment_list List of company_ccj_payment elements
comment_list List of company_comment elements

Response Structure <company_comment>


This is a single comment within the <comment_list> of a credit report.

Element Description
comment The comment text
val1 Value associated with the comment
val2 Value associated with the comment
impact The comment's impact, + or -
priority The recommended ordering of the comments

Response Structure <company_ccj_payment>


This is a single County Court Judgement (ccj) item within the <ccj_payment_list> of a credit report.

Element Description
case_number The case number
ccj_date The date YYYY-MM-DD
ccj_date_paid Date when paid YYYY-MM-DD
court The court name
status * CCJ Status
amount Amount
exact Exact (yes/no)

* CCJ Status
The status returned is a 2 letter code defined as follows:

"SA" - Set Aside
"SS" - Satisfied
"JG" - Judgement

Creditworthiness Ratings Explained


Key Financials Filed / Established

Rating Description
71-100 Very Good Credit Worthiness
51-70 Good Credit Worthiness
30-50 Credit Worthy
21-29 Credit Against Collateral
1-20 Caution - Credit at your discretion
Not Rated Please see report for description

Newly Incorporated

Rating Description
51-100 Low Risk
30-50 Moderate Risk
1-29 Caution - High risk
Not Rated Please see report for description

Error Codes


See the common error codes. There are no errors which are specific to this method.

Free Test Mode


When operating in the free test mode errors are returned if mandatory parameters are missing, or it returns a dummy data response, in an identical format to a real response.

Note that the mode is returned as test when the method is operating in the free test mode.

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