Check Company Name Availability

API method to use: company_name_check

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Documentation on the T2A API company_name_check method which checks if a proposed company name is already registered, or if there is an existing company name which is too similar to the proposed name, under the Companies House 2006 regulations.

Description

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Checks if a proposed company name is already registered, or if there is an existing company name which is too similar to the proposed name, under the Companies House 2006 regulations.

If similar name(s) are found the method will return the name entered and a list of companies, detailing the company name and company number, with names the same as or too similar to the proposed name.

For example, a name check on "Simunix Wholesellers" will return "no match", but a name check on "Simunix International" will return "Simunix Limited" because the proposed name is too similar to the latter.

Mandatory Parameters

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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.
name	A proposed company name.

Optional Parameters

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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

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The XML response is contained within a <company_name_check_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.
input_name	The name parameter as entered.
company_short_list	An array of company_short records. If present, this list shows the company or companies whose name(s) is or are too similar to the proposed name.

Error Codes

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

Free Test Mode

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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.

Example XML Response

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<?xml version="1.0"?>
<company_name_check_res>
  <mode>normal</mode>
  <t2a_version_number>1.0.0</t2a_version_number>
  <status>ok</status>
  <chargeable>true</chargeable>
  <input_name>simunix international</input_name>
  <company_short_list>
    <company_short>
      <name>Simunix Limited</name>
      <company_number>03684982</company_number>
      <data_set>LIVE</data_set>
    </company_short>
  </company_short_list>
</company_name_check_res>

Example JSON Response

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{
  "input_name":"simunix international",
  "company_short_list":[
  {
    "name":"Simunix Limited",
    "company_number":"03684982",
    "data_set":"LIVE"
  }
  ],
  "mode":"normal",
  "t2a_version_number":"1.0.0",
  "status":"ok",
  "chargeable":"true"
}