Customer Entity Check

Entity Checker

Who are you dealing with?

Do you really know the legal entity behind the customers who owe you money?

You may be invoicing John Brown or White or Green but in reality you are actually dealing with a limited liability company. As a result the risk level of the debt could be a lot greater than previously thought.

For instance, they could be or have been a director of a related company which has recently ceased trading or a liquidator has been appointed. Once again, this has the effect of increasing the risk level.

The Problem?

Recently we were contacted by a company who had ordered and prepaid a company for the supply of exclusive furniture. The furniture was not delivered and they could not get a satisfactory response. We were asked to intervene. We established that the directors of the supply company had been involved in several previous companies which were insolvent and were the subject of investigation by trading standards and the companies office. Furthermore the address they gave was a virtual office only. The furniture was not supplied and the money was tied up in insolvency.

For fear that this might happen again this company used our entity checking service to check out other supply arrangements they had with other companies. Whereas we did not uncover another instance as had previously happened we did uncover indicators that all was not well with some of the companies. As a result corrective action was taken which potentially saved them a substantial amount of money.

In addition, not knowing who you are actually dealing with puts you at a competitive disadvantage not to mention risk.

How Can We Help? “What is Entity Checking?”

Over the past 25 years we have come across situations where the named account holder had sold the business and a new account had not been opened. Indeed on more than one occasion we have come across situations where the account holder was deceased and the account still continued to trade.

Did you know a company that has been dissolved by the Companies Office can still continue to trade even though legally it does not exist. For this reason you cannot pursue the company through the courts to recover your money.

Other Important Points

Even if you have the correct entity do you have the correct name? For example,

• Padraig, Padhraig, Pauric or Padraic. Which one is correct?
• Has there been any possible “Red Flags” signalled about the correct entity?
• Have you checked the financial situation of the correct entity?

It is important when checking the entity or background that you know where to look, how to look and what to look for. Obviously this requires knowledge and experience.

We will provide your business with this service. Firstly we will check the legal entity. In the event that the legal entity is incorrect we will notify you of the correct entity. Secondly, upon instruction from you we will check for “Red Flags” or possible indications of risk associated with the correct entity.

Confidentiality

We provide this service in strictest confidence. In addition, we will never ask you for commercial information such as purchase value, balance owed or prices charged. Most importantly, all information provided to us is covered by a confidentiality agreement and our privacy policy.