Guide · updated 28 September 2026

Warning signs a customer or supplier is in financial trouble

Companies rarely fail without warning. The public register usually shows the signs weeks or months before a customer stops paying or a supplier stops delivering. These are the ones worth knowing, roughly from earliest to most serious.

Late filing

Overdue accounts or an overdue confirmation statement are often the first public sign. Finance teams under pressure let statutory filing slip, and accountants may be reluctant to sign off accounts for a business in difficulty. What overdue accounts mean.

New charges

A new charge shows a lender has taken security. Most are routine, but a burst of new charges, security over all assets (a debenture), or borrowing from a specialist rescue lender can mean a company needs cash urgently. Charges explained.

Directors leaving

One resignation means little. Several in a short time, especially the finance director, can mean people are leaving before something happens. A sudden change in who owns or controls the company is similar.

Registered office moving to an insolvency practitioner

When a company's registered office changes to the address of a firm of insolvency practitioners, a formal process is often being prepared.

Compulsory strike-off notice

If a company fails to file, Companies House can publish a first notice in The Gazette that it intends to strike the company off. A company that can't keep its filings up to date is often not keeping its finances in order either.

Winding-up petition

A creditor owed at least £750 can petition the court to wind up a company, and the petition is advertised in The Gazette. This is serious: banks often freeze the company's accounts once they see it, which can tip a struggling business over the edge.

Formal insolvency

Administration, liquidation, receivership and company voluntary arrangements all appear on the register. By this point, getting paid in full is unlikely; see what to do when a customer goes into administration.

Signs that aren't on the register

Watch your own ledger too: slower payments, part payments, requests for longer terms, disputes that appear only when an invoice falls due, and a contact who stops returning calls. The register tells you what the company has filed; your ledger tells you how it pays you.

RiskDiver watches the register for these signs every day, weighs them, and emails you when a company you trade with moves into High or Critical risk. Try a free check.

Common questions

What is the earliest public warning sign?

Usually late filing: overdue accounts or an overdue confirmation statement. Struggling companies often fall behind on paperwork before anything more serious appears on the register.

Is a new charge always a bad sign?

No. Companies register charges for ordinary borrowing and invoice finance. It matters more alongside other signals, or when a lender takes security over everything the company owns.

What does a compulsory strike-off notice mean?

Companies House has started the process of removing the company from the register, usually because filings are missing. If it completes, the company ceases to exist.

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General information, not legal or financial advice.