Please note that this News item is not maintained, and reflects the law as at the date of publication or update.
Companies House have announced that on Friday 13 March, it became aware of a security issue which enabled a logged-in user of the Companies House WebFiling service to access and potentially change another company’s details without their consent.
As a result, the WebFiling service was temporarily closed from 1.30pm on Friday 13 March until 9am on Monday 16 March while Companies House investigated the issue.
During their investigation, Companies House discovered that:
- It may have been possible for unauthorised filings, such as new accounts or changes of director, to be made to another company’s record.
- Personal information such as directors’ addresses, dates of birth and email address, which is not normally published on Companies House, may have been visible to other WebFiling users.
However, Companies House have confirmed that passwords and data used for the identity verification procedure (such as passport information) was not compromised. Further, Companies House do not believe that existing filed documents, such as accounts and confirmation statements could be altered.
Companies House have stated that their investigation indicates that the security issue had arisen from a WebFiling system update which was carried out in October 2025. However, the investigation is still ongoing.
The full statement from Andy King, Chief Executive of Companies House, on the WebFiling security issue can be accessed here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/update-on-companies-house-webfiling-security-issue
We would strongly recommend that companies check their details and filing history on Companies House following the security breach. If you have any concerns or would like any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
