How to check a double glazing company

You can check a double glazing company in a few minutes on the government’s Companies House register, and I’d do it before paying a deposit to any firm I didn’t know. The register shows whether the company exists, who runs it and whether it files its accounts. It can’t tell you whether the windows will be any good.

Why check a double glazing company

A guarantee is only worth something if the firm is still there to honour it. Many people have heard a story about a company that went bust and started up again under a similar name. If you’re thinking of buying from a firm like that, you’d want to know. Our guide to buyer beware explains why an insurance-backed guarantee matters for the same reason.

Search Companies House

Companies House runs a free service to find company information. Its own guide to the service says you can search for companies, officers or disqualifications, and that the overview shows the registered address, the date of incorporation, the nature of business, and when the last accounts and confirmation statement were filed and when the next are due. You can also see the filing history, the officers and the people with significant control.

Things I’d look for:

• Is the name and address the same as on the quote? If the quote gives no company name, ask for it.
• How long has the company existed? A new company isn’t a bad sign by itself. It tells you how much track record there is.
• Are accounts and statements up to date? In my view, a firm that has stopped filing deserves a question.
• Who are the officers? Search their names to see if they ran other companies.

Companies House says it only makes basic checks on the accounts it receives, so the register shows what a company has filed, not whether it is sound.

A similar name proves nothing

When I searched the register for “The Window Man”, I found several names and variants of it that had failed. I have no connection with any of them. That shows how easy it is to match a name to the wrong company. A company with a listing, even a bad one, may have nothing to do with the firm you are checking. So match the company number, the registered address and the officers, and not just the name.

Reusing a failed company’s name

A director whose company has gone into insolvent liquidation is restricted from reusing its name. Section 216 of the Insolvency Act says that, for a period after the liquidation, such a person can’t be a director of another company known by that name or a name so similar as to suggest an association, without the court’s leave or in prescribed circumstances. The Act says that anyone who breaks this is liable to imprisonment or a fine, or both.

That is the law, and it isn’t the same as saying every firm with a similar name is doing something wrong. There are exceptions, and I’m not a lawyer. If the register shows a company that closed and a new one with a similar name and the same people, ask the firm to explain.

Check more than the register

Companies House won’t tell you about workmanship or certification, so ask for the following:

1. Registration with a scheme that can certify the work, with the number. Then check it with the scheme.
2. The guarantee in writing, and who backs it if the firm closes.
3. Recent customers you can phone, and the firm’s work you can see.
4. A written quote with the full specification. See the window specification checklist.

If you can’t find the firm, or the answers don’t match, step back. Our guide to bogus double glazing traders covers the warning signs, and the quote checker tells you whether the price is in line.