Company Solvency Check UK
Instantly assess whether a UK company is at risk of insolvency. Altman Z-Score solvency prediction, Gazette insolvency notice screening, equity and gearing analysis, and earnings manipulation detection — all from official UK data.
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What the solvency check covers
Altman Z-Score
Predicts insolvency risk within two years. Safe zone (>2.9), grey zone (1.23–2.9), distress zone (<1.23). Adapted for UK private companies that don't have market capitalisation data.
Gazette Insolvency Notices
Searches The Gazette — the UK official public record — for winding-up petitions, administration appointments, CVA notices, and striking-off warnings. Often published before CH status changes.
Equity & Gearing Ratios
Equity ratio (equity as % of total assets) and gearing (total liabilities ÷ equity) — the most meaningful solvency measures for UK private companies with minimal share capital.
Registered Charges
Outstanding secured charges indicate how much of the company's assets are already pledged to lenders. Multiple outstanding charges signal heavy secured borrowing.
Beneish M-Score
Statistical model that detects whether a company may be manipulating its reported earnings — a red flag for solvency analysis since it suggests reported figures may be unreliable.
Filing Compliance Score
Late or missing accounts are a strong insolvency predictor. The compliance score tracks account filing timeliness, confirmation statement status, and any overdue obligations.
Understanding the Altman Z-Score for UK companies
The Altman Z'-Score (Z-prime, for private companies) is the most widely used quantitative model for predicting corporate bankruptcy. It was originally developed in 1968 by Professor Edward Altman at New York University and has been validated across multiple countries and economic cycles.
The formula combines five financial ratios — working capital / total assets, retained earnings / total assets, EBIT / total assets, book value of equity / total liabilities, and revenue / total assets. Each ratio captures a different dimension of financial health, and the weighted combination produces a score interpreted as:
Important caveat for UK micro-entities: Many UK private companies have minimal paid-up share capital (£100 is standard) and may not have a P&L on file. FinancialInsight flags when a Z-Score is computed from partial data and dampens its contribution to the overall credit score accordingly.
Frequently asked questions
To check a UK company's solvency: run a credit check on FinancialInsight. The tool computes the Altman Z'-Score (an academically validated insolvency predictor), checks The Gazette for winding-up petitions and administration notices, calculates the equity ratio and gearing, and scans for late filings — all in under 60 seconds.
The Altman Z'-Score is a formula combining five financial ratios to predict whether a company is at risk of insolvency within two years. For UK private companies: scores above 2.9 are in the safe zone, 1.23–2.9 is the grey zone (monitor closely), and below 1.23 is the distress zone with elevated default probability. It was developed by Professor Edward Altman at NYU and has been validated across decades of data.
Liquidity is the ability to meet short-term payment obligations (can the company pay its bills this month?). Solvency is the ability to meet long-term obligations (is the company financially viable over the next year or more?). A company can be temporarily illiquid but solvent (cash flow timing issue), or liquid but insolvent (paying bills but fundamentally over-leveraged).
Yes. The Gazette (thegazette.co.uk) is the UK's official statutory public record. All insolvency events — winding-up petitions, creditors' voluntary liquidations, administration appointments, CVAs, and striking-off notices — must be published in The Gazette. FinancialInsight searches it automatically as part of every credit check.
Yes — this is why the Beneish M-Score matters. If a company is manipulating its reported earnings or inflating assets on the balance sheet, its financial ratios will appear healthier than reality. FinancialInsight's Beneish M-Score flags companies with unusually favourable changes in key accounting ratios that could indicate earnings manipulation.
For solvency analysis: the latest balance sheet (equity, total assets, total liabilities), P&L if available (EBITDA, interest charges), registered charges (secured creditors), and filing compliance (overdue accounts are a leading insolvency indicator). FinancialInsight extracts all of this automatically from the latest filed documents.
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Altman Z-Score · Gazette screening · Instant results