Hijack protection
Know when anyone changes who runs your company
Included free on the Watchdog plan — and on every paid plan.
Company hijacking is real and dormant companies are its favourite target: a fraudster files a director change or moves your registered office, then borrows or trades on a clean history nobody is watching. The filings are public — the problem is that no one looks. We look every day.
See hijack protection working · 52s
In the product
A register change, flagged the next morning
The bell on the dashboard holds every alert. Here Companies House has recorded a registered office change (form AD01) for the company, and the alert says exactly what changed and what to do if it wasn't you.
- 1The bell — every alert lands here as well as in your inbox.
- 2The register-change alert: a registered office change (AD01), with the date it was recorded.
- 3What to do if the change wasn't you.
The notification bell is open on the dashboard, with a registered office change alert for the company among the notices.
Your public record, checked every day
We compare your company's Companies House record against the day before, every morning. Anything that changes who runs, owns or identifies your company raises an alert at the next morning's check.
The changes that matter
Directors or secretaries joining or leaving, a new registered address, changes to who owns or controls it (persons with significant control), a new name, new charges (loans secured on the company), and insolvency filings. These are the moves a hijacker makes — and the ones you hear about immediately.
No noise from routine filings
Accounts and confirmation statements land on the register routinely, so they don't raise a hijack alert. If a flagged change was you, dismiss it in a click. If it wasn't, you'll know in time to report it and act.
Strike-off watch, in the same sweep
If a strike-off notice against your company appears in the Gazette (the official public record where these notices are published), the daily check catches it and emails you while the objection window is still open. If the company is struck off or restored, filing and reminders pause or resume automatically — and you're told straight away.
Armed from day one
Monitoring starts with your first daily sync after you add the company — there's nothing to configure and nothing to remember to switch on.
Questions, answered
- Why would anyone hijack a dormant company?
- A dormant company with years of clean history is a ready-made identity: fraudsters use it to open credit accounts, order goods, or pose as an established business. Because the owner isn't trading, changes to the register often go unnoticed for months — which is exactly what the fraud relies on.
- What do I do if I get an alert that wasn't me?
- Act quickly: report it to Companies House and Action Fraud, and object to the false filing. The point of a same-day alert is that you're inside the window where the damage can still be contained — our alert email walks you through the steps.
- Is this really free?
- Yes — register monitoring and strike-off alerts are part of the free Watchdog plan for one company, no card needed. Paid plans add the filing itself.
Keep reading
Put a daily watch on your company — free.
One company, full register monitoring and strike-off alerts. No card needed.
DormantFile is an independent service, not part of Companies House, HMRC or any government body.