Protect

RM ONLINE "PROTECT" WARNING SYSTEM

Clients guide to RM Online "Protect"

Introduction

Terms of Use

The RM Online "Protect" system consists of a series of codes which represent specific events as depicted by the table below. The information is gathered from RM Online investigations as well as from third party sources. RM Online acquires third party information in good faith however it is not in a position to guarantee the accuracy of data from third parties.
Most entries in the table below are self explanatory however it is important and it forms part of your terms and conditions that clients interpret these codes "within" the definitions given below.
As a member of the RM Online "Protect" system you and your company agree that you will take the appropriate steps to ensure that reports which have a "protect code", "the text forming that code" or "the Protect score" will not be displayed to any third party in any form for any reason including resale. Protect codes will only be available to members for proper use within their own business.
The client further warrants that use of the "protect" system will only be made in conjunction with the process of granting credit - be that initial credit clearance, updating records to maintain credit, monitoring of existing clients, or pursuing accounts which have defaulted.
You should advise RM Online immediately if you consider that access security to your password system is doubtful.
The codes are generated by computer and through manual analytical intervention. The codes have been weighted creating an overall score for the company known as the "Protect" score.
Clients are advised that the "Protect" score is calculated in real time and as such may on occasions appear to be in conflict with an assigned Credit Limit. However there are over two hundred thousand "serial failure" directors currently directing new companies. Credit Limits are only likely to be reduced or removed where we consider the threat is significant (-300 or worse ) or where we believe there is intention to defraud.
As a "Protect" member you are entitled to contact a specialist Analyst who will review any positive credit limit in relation to the Protect scores of -300 or poorer.
You are also entitled to contact a special analyst where your own company suspects another company of commercial Fraud however you are reminded that you are responsible for the validity of any information passed to our fraud unit. The Fraud unit reserve the right to review all known data available to them and further reserves the right to report serious criminal findings to the appropriate authority.
You are reminded that "Protect" is a general warning system aimed specifically at alerting clients to the possibility of increased risk being generated through events which are not traditionally housed on the standard corporate reports.
You should bare in mind at all times that simply because there are failures in the past - this does not automatically infer that the current subject of enquiry will fail. It is however a factor that should be assessed by the client alone and in that assessment we would expect the client to assess the apparent health of the company, the years it has been trading and the validity of the information on file - e.g. Have the accounts been subjected to an audit? RM Online also strongly recommends that the client uses Protect in combination with the RM Online Full Report and the clients own knowledge of the company.
Clients are reminded that with effect from June 1997 any accounts that are filed at Companies House - with a turnover of less than Ł350,000 will no longer be subjected to any audit. Whilst RM Online can appreciate the reasons behind the audit changes - it is clear and has already been demonstrated that Companies will and are taking advantage of this new ruling to present a more acceptable picture of the financial state of their company.

Code	Description	Definition
H1	Warning Caution Director(s) and/or secretary have been recorded as holding/having held 5 or more directorships in a company/companies which have been subjected to a voluntary or compulsory winding up procedures or administration orders.	Members = Directors & Company Secretaries. This does not infer current difficulty within "Subject" company however according to Companies House - it does indicate 5 or more corporate failures connected to the current Board in the past.
H2	Caution Director(s) and/or secretary have been recorded as holding/having held 2 or more directorships in a company/companies which have been subjected to a voluntary or compulsory winding up procedures or administration orders.	As above excepting 2-4 corporate failures in the past identified by Companies House.
H3	A Director and/or secretary have been recorded as holding a directorship one other company which has been subjected to a voluntary or compulsory winding up procedures or administration orders.	As above excepting one instance identified by Companies House.
H4	Caution Current/previous Director(s) and/or current/previous secretary have been recorded as Being directors of a company/companies which have been struck off the register of companies as a result of either a subject company voluntary application or due to non compliance.	Companies may be struck off following insolvency procedures however in many instances struck off occurs where no insolvency procedures have been taken. The strike off occurs primarily due to inactivity or no response to Companies House requests for filings to take place.
H5	Current/previous Director(s) and/or Current/previous secretary have been recorded as being directors of a company or companies which have been dissolved.	Companies are regularly dissolved. Nothing of a detrimental nature is inferred unless the dissolution is preceded by an insolvency procedure. If so it will be noted in another code.
H6	Admissible No trace of Current Directors being recorded as directors of other failed Companies under these exact names and contact details.	Companies House linkages for the Board show no other directorships which have failed.
H7	Caution Previous Director(s) and/or secretary have been recorded as holding/having held 5 or more directorships in a company/companies which have been subjected to a voluntary or compulsory winding up procedures or administration orders.	Previous = Board members within the last 2 years from date of search. Clients are reminded that current members of the Board may have no connection nor contact with any previous member.
H8	Caution Previous Director(s) and/or secretary have been recorded as holding/having held 2 or more directorships in a company/companies which have been subjected to a voluntary or compulsory winding up procedures or administration orders.	As above
H9	Caution Previous Members of the Board are recorded as directors of one other company which has been subjected to insolvency proceedings.	As above
H10	There are no directors on file at this time.	CRO have no record of current directors.
H11	Directors are Registration Agents Only.	Operational directors are not on file.

"V" VALIDATION & INVESTIGATION

Code	Description	Definition
V1	Caution The accounts have not been audited.	Companies with a turnover of less than Ł350,000 are exempt from audit for accounts filed after June 1997. Caution is advised as the data has not been independently verified.
V2	Caution The Accounts Information in this report has not been subjected to Audit but have had Accountancy Sign Off.	Accounts filed before June 1997 where turnover was between Ł90,000 and Ł350,0000 were exempt from audit. They were required to have the accounts Signed Off by a suitably qualified accountant. Accounts may therefore be in the correct format however no audit has taken place.
V3	Caution The Registered Office of this company has been changed in the last month.	A recent spate of fraudulent activity involves an unauthorised person altering a company's registered office address without the knowledge of subject company. Simply confirming that subject company is aware of this change will avoid the risk.
V4	Caution the Auditors audit less than 5 other UK Limited Companies according to data on file from CRO.	The Auditors, used by subject, under the style noted have been traced on our database and audit less than 5 other UK Limited Companies according to data filed at Companies Registry Office.
V5	Caution The Auditors audit 6 - 15 other UK Limited Companies according to data on file from CRO.	As above excepting that 6 - 15 other UK limited Companies have been traced as using subjects auditors.
V6	The Auditors audit 16 or more UK Limited Companies according to data on file from CRO.	As above excepting that 16 or more other UK Limited Companies have been traced as using subjects auditors.
V7	Warning The Auditors claim not to be the auditors of subject.	We recommend maximum level of care Following contact with the auditors listed, they claim not to be the auditors of subject.
V8	Caution Trade Referees supplied to us cannot be traced on our business or corporate data bases.	We prefer independent validation and proof that the Trade Referees exist. They may of course be new or non limited concerns.
V9	Caution Trade Referees supplied cannot be traced in reference books consulted.	As above however there is no external trace of the referee included in services such as Directory of Enquiries.
V10	Warning The Trade Referees premises do not exist.	We recommend maximum level of care Informants have been unable to visually confirm the existence of the referee at the addresses supplied.
V11	Warning The Trade Referees are used by other suspect cases.	We recommend maximum level of care The trade referee used to support this business has been used to support other businesses where significant credit risk has been identified.
V12	Warning The Trade Referees supplied to us appear to be connected to subject.	The trade referee used to support this business may not be independent of the business.
V13	Warning The Trade Referee contact numbers appear to link back to subject.	We recommend maximum level of care The contact numbers quoted are reported as being relayed to subject.
V14	Warning The Trade Referee contact numbers are recorded as ceased lines.	Trade referee/s contact numbers given to support the business previously are not currently functioning. The circumstances relating thereto are not known.

"C" CONNECTED DATA

Code	Description	Definition
C1	Caution Other Styles that may be connected to subject (but not proven to be) have less than 5 County Court Judgements recorded against them.	During a detailed investigation - County Court Judgements of less than 5 have been identified which we consider may be connected to subject. You are advised to assess any CCJ information contained within the report but take note that the frequency and volume of this type of data against subject may be higher.
C2	Warning Other Styles that may be connected to subject (but not proven to be) have 5 or more County Court Judgements recorded against them.	As above however the volumes of CCJ's that may be connected to subject is greater.
C3	Warning Detrimental Information against other Styles that may be connected to subject (but not proven to be) or businesses or companies that may be connected to subject (but not proven to be) may represent an unacceptable level of risk.	We recommend a high level of care During a detailed investigation Detrimental Information has been identified which we consider may be connected to subject. The data available is insufficient to prove categorically that it does or is connected to subject. Informants consider that if the detrimental information was attributed to subject then the risk presented may be unacceptable.
C4	Warning There is a possibility that the full management of the business is not openly shown at CRO.	Based on information identified or reported to RM Online, there is reason to suspect that the names on file at CRO may not identify other persons involved in controlling the business.
C5	Warning Transposition of names or variations in names appear to conceal detrimental information which would otherwise be matched. The degree of intention (if any) or processing error (if any) is not known.	We recommend a high level of care Clients are reminded that errors can occur in third party processing of data and as such concealment may not be intentional on the part of subject. The variations or transposition may on the other hand be intentional by subject.
C6	Warning Caution We cannot trace evidence of external interest in, or evidence of the external existence of this business to coincide with the stated Start Date.	We recommend care is taken Where the business is reported or recorded as having existed for a period in time - we have been unable to independently confirm that the business has been operating since that time.
C7	Admissible Subject has been independently validated as having existed for more than 3 years.	Strong validation exists that subject has been active/operating for more than 3 years.
C8	Admissible External interest in subject predates 5 years.	As above but validation predates 5 years.

"B" BUREAU (INVESTIGATION DIVISION)

Code	Description	Score	Source	Definition
B1	Warning Considerable Credit History Risk identified.	-100	Manual	We recommend maximum level of care It has been identified or reported to us that previous or current connections to subject include companies which have failed resulting in numerous unsecured creditors being adversely affected.
B2	Warning Probable Considerable Credit History Risk identified.	-50	Manual	We recommend a high level of care It has been identified or reported to us that previous or current connections to subject include companies which have failed resulting in some unsecured creditors being adversely affected.
B3	Warning Typical Enquiry pattern identified.	-100	Auto O/ride	This code is activated when the approaches made to our clients from subject conform to a recognisable pattern. Clients are reminded that respectable large new limited companies or respectable companies which have only recently been activated may also display these attributes. View the report to assess whether the business is likely to have a typical legitimate pattern of Zero activity in the past matched to a burst of activity within the last month or two.
B4	Warning Probable Enquiry Pattern identified.	-100	Auto O/ride	This code is activated when the approaches made to our clients from subject conform to a recognisable pattern. It mimics minimal setting up a business within the last six months - inevitably some enquiries get made but when ready the business then bursts into activity. Clients are reminded that seasonal businesses may also display these attributes. View the report to assess whether the business is likely to be seasonal and take account of the start date. The older the less chance of potential difficulty.
B5	Admissible Enquiry pattern identified.	+20	Auto O/ride	Regular activity over a prolonged period suggests that any difficulties would have become apparent through court activity by now. No peaks in the last month in comparison to previous.
B6	Warning Investigation Bureau findings indicate "Risk Considerable"	-100	Manual	We recommend maximum level of care These codes are similar to B1 and B2. The main difference is that in B6 it is understood to be of greater risk than Credit History type risk.
B7	Warning Investigation Bureau findings indicate "Risk High"	-50	Manual	We recommend maximum level of care Similar to B6 in that the risk is greater than Credit History risk however there is less material to base the judgement on.
B8	Admissible Investigation Bureau findings indicate "Nothing Adverse Traced" during investigation following report of difficulties.	+20	Manual	The bureau has conducted a full review of subject and there is no traceable evidence that could confirm a credit history or fraud problem. The case will be monitored as a precaution.
B10	Warning Refer to Investigation Bureau urgently via the Credit Appraisal Department on (tel number here)	-500	Manual	We recommend maximum level of care The bureau has previously investigated or are currently investigating subject in response to internal or external concerns. Contact them through the Credit Appraisal Department.
B11	Warning Fax or Post Trade Referee Names and Credit Application Forms to assist Investigation Bureau on (Credit Appraisal Department FAX LINE NUMBER IN HERE).	-500	Manual	We recommend maximum level of care Your information may assist in a current investigation, maximum care is needed until the investigation is complete.
B12	Warning Unsecured Credit of any kind should not be undertaken without contacting the Investigation Bureau.	-500	Manual	We recommend maximum level of care This code will invariably be associated with B1, B2, B6 or B7. Informants indicate or information identified may indicate that subject or connections to subject represents an unacceptable level of risk.

"D" DISQUALIFIED & BANKRPTCY

Code	Description	Score	Source	Definition
D1	Warning A current Officer of the Company is recorded as being a disqualified Director.	-500	Auto	We recommend maximum level of care Records indicate that a current officer of subject is currently disqualified from being a director. This appointment contravenes the disqualification.
D2	Warning A current Officer of the Company was formerly recorded as a disqualified Director.	-50	Auto	We recommend a high level of care It has been identified or reported to us that previous or current connections to subject include companies which have failed resulting in some unsecured creditors being adversely affected.
D3	Warning A previous Officer of the Company is recorded as currently being Disqualified.	-50	Auto	Clients are reminded that the current board may have no involvement or contact with previous members of the board. However, generally there have been instances recorded where directors resign having appointed new directors with no history. The client should balance this information with all that is known about subject.
D4	Warning A previous Officer of the Company is recorded as being a previously Disqualified Director.	-50	Auto	As above
R1	The Protect Score is not currently available Please contact the investigation bureau	N/A	Manual	INTERNAL - In case of complaint against us we may wish to set this code until we have overridden or investigated any code which is claimed to be incorrect.
R2	The Protect Score is under review please contact the investigation bureau	REV	Manual	INTERNAL - When we are initially advised of something being wrong we should set this code until we have identified that there merit or no merit - then reset with the normal codes. This code implies it is too early to confirm if anything is KNOWN to be wrong.