Financial distress·FindingConfirmed

Companies whose registered address is struck off are more than nine times as likely to go bankrupt

Of the 8,256 companies with a struck-off registered address, 4.5% also had a bankruptcy between June and September 2026, against 0.5% among similar companies.

Bankruptcy between June and September 2026

Both measurements combined · 8,256 companies

After a struck-off registered address4.5%

Similar companies0.5%

9.1×

as often as among similar companies.

95% interval: 8.2× to 10×
Companies: 8,256
Measurements: 2, independent

Source: Hunch Lab, cohort study of 1,141,228 Belgian companies. Compared within sector, size and age, with companies active in the same period.hunchleads.com/en/lab

Does it hold up?

Each measurement uses different companies and a different period. A link only counts if it shows up in both.

Measurement	Period	With the event	Similar	Factor
Measurement 1	event Jun–Nov 2025, outcome Jun–Sep 2026	3.5%	0.7%	5.1×
Measurement 2	event Dec 2025–May 2026, outcome Jun–Sep 2026	5.2%	0.3%	15×

How often does this happen?

Belgian companies with the event, per month, over the last twelve complete months.

Registered address struck off718 a month on average

More on registered address struck off

1 other finding

FindingWith the eventSimilarFactorResult

Companies whose registered address is struck off are almost four times as likely to move their registered officeFinancial distress6.0%1.6%3.7×Confirmed

Technical note

Methodology

Design: Retrospective cohort study
Population studied: 1,141,228 Belgian companies (the full business register)
Comparison group: Companies without the event that had another publication or event in the same entry period (active group), from the same stratum: NACE section, size class and age class; indirect standardisation
Cohorts: event Jun–Nov 2025, outcome Jun–Sep 2026; event Dec 2025–May 2026, outcome Jun–Sep 2026
Observed and expected: 371 cases, 41 expected
Factor (95% interval): 9.1× (8.2× to 10×)
Multiple testing: q < 0.001 (Benjamini-Hochberg)
Second measurement: p < 0.001
Other comparison groups: economically active companies 5.2× (4.7× to 5.7×); all companies 1.8× (1.7× to 2.0×)
Absolute difference: 4.0 percentage points; following 25 companies with the event yields one extra case
Size of the groups: active 154,604, economically active 435,817, all 1,141,228 companies
Strata: 151 strata of at least 300 companies (section × size × age; smaller strata merged)
Data up to: September 2026

Cite this findingFree to reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0).

Hunch Lab (2026). Companies whose registered address is struck off are more than nine times as likely to go bankrupt. Data up to September 2026. https://hunchleads.com/en/lab/zeteladres-doorgehaald-faillissement

Figures for this finding (CSV)

About Hunch Lab

Hunch Lab is the research programme of Hunch. Every finding is free to reuse with attribution. Questions are welcome.

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