How Check the Customer works
It puts the right paperwork in place before you start, keeps your evidence safe, and helps you get paid. It never rates your customers.
Too many trades don’t get paid
Most rows are about the final bill or whether the job was finished. Both are easier to settle when it was agreed in writing and you kept the proof. Why it happens
of trades have had a customer refuse to pay
IronmongeryDirect, 20241lost each year by the average trade to customers who don’t pay
IronmongeryDirect, 20241of builders had a payment disputed or held back in the last year
metals4U, 20252UK businesses close each year because of late payment. That’s 38 a day.
UK Government research, 20253Sources: 1. IronmongeryDirect survey of 500 UK tradespeople, June 2024. 2. metals4U survey of UK tradespeople, December 2025; across all trades, 66% had a payment disputed or held back in the last 12 months. 3. London Economics for the Department for Business and Trade and the Small Business Commissioner, July 2025; this covers all UK businesses, not just trades. Surveys 1 and 2 were carried out for companies that sell to trades.
Apply
Tell us about your business and pick a plan.
Set up each job
Check the customer, send your terms, keep your evidence.
Get paid
Invoices, reminders and your books. Disputes if needed.
Apply
We only ask for what we need to run your account. You verify your account and accept the terms before you use the tools.
Labels say exactly what was checked. If we confirm your company registration, your profile says only that, with the date and source.
What you’ll need
- Your business or trading name
- Your trade and the area you cover
- An email address and mobile number
- Your company number, if you’re a limited company
We don’t ask for your date of birth, ID or bank details.
Check your job file
Eight checks before you start. The percentage is about your paperwork, never about the customer.
Quote and scope
The price, and what’s included and what isn’t.
Payment terms
Stages, due dates and how you’ll be paid.
Deposit and materials
What’s paid upfront and who owns the materials.
Extras
How extra work is priced and agreed first.
Cancellation
Your terms, and any cooling-off rights.
Access
Access, parking, power, water and hours.
Evidence folder
A home for photos, messages and paperwork.
Customer’s go-ahead
The customer accepts your terms in writing.
Gaps are flagged, not judged. If your payment terms are missing, it tells you to add them. It never calls the customer unreliable.
Check the customer
You see your own records, plus any verified, job-related facts we’re allowed to show, with their source. The customer can always ask to see what’s held about them.
- Just enough detail to find the right person: a name and postcode district, never a full address.
- Plain statuses: verified, disputed, unresolved, corrected, not enough evidence or not available.
- No history means nothing. It’s never shown as a warning.
- No computer decides who gets work. That’s your call.
What a search shows
| Item | What you see |
|---|---|
| Customer | Name and postcode district only |
| Your jobs with them | Your own jobs, and whether each was paid |
| Other members’ info | Not available until our solicitor agrees it |
| What that means | Nothing either way. You decide. |
Every file keeps its history
| Item | What’s recorded |
|---|---|
| File | Its name |
| Uploaded | Date, time and who uploaded it |
| Fingerprint | A code that changes if the file changes |
| Versions | Every version, old ones kept |
| Opened | Each time, and by whom |
Keep your evidence
Quotes, invoices, photos, delivery notes and messages, kept against the job. Each file is dated and fingerprinted, so you can show it hasn’t changed. A new version never wipes the old one.
Your evidence is private. Advertisers and suppliers can’t see it, and nothing is published automatically.
See a file’s fingerprint change
Change one letter and the fingerprint changes completely. That’s how you show a file hasn’t been touched. It runs on your device; nothing is uploaded.
Files are read by your browser only. Nothing leaves your device.
Order materials
Each job shows local suppliers’ prices for what it needs. Order, or ask for a price in one tap. Suppliers never see your customer’s details.
Work out materials and quotes
Exact calculators for the sizes you enter, and a quote calculator for your price.
Messages
Message customers, suppliers and us, with report and block buttons.
Get paid
Your money records live with each job, so you know what’s owed and your accountant gets what they need.
Invoices
Numbered invoices with VAT, sent by email or WhatsApp, with payment reminders.
Your books
Money in and out for each job and the tax year. Export a file for your accountant. We don’t give tax advice.
Diary and reminders
Job starts, deliveries and invoices due, as reminders on your phone.
Sort out a dispute fairly
Every dispute follows the same five steps. The outcome is written in plain, neutral words.
- OpenSay what happened in set fields. No insults or accusations.
- EvidenceAttach the files that show what was agreed and done.
- ResponseThe other side gives their account and evidence.
- ReviewA trained person reviews it and notes what they considered.
- Outcome and appealA written outcome, and an appeal to a different reviewer.
Possible outcomes
What we don’t do
We don’t decide who’s legally liable or call a disagreement fraud. Paying members don’t automatically win. Everyone’s legal rights stay as they are.
Apply to join
It takes a couple of minutes. The first 20 trades are free for 6 months.