Check who you’re actually paying, before you pay.
Before you send a deposit for a kitchen, staircase, extension or car, see who is really behind the website — from the official registers, in about a minute.
Enter a website address, e.g. aurelia-kitchens.co.uk
Names changed. Every figure comes from a public register.
One of three answers. Always with the evidence.
We never call anyone a scam. We show you what the website claims, what the register records, and where the two disagree — then you decide.
Green — consistent record
A UK company at least three years old, accounts filed on time, real reviews going back a year or more, and nothing on the website that the register contradicts.
You still get a safe deposit figure and a contract checklist.
Amber — verify before paying
The company exists, but something doesn’t line up: a very new company, a one-person firm describing a factory, no reviews, or a registration address shared by hundreds of businesses.
Most reports land here. The full report tells you exactly what to ask.
Red — don’t pay yet
We couldn’t find any UK legal entity behind the brand, the site is a copy of another company’s, or a director has a recent history of dissolved firms.
If you’ve already paid, the full report explains how to recover a deposit.
Why check before you pay?
Because the brand on the website and the company on the invoice are not always the same thing — and only one of them will owe you the money back.
Read why it mattersWhat a check does, what it can’t do, and who it’s for. Five minutes.
A deposit is the least protected money you’ll ever send
Most deposits go by bank transfer. If the company folds or was never the company you thought, that is not fraud in the bank’s eyes — and there is no refund.
The website was written by the person asking for the money
“Family-run for 20 years”, “our own workshop”, a logo wall of accreditations — none of it is checked by anyone. The register is.
It is the same check a solicitor would do, in a minute
Companies House, HMRC, the trade registers, domain records: all public, all free, all tedious. We read them so you don’t have to.
The moment to check is before, not after
Once the transfer has gone, the questions get harder and the answers cost more. Before you pay, three questions and a company number settle most of it.
How it works
One address in, one verdict out. Every step reads from a public register — nothing is guessed.
Paste the website
Just the address. No account, no email, no card.
We pull the official record
We find the legal entity behind the brand and pull its filings, directors, domain history and adverts from the registers — then compare every claim on the website against them.
You get a verdict with the evidence
Green, amber or red, with each fact next to its source. The full report adds a safe deposit figure and the three questions a genuine firm answers in a sentence.
Enter a website address, e.g. aurelia-kitchens.co.uk
What we check
Nothing here is an opinion. Each line is a fact from a public source, or a comparison between two of them.
The legal entity
The company that will be on your contract and invoice, its owners, and any changes of name or address in the last 90 days.
What it’s registered to do
The activity filed at Companies House, set against what the site claims to do.
Directors’ history
Other companies the directors have run, how many were dissolved or liquidated in the last five years, and whether anyone is on the disqualified directors register.
Company and domain age
Incorporation date, domain registration and the first capture in the Internet Archive.
Size and accounts
Employees, net assets and any registered charges from the latest filing — this sets the ceiling for a sensible deposit.
Address and contact
Real office or a mailbox shared with hundreds of companies; landline or mobile only; own-domain email or a free mailbox with no mail security set up.
Licences and schemes
Gas Safe, NICEIC, FENSA, TrustMark and the FCA register — checked against what the website claims, and against what the trade legally requires.
Who pays for their adverts
Google’s and Meta’s advertiser registers show the verified name behind every ad. Often it is not the brand you clicked on.
Reviews
Google, Trustpilot, Checkatrade and Houzz: how many, how old, and whether they arrived in a natural rhythm or forty in one week.
Copied content
Text lifted from other companies’ sites, and gallery photos that appear elsewhere on the web or are renders rather than photographs.
Website vs register
Every statement on the website we could test — years trading, “family-run since”, own workshop, staff numbers, accreditations, guarantees — side by side with what the official record says.
Free report shows the first discrepancy. The full report shows them all.
Free to check. From £9.80 a report to know what to do.
The free check tells you who you would be paying and whether anything is seriously wrong. A full report completes the verification: the verdict, every website claim against the register, directors, accounts, deposit guidance and what to ask. One report is £14.99 from inside any check; packs are cheaper.
2 reports
For choosing between two quotes.
- Everything in a full report, for two companies
- Side by side: verdict, years on the register, accounts, deposit guidance
- Use them on any firms, whenever you like
- Valid for 12 months
5 reports
For a project with several trades: kitchen, stairs, windows, builders.
- Everything in a full report, for five companies
- Side by side comparison across all of them
- Re-check any of the five before each payment
- Valid for 12 months
Unlimited
For a renovation with many trades and stage payments over months.
- Unlimited full reports for 90 days
- Weekly re-checks with email alerts when anything on the register changes
- Compare any number of quotes
- Share any report with a partner or parent
A single full report is £14.99 from inside any check. A report costs a fraction of the deposit it protects; if our sources are down and we can’t complete a check, you are not charged.
Two things a single check can’t do.
Most people are choosing between quotes, or paying one firm in stages over months. Both need more than one snapshot.
Compare your quotes
Run every firm you are considering and see them side by side: verdict, years on the register, accounts, reviews and the deposit guidance for each. The cheapest quote is often the newest company.
Watch a firm for 90 days
Companies change between the deposit and the final payment. We re-check every firm on your project weekly and email you the moment something on the register moves.
Every alert links to the filing it came from.
For genuine businesses
Let them check you. Then put it on your website.
Your customers are nervous about deposits, and a copied website can’t show a company number, years on the register or filed accounts. Yours can. The badge is free, live and links to your report.
- Free badge for your website — Shows your legal name, company number, years on the register and the date of the last check. Updates itself.
- A link for your quotes — “Check us before you pay” in the footer of every estimate. The firm that invites the check wins against the one that doesn’t.
- Corrections within 48 hours — If anything in your report is wrong, tell us and we fix it. Facts and dates can be corrected; verdicts can’t be bought.
How it looks on your site
One line of HTML. The badge reads from the live report, so it always shows the current record — never a screenshot.
Who it’s for
Anyone about to send money to a company they found online.
Examples from real reports. Names changed; every figure from a public register.
Homeowners
Kitchens, staircases, extensions, windows, driveways — anything with a deposit and a lead time.
Company 11 months old, net assets £2,100, registered for installation only. Safe deposit: £900.
Buying a car
Dealers and brokers whose forecourt is a website. The register shows who actually holds the stock.
No UK company behind the brand. Site text matches a dealership in Leeds word for word. Domain registered 6 weeks ago.
Checking for someone else
A parent, a partner, a friend. Paste the link they were sent; the free report shares with one link and the verdict is in the first line.
The company on the invoice was four months old and registered to a mailbox in Mayfair. He asked the three questions; they never replied.