Guide
Check a sole trader: what you can and can’t verify
To check a sole trader you cannot use Companies House — sole traders are not on the register and file no accounts. What you can verify: the person’s name and trading address (which they must show on documents), a VAT number if they are registered, membership of a trade scheme on the scheme’s own register, insurance, how long their website and Google profile have existed, and reviews with age. Because there is no company and no balance sheet, how you pay matters more than for any other kind of business.
Key facts
- About 56% of UK businesses are sole traders — roughly 3 million people — and none of them appear on Companies House (Department for Business and Trade, Business population estimates).
- A sole trader using a business name must show their own name and an address for service on letters, invoices and emails (Companies Act 2006, Part 41, Chapter 2).
- VAT registration is compulsory above £90,000 of taxable turnover; a stated VAT number can be checked free on GOV.UK.
- Gas Safe, NICEIC, NAPIT, FENSA, TrustMark and MCS registers list sole traders as well as companies, searchable by name or postcode.
- A sole trader is personally liable for their debts — you can pursue them as an individual — but there are no filed accounts to tell you whether that is worth anything.
What a sole trader is, and why the register is silent
A sole trader is an individual trading in their own right, with or without a business name: “J. Smith Joinery” is Jane Smith, personally. There is no separate legal entity, so there is nothing to register at Companies House, no company number, no filed accounts and no list of directors. Sole traders register with HMRC for tax, but HMRC publishes nothing. That is not a loophole; it is how most of the UK’s tradespeople operate, and many of the best are sole traders.
Partnerships are the same
Two or more people trading together without incorporating are a partnership, also unregistered. Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are different: they are on Companies House with an “OC” number.
What you can verify — and how
| What | How | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Their name and trading address | Must be on quotes, invoices and emails; ask if it isn’t | Who you are contracting with and where they can be found |
| VAT number (if turnover is above £90,000) | GOV.UK VAT checker — returns the registered name and address | That the business exists for tax purposes at a real address, and its scale |
| Trade scheme membership | Search the scheme’s own register: Gas Safe, NICEIC/NAPIT, FENSA/CERTASS, TrustMark, MCS | Competence assessed by someone; often a complaints route and a guarantee scheme |
| Insurance | Ask for the public liability certificate; phone the broker or insurer to confirm it is in force | Cover if they damage your property; not cover for a lost deposit |
| Domain age and archive | Nominet/RDAP for the registration date; the Internet Archive for history | How long they have traded online under this name |
| Google Business profile | Search the name and town; check the profile links to their website | A verified address, review history with dates |
| Reviews with age | Google, Checkatrade, Trustpilot — read the oldest | Whether real customers existed two years ago |
| County Court judgments | Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines (Registry Trust), small fee, by name and address | Unpaid judgments against the individual |
The one question that sorts most cases
“Can I have your full name and the address you trade from, for the contract?” A genuine sole trader answers without hesitation, because the law already requires it on their invoice. Reluctance to give a name and address is the clearest warning a sole trader can give.
What you cannot verify
Financial position
No accounts, no balance sheet, no employee count. You cannot know whether a deposit is backed by anything. For a limited company you at least see net assets of £342 and can act on it; for a sole trader you see nothing.
Trading history
No incorporation date. “Established 1998” cannot be checked against anything official; the domain’s age and the archive are the only evidence, and they only go back as far as the website.
Previous businesses
A director’s past companies are on Companies House; a sole trader’s past trading names are nowhere. The phoenix pattern — close, leave debts, reopen — leaves no public trace for an individual.
Whether the name is theirs
A sole trader’s business name is not registered anywhere, so nothing stops two people trading as “J. Smith Joinery”, or a stranger copying the name of a well-reviewed one.
Sole trader vs limited company: what changes for your deposit
| Limited company | Sole trader | |
|---|---|---|
| Public record | Companies House: status, accounts, directors, history | None |
| Who owes you the money | The company only; directors are not personally liable | The individual, personally, with everything they own |
| If they cannot pay | Insolvency: you are an unsecured creditor | Personal insolvency or a county court claim against the person |
| Can you see whether they could pay? | Yes — filed accounts | No |
| Can they disappear? | The company can be dissolved; the record stays | They can stop trading under that name; no record |
Personal liability cuts both ways: a sole trader with a house has more at stake than a £1 company, and you can pursue them as a person. But you cannot see in advance whether there is anything to pursue.
How to pay a sole trader
The rules are the same as for a company; they just matter more.
- Keep the deposit at the low end of what is normal for the trade. Bespoke work still needs materials money; building work needs almost none up front.
- Pay at least £100 by credit card. Section 75 applies to a sole trader exactly as to a company: purchases between £100 and £30,000, the card issuer jointly liable for the whole contract. Ask for a card payment link — Stripe, SumUp and Square give sole traders one in minutes.
- Stage the rest against things you can see — materials delivered, work started, work finished, snagging.
- Get the name and address on the quote, and pay to an account in that name. A deposit to a third party’s account is a warning.
- Check the scheme register yourself if the trade has one; do not trust the logo.
Joinery website, five months old, nothing to check
No company on the register (Companies House answered — nothing matched), a domain registered in March, no archived copies, no Google profile, no reviews anywhere, no address on the site, four advertising tools installed. Perhaps a sole trader who has just started; perhaps not. The report does not say which, because it cannot — and that is the point. The only honest advice is: do not pay a deposit until they give you a name, an address and a landline you can check. A genuine new sole trader can do that in one email.
Enter a website address, e.g. aurelia-kitchens.co.uk
Frequently asked questions
How do I check if a sole trader is registered?
You can’t, directly: there is no public register of sole traders. HMRC does not publish who is self-employed. What you can check is a VAT number on GOV.UK (if they have one), trade scheme membership on the scheme’s register, and their name and address, which must be on their invoices.
Is a sole trader safer or riskier than a limited company?
Neither, in general. A sole trader is personally liable, which is a stronger claim than against a £1 company — but you cannot see their finances in advance, and they can stop trading without a trace. The protection comes from how you pay, not from the business type.
Does Section 75 apply if I pay a sole trader by credit card?
Yes. Section 75 depends on the card and the price (£100–£30,000), not on the supplier being a company. Any part paid by credit card brings the whole contract within it.
Can a sole trader use a business name without registering it?
Yes. Business names for sole traders are not registered anywhere in the UK. The trader must show their own name and an address on documents, and must not use “Ltd” or a name suggesting a company.
What does a free company check show for a sole trader?
That no company matched, the domain’s age and archive, the Google profile and reviews, contact details on the site, and whether anything on the site claims to be a company. It never treats “no company found” as proof of anything wrong; it tells you what to ask for.
Should a sole trader have insurance?
There is no legal requirement for public liability insurance, but any established tradesperson has it and can show a certificate. Employers’ liability insurance is compulsory only if they employ people.
Sources
- Companies Act 2006, Part 41 Chapter 2 — disclosure required of individuals and partnerships
- GOV.UK — Check a UK VAT number
- GOV.UK — VAT registration threshold
- Registry Trust — Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines
- Gas Safe Register · TrustMark · FENSA
- Business population estimates (Department for Business and Trade)
- SafeToPay methodology v1.1