Before hiring a contractor, most people run a few quick checks: the company is registered, the website looks professional, the Google reviews seem fine. That is a starting point. It is not a verification.
The difference between these two levels can amount to several thousand pounds - and months of legal proceedings trying to recover them.
What a company registration does not tell you
The companies register confirms that a business exists legally. It does not tell you whether the director has already dissolved previous companies leaving clients without completed work, whether they are subject to legal proceedings, or whether reports about them exist in publicly accessible databases.
A director who changes structure every two years after collecting deposits can create a new, perfectly registered company in a matter of days. Checking the registration number of their latest structure reveals nothing of that history.
The four levels of a structured verification
Level 1 - Legal existence: checking the company number, active status, consistency between registered and trading address. This is the minimum.
Level 2 - Director history: identifying all companies led or co-led by the director, analysing dissolutions, insolvency proceedings, and frequent structural changes within the same sector.
Level 3 - Reputational signals: searching regional press, consumer reporting platforms, sector-specific review databases. These signals are not always present - their absence is not a guarantee, but their presence is significant.
Level 4 - Identified proceedings: searching publicly available court decision databases, identifying civil or criminal proceedings involving the director or their previous structures.
When to run this check
Verification is relevant before any payment, regardless of the amount. It is particularly justified for quotes above £3,000, for contractors not referred directly by someone you know, and for any contractor operating in a sector with high deposit fraud risk: kitchens, roofing, heat pumps, energy renovation, swimming pools.
It is also useful after signing if you notice unexplained delays or growing difficulty reaching the contractor.
What we do
At YMV & Co., we carry out structured verifications on contractors for private individuals. Our report covers all four levels described above and is delivered in a clear format, with documented sources. It allows you to commit with the right information - or to withdraw in time.