Enforcement Agencies and Regulatory Authorities FAQs
How we work with Enforcement Agencies and Regulatory Authorities
We've put together these FAQs for Enforcement Agencies and Regulatory Authorities to help answer some of the most common questions we receive. Whether you're looking for quick guidance or more clarity on how things work, this section is here to make your experience as efficient and straightforward as possible.
Primary Authority: FAQ
To help you easily understand some of our working practices - especially around out Primary Authority partnership, you can find that information and more in the FAQ's below.
A Primary Authority is a formal arrangement under UK law that allows a single local authority to provide assured and consistent regulatory advice to a business that operates across multiple areas. Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards had a direct Primary Authority partnership with Vetted Limited who trade as Checkatrade. You can find details here: Primary Authority Register
Checkatrade operates nationally and engages with a wide range of enforcement bodies. By having a Primary Authority, we benefit from consistent, expert advice that applies across all regions, reducing the risk of conflicting regulatory approaches and ensuring that our compliance is both robust and nationally recognised.
Police enquirers should contact their SPOC.
In the first instance, Trading Standards regulators should consult the Primary Authority. Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards is best placed to review and coordinate any regulatory or enforcement enquiries related to Checkatrade.
All Regulators are welcome to contact Buckinghamshire and Surrey to discuss enquiries related to Checkatrade.
Enforcement Agencies can contact Buckinghamshire and Surrey County Council Trading Standards directly in relation to Checkatrade matters and their details can be located on the Primary Authority Register or by contacting their business advice helplines:
Email: business.advice@surreycc.gov.uk
Phone: 0300 123 2329
Primary Authority Advice is guidance issued by the Primary Authority that has formal status under UK law. Agencies must take this advice into account when considering action against Checkatrade, and Checkatrade is entitled to rely on it in its operations.
We are committed to working constructively with Enforcement Agencies and Regulatory Authorities. In order to protect the integrity of our platform, our members, and consumers, we require that all enquiries are made on a legitimate legal basis. When making an enquiry, Enforcement Agencies and Regulatory Authorities must ensure that:
Correct Legal Authority: The request is made under the appropriate statutory powers or legal framework (e.g. a Production Order, Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) request, or Data Protection Act (DPA) provision).
Clear Justification: The request includes sufficient detail of the reasons for the enquiry, demonstrating a legitimate and proportionate basis.
Specificity: The request must be targeted, relevant, and focused on a clearly identified matter. Broad or speculative requests will not be accepted.
Checkatrade reserves the right to refuse or decline requests that are not made on the correct legal basis, that lack a legitimate foundation or that are disproportionate.
Request Handling: FAQ
We've put together these FAQs for Enforcement Agencies and Regulatory Authorities to help answer some of the most common questions we receive. Whether you're looking for quick guidance or more clarity on how things work, this section is here to make your experience as efficient and straightforward as possible.
Checkatrade is committed to cooperating fully with Enforcement and Regulatory Authorities. We aim to process your request efficiently and in a timely manner, following the appropriate procedures. When any request is received we will undertake a swift verification process – to ensure the legitimacy of the requester – and may contact you as part of that.
We ask that you submit your request in writing to privacy@checkatrade.com citing the appropriate legislation or powers and include as much detail as possible. This helps us process and respond to you within the required timeframe. As needed, we may ask for written clarification or documentation to confirm the legitimacy of the request.
Yes, Checkatrade will endeavour to acknowledge your request in writing within 72 hours of receipt (subject to requests submitted out of business hours or over public holidays, where we may need to extend the timeframes to reply to you).
If we require further clarification, we will contact you in writing to confirm the scope of your request. Likewise, if your request lacks the necessary information or does not include an authorised signatory, we may ask you to resubmit it with the required details.
We will endeavour to respond within the designated timeframe associated with the request. If no specific timeframe has been provided, we expect to respond within 30 days (but reserve the right to take longer if the matter in question is particularly complex).
We will always endeavour to process requests made by Enforcement Agencies and Regulatory Authorities. However, we may not be able to process your request if:
Requests are made without the appropriate authority for us to share information.
The identity of the requester is unclear or not capable of being verified.
The request lacks sufficient information and we are not able to obtain more information from our enquiries.
In such cases, we will reach out to explore options for resolution.
Policy Information: FAQs
We’ve included some additional FAQs to direct you to some important elements of our policies.
You can finddetails of how we check Trades on our website. These checks are part of our commitment to ensuring tradespeople meet our high standards. You may be wondering why we say “up to” 12 checks in some of our literature and this is because not all checks are relevant or applicable to all trades, and so we make this distinction.
More details about our review procedures, including how reviews are submitted, verified, and published, can be found on our website:
If you would like to learn more about our complaints procedure, including how consumers and trades may raise a complaint, and what they can expect from the process, please visit our complaints page.
Our Privacy Notices, one for Tradespeople and one for Consumers, detail how we collect, use, and protect personal data, and can be found on our website:
Company information, including our directors, registered address and other information in relation to Vetted Limited (t/a Checkatrade), with Company Registration Number 04285394, can be found at Companies House.
Business Practices: FAQs
In case you didn’t find what you were looking for in the first sections, we’ve included some additional FAQs here to cover more specific or detailed topics. Hopefully, these help fill in any gaps and give you the answers you need.
As the data controller of our tradespeople’s data, we assess each request on a case-by-case basis to determine whether there’s a lawful basis for disclosure or whether a lawful exemption applies. We reserve the right to request that you obtain the necessary authority to disclose information under the IPA (Investigatory Powers Act 2016), DPA (Data Protection Act 2018) or any other applicable legislation.
In line with our obligations at law, we will only disclose information where the request is appropriate, proportionate, and complies with data protection principles and legislative authority.
Where we’re unable to share certain information (for example if it’s confidential, legally privileged or commercially sensitive) we’ll explain the reasons wherever possible.
We’re unable to disclose the following types of information, due to privacy, security, operational or legal reasons:
Internal case notes, investigation details, or confidential correspondence
Legal advice or internal decision-making processes
If a tradesperson fails to meet our standards, we may take actions such as issuing formal warnings, requiring additional checks, placing restrictions on their profile, suspending their membership or removing them as a paid Checkatrade member entirely. You can find more detail in relation to this in our Deactivation and Sanctions Policy.
Tradespeople on Checkatrade are expected to handle complaints professionally and responsibly. We recommend consumers reach out to the tradesperson directly to try and resolve their issue first. Our guidance on how to resolve an issue with a tradesperson can help with this. This guidance also covers next steps if the consumer and tradesperson are unable to resolve the issue directly.
We cannot force a trade to act, but we can investigate whether they continue to meet our standards for remaining on our platform.
When complaints are made against a tradesperson, we assess the issue carefully. Depending on the severity and validity of the complaint:
we may initiate an investigation;
request further information from both parties;
issue a warning or suspend their paid membership; or
remove them from our platform in line with our Deactivation and Sanctions Policy.
You can find more detail in relation to how complaints can be made and our approach to them on our website.
Yes, we are able to provide the information we hold on file for a tradesperson to a consumer where legal proceedings are contemplated under the Data Protection Act 2018 (Schedule 2, Part 1, Paragraph 5(3)(a)).
If a consumer believes that there is content published on Checkatrade (including reviews, trader profiles, images, or blog content) that is incorrect, defamatory, obscene, illegal, violent or otherwise inappropriate, the consumer may submit a Notice and Takedown request.
We signpost consumers to a wide range of options for redress on those rare occasions when things don't go to plan, including :
Leaving a review of the trade that follows our guidelines to share their experience with other consumers.
Speaking to the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133 or visiting citizensadvice.org.uk and they can support with free legal advice.
Contacting their bank or insurance provider to see if they can support with retrieving funds in the event of fraud or faulty work.
Reporting a trade to Trading Standards if they believe a trade has broken the law or acted unfairly. Trading Standards work in partnership with Citizens Advice and they aim to investigate unfair or illegal business activity and stop them operating.
Reporting them to or contact the tradesperson’s governing body or provider of accreditation service, such as Gas Safe or NAPIT.
Making a claim on the tradesperson's Public Liability Insurance if they think this may be an option and we offer support with finding those details.
Reporting them to the police. Bad practice may mean fraud or theft, so it's worth reporting this if they believe the tradesperson has acted illegally or they’re feeling unsafe. For more details on fraud, we direct them to Action Fraud.
Considering making a money claim online via HM Courts & Tribunals Service for small claims.
Checkatrade does not provide emergency response services and so any issues that require urgent action, might pose a threat of harm or danger, should be reported to the Police.
Our commitment to building trust with consumers is outlined on our website. Here, consumers can find details about our standards and processes.