How do I check a new client can pay before I start work?
The short answer
Only partly. Ten minutes on the free public records1 shows whether the company is real and whether anything bad is recorded, but not whether it will pay you. A young company may have no accounts to read at all, because its first accounts are not due until 21 months after it registered3. So finish with terms that cap what you can lose: a deposit and stage payments, so the most you can be out is a fraction of the job.
What you can add
A £9,600 build: what you can be out
Say a studio quotes a new client £9,600 for a six-week site build, starting on 2 November 2026. Paid all on completion, with 30-day terms, the studio is out the whole £9,600 until the money arrives. Staged as below, with each payment made on its date, it is out only the last stage. This is an illustration: the work moves in step with the payments.
That is a fifth of the job at risk, not all of it. The records could not have told you whether this client pays on time. The terms did not need them to.
The road ahead
Seven steps. One £6 search.
Step 1: Get their registered name and number
Ask for both before you quote. A trading name can differ from the registered one, so the number is what you search on. For a sole trader, ask for their full name and the address they trade from. The full check is in how to check a UK company.
Step 2: Read the free records
At Companies House, the register shows1 the registered address, the date of incorporation, the officers and any charges, and the status and when accounts are due2. Run any VAT number through HMRC's checker4.
Then search The Gazette's insolvency notices5. Search a sole trader on the Individual Insolvency Register7 (England and Wales only), and each director on the disqualified directors search8.
Step 3: Search the judgments register
One register costs £6 to search6. It shows judgments against the company, not how it treats suppliers, so read what a clean result cannot show before you lean on it.
Step 4: Ask the honest questions
Ask who approves your invoices and by what date, and whether they need a purchase order before you start. Ask how the project is paid for: their own money, or waiting for their customer to pay them.
Then ask for two suppliers they pay, who can say how it goes. Put these to every new client, so nobody is singled out.
Step 5: Cap what you can be out
Ask for a deposit, then stage payments tied to dates or sign-off, and write a payment date on the quote instead of 'on completion'. Say it as how you work with every new client. How to ask for a deposit has the wording.
Interest and a fixed sum are yours on a late business invoice even if your contract is silent11, but only once it is late. With no date agreed, that is 30 days after they get your invoice or you finish, if later10.
Step 6: Slow down, change the terms or walk away
Stop if they will not give a registered name and number, will not agree any dates, or push you to start before the order is in writing. Stop, too, at a winding-up petition in The Gazette: if an order follows, even a deposit paid after it can be void9. A registered office that differs from their paperwork is a question to ask.
A thin record, such as a company registered a few months ago with no accounts and a big first order, is a reason to ask for more up front. It is not a reason to refuse.
Step 7: Start when it is in writing
Wait for the signed quote or the purchase order, and for the first payment if you asked for one. The Small Business Commissioner calls a written contract one of the most important tools12 for protecting yourself.
Before the second, bigger job, run steps 2 and 3 again.
A letter you can copy
Email setting out your payment schedule
Send it when they say yes to the quote, before you start or sign the contract.
Tap a highlighted gap to see what goes in it.
Send it by email, with the quote attached, so the dates are on record. Keep their reply with the quote. Put the same schedule into the quote or contract, so it does not rest on one email. If the answers come by phone, send a two-line note of what you heard.
When not to bother
When it isn't worth it
- The job is small, or the fee has cleared before you start. There is nothing left to cap. Take the money and begin.
- It's a council, the NHS or another public body. Their payment date must usually be within 30 days10. Get the purchase order in writing and skip the company records.
- A long-standing client with a clean record, and an order no bigger than usual. Their last invoices are a better record than any register. Keep the terms you have.
- They're a consumer, not a business. Company records and these terms are for business customers. Consumer law is different and this page does not cover it.
The Wolf's note
The records tell you who they are. The terms decide what being wrong costs you. Put them in writing before you start, and a thin record becomes a reason for a bigger deposit, not a lost job.
Mr. Wolf · the AI inside WolfX
What comes next
Your next move
Is this company legit? How do I check a UK company before I work for it?
Go by the company number, not the name.
5 min read · Letter included
How do I check if a company has a CCJ?
Search TrustOnline, the official register of judgments.
5 min read
If they push back
Can I hold back files, or switch off a website, until I'm paid?
You can usually hold back files you have not delivered.
7 min read · Letter included
Don't want to do this yourself?
The Wolf does every step for you. He works out the sums, writes the letters and keeps track of every date. Nothing goes without your yes.