How to Check If a Client Will Actually Pay You (Before You Start Work)

You've found a new client. The project sounds great. The budget looks reasonable. They seem friendly enough on the call. So you say yes, block out two weeks in your diary, and get to work.

Six weeks later, the invoice is overdue. They've stopped replying to emails. You Google them properly for the first time and discover three other freelancers complaining about the same company in a forum thread from last year. The accounts on Companies House show the business has been haemorrhaging money for two years. There's a CCJ against them from 2024.

All of this was public information. It was sitting there, free, waiting for you to look. You just didn't check.

This guide is about fixing that. We're going to walk through exactly how to credit check a client before freelancing in the UK — the free methods that take five minutes, the paid options that cost less than a coffee, and what to do when the results come back looking dodgy.

Why Most Freelancers Skip Due Diligence — and Pay for It Later

Let's be honest about why this doesn't happen. It's not that freelancers are lazy. It's that vetting a client feels weird. It feels like you're being suspicious, paranoid, difficult. You're excited about the work. You don't want to slow the momentum. And surely if someone's approaching you with a paid project, they're going to pay... right?

This is the eagerness trap. When work comes in — especially after a quiet patch — the emotional response is to grab it and start immediately. Due diligence feels like an obstacle to getting paid, when in reality it's the thing that ensures you get paid.

Consider the alternative: you spend 20, 40, 80 hours on a project, send the invoice, and the client vanishes. Now you're spending weeks chasing an unpaid invoice, potentially writing a letter before action, maybe even heading to small claims court. All because you didn't spend five minutes checking whether this company was creditworthy.

Client vetting isn't paranoia. It's professionalism. Plumbers check whether a property is structurally sound before ripping out walls. Accountants review a company's books before taking them on. Freelancers should know who they're getting into bed with before doing the work.

The five minutes you spend checking a client before you start could save you five months of chasing after you've finished.

Free Checks You Can Do in 5 Minutes

You don't need to pay anything to get a solid picture of a potential client's financial health. Here are four free checks that take five minutes total and catch the vast majority of problem clients.

1. Companies House Lookup

This is the big one. If your client is a UK limited company (Ltd, LLP, or PLC), their information is publicly available on Companies House at find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. It's free, it's instant, and it reveals a surprising amount.

Here's what to look for:

• Incorporation date: How old is the company? A business registered last month isn't necessarily a red flag, but it means there's no track record. Proceed with caution.
• Registered address: Is it a real business address or a virtual office? Virtual offices aren't inherently bad, but combined with other flags they can indicate a shell company.
• Directors: Who runs the company? How long have they been directors? Have previous directors been disqualified? Frequent director changes can indicate instability.
• Filing history: Are their annual accounts and confirmation statements filed on time? Late filing is one of the strongest predictors of a company that pays suppliers late (or not at all).
• Accounts: For small companies, you'll see at least a balance sheet. Look at net assets — are they positive or negative? Are they declining year on year? Negative net assets means the company technically owes more than it owns.
• Charges: Are there outstanding charges (secured loans) against the company? This isn't always concerning, but heavy debt loads alongside declining assets is a warning.

2. Google the Company + "Not Paying"

Simple but devastatingly effective. Open Google and search:

• "[Company name] not paying"
• "[Company name] late payment"
• "[Company name] freelancer" + review
• "[Company name]" site:reddit.com

If other freelancers or suppliers have had problems, there's a good chance someone has written about it. Freelancer forums, Reddit, Trustpilot, Glassdoor (for employee reviews that mention cash flow problems) — these are goldmines of real-world intelligence that no credit report will show you.

Even one complaint from another freelancer about non-payment should make you significantly more cautious. Three or more? Run.

3. Check Their Website and Social Media

This sounds basic, but it catches more fraudulent or flaky clients than you'd think. Ask yourself:

• Does the company have a real, functioning website?
• Does the website look professional, or is it a hastily assembled template with placeholder text?
• Is there a real team listed with real LinkedIn profiles?
• Do their social media accounts have genuine engagement, or are they dormant?
• Does the size of their online presence match what they told you about the company?

A company that claims to be a "leading agency" but has 12 Twitter followers, a Wix site with stock photos, and no LinkedIn company page should raise questions. It might be legitimate but early-stage. It might also be someone who can't pay.

4. Check for County Court Judgments (CCJs)

You can search the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines at trustonline.org.uk for £2 per search. Technically this isn't free, but it's close enough.

A CCJ means someone has already taken this company to court for an unpaid debt — and won. If there's a CCJ against your potential client, someone else has already done the hard work of proving they don't pay their bills. Believe the evidence.

Paid Credit Check Options for Freelancers

Free checks catch the obvious problems. Paid credit reports reveal the hidden ones. For £5–15, you can get a detailed financial profile of any UK limited company — including a credit score, payment behaviour data, and risk assessment that goes far beyond what Companies House shows.

Is it worth paying? Think about it this way: if the project is worth £2,000 and the credit check costs £10, you're spending 0.5% of the project value to dramatically reduce the chance of losing the other 99.5%. It's the best insurance you'll ever buy.

Here are the three main providers worth knowing about:

Creditsafe

The most widely used business credit reference agency in the UK. Creditsafe reports include a credit score (0–100), a recommended credit limit, payment trend data (do they pay suppliers on time?), director history, CCJs, and financial analysis. Individual reports cost around £6–10, with subscription plans available for regular users.

What makes Creditsafe particularly useful for freelancers is their payment trend data — it shows you how quickly the company typically pays its invoices. A company that pays suppliers an average of 45 days late is going to pay you 45 days late too.

Experian Business

You probably know Experian for personal credit scores, but their business division provides comprehensive company credit reports. These include a Delphi score (risk rating), trade payment data, financial summaries, and industry benchmarking. Reports typically cost £8–15 depending on the depth of analysis.

Experian's strength is their enormous database of trade payment data — they collect payment information from thousands of UK businesses, giving you a detailed picture of how a company treats its suppliers.

Red Flag Alert

Specifically designed for spotting companies in financial distress. Red Flag Alert's proprietary health rating system identifies businesses that are at risk of insolvency or failure. It's particularly useful if your potential client is a medium or larger company where the financial picture is more complex. Reports start from around £5.

For most freelancers, a single Creditsafe or Experian report before starting any project over £1,000 is the sweet spot. You don't need a subscription unless you're taking on new clients regularly.

Red Flags in a Credit Report

A credit report is only useful if you know what you're looking at. Here are the specific warning signs that should make you think twice before starting work — or demand significantly more protection before you do.

County Court Judgments (CCJs)

This is the nuclear red flag. A CCJ means a court has already ruled that this company owes money and hasn't paid. One satisfied (paid) CCJ from years ago might be forgivable. An active, unsatisfied CCJ — or multiple CCJs — means this company has a proven track record of not paying people. Do not extend them credit. If you take the project, require full payment upfront.

Consistently Late Filing

Companies House requires annual accounts and confirmation statements to be filed on time. Late filing penalties are automatic and public. A company that can't be bothered to file its statutory paperwork on time is almost certainly paying its suppliers late too. It's a proxy signal for how seriously they take their financial obligations.

One late filing over a decade is nothing. Late filing in three of the last four years? That's a pattern, and the pattern will apply to your invoice.

Declining Turnover and Net Assets

If the company's revenue has been falling year on year, or their net assets are shrinking (or negative), the business is contracting. A shrinking business is a higher credit risk because there's less money coming in to pay people like you. This doesn't mean they'll definitely stiff you, but your invoice will be competing with a lot of other creditors for a shrinking pot of cash.

Frequent Director Changes

Directors leaving a company in rapid succession is a classic sign of internal problems — disagreements, financial trouble, or impending insolvency. One director change is normal business. Three in two years? Something is going wrong behind the scenes, and when things go wrong, freelancer invoices are the first to get deprioritised.

Very Low Credit Score or Credit Limit

Credit agencies assign scores and recommended credit limits based on their analysis. If Creditsafe says a company's recommended credit limit is £500 and you're about to do a £5,000 project, that's a major mismatch. The credit agency — which has far more data than you — is saying they wouldn't trust this company with more than £500 of credit. Listen to them.

Thin Credit File on a "Big" Company

If a client tells you they're a well-established business with 50 staff and offices in three cities, but their credit file is almost empty — minimal trade data, no payment history, sparse financials — something doesn't add up. Either they're exaggerating their size, or the company structure is designed to obscure the real financial picture. Either way, dig deeper before committing.

What to Do if the Check Comes Back Dodgy

You've done the checks. The results aren't great. Maybe there's a CCJ, maybe the accounts look shaky, maybe Google turned up two freelancers complaining about late payment. Now what?

You have four options, in order of caution:

Option 1: Demand Full Payment Upfront

The safest approach. If the credit check raises serious concerns but you still want the work, require 100% payment before you start. Frame it professionally: "For projects of this nature, my terms are full payment before work commences." If they agree, you've eliminated the risk entirely. If they refuse, you've saved yourself weeks of unpaid work.

This works best for smaller projects (under £2,000) where asking for full payment upfront is commercially reasonable and not unusual.

Option 2: Require a Larger Deposit with Milestone Billing

For larger projects where full upfront payment is impractical, adjust your normal terms. Instead of your standard 50% deposit, require 60–75% upfront. Break the remainder into milestones so you're never more than a few hundred pounds ahead of what you've been paid.

The golden rule: never let the value of delivered but unpaid work exceed what the client has already paid you. If they've paid £3,000 upfront on a £5,000 project, stop work at £3,000 of delivered value until the next payment clears.

Option 3: Shorten Payment Terms to 7 Days

If your standard payment terms are net 14 or net 30, tighten them to net 7 for risky clients. Shorter terms mean less time for things to go wrong between invoicing and payment. Combine this with a substantial deposit and milestone billing for maximum protection.

Option 4: Walk Away

Sometimes the right answer is no. If the credit check reveals active CCJs, other freelancers complaining about non-payment, declining finances, and the client is also resistant to deposits or shortened terms — walk away. No project fee is worth months of chasing and the stress that comes with it.

Walking away from bad clients is one of the hardest skills in freelancing. But every experienced freelancer will tell you: the projects they turned down saved them more money than the ones they took on. You can't earn from a project that doesn't pay. But you can lose time, energy, and income from every hour spent on one.

A dodgy credit check isn't a reason to panic. It's a reason to adjust your terms. And if the client won't accept adjusted terms for a company with a poor credit history — that tells you everything.

The Sole Trader Problem

Everything above works beautifully for limited companies. But what about sole traders and unincorporated businesses? They don't appear on Companies House. There are no filed accounts to review. No credit score to check.

For sole trader clients, your due diligence relies more heavily on:

• Google and social proof: Search their name and business name. Look for an established online presence, testimonials, and evidence they've worked with other freelancers or suppliers.
• References: For larger projects, it's reasonable to ask for a reference from another supplier or freelancer. "Could you put me in touch with someone you've worked with recently?" A genuine client won't mind.
• Their reaction to your terms: A sole trader who happily signs your contract, pays a deposit without fuss, and communicates clearly is demonstrating good faith in the best way available. A sole trader who resists all of these is demonstrating the opposite. The red flags are the same regardless of business structure.
• Increased financial protection: Because you can't easily verify a sole trader's financial health, compensate with stronger terms. A 50% deposit (minimum), milestone billing, and short payment terms should be non-negotiable for sole trader clients you haven't worked with before.

Building Client Vetting Into Your Workflow

The freelancers who get burned by non-paying clients usually have one thing in common: they don't have a system. They vet sometimes, when they remember, or when something feels off. The problem is that skilled con artists and financially distressed companies often seem perfectly normal on the surface. Gut instinct isn't enough.

Here's a simple system that takes 10 minutes per new client and catches the vast majority of problems before they become your problems:

1. Immediately after the enquiry: Google the company name + "not paying" / "late payment." Check their website. Look at LinkedIn. (2 minutes)
2. Before scoping the project: Run a Companies House check. Review incorporation date, directors, filing history, and latest accounts. (3 minutes)
3. For projects over £1,000: Run a paid credit check via Creditsafe or Experian. Review credit score, payment trends, and CCJs. (5 minutes + £5–15)
4. Based on results: Set your terms accordingly — standard terms for green-light clients, increased deposits and shorter terms for amber, and full upfront payment or decline for red.

That's it. Ten minutes and a maximum of £15. Compare that to the weeks or months you'd spend chasing a ghost client or pursuing a non-paying client through formal channels.

Make It a Habit, Not an Exception

The shift here is cultural, not technical. The tools are free (or nearly free). The process takes minutes. What needs to change is your mindset: vetting a client before you start work isn't suspicious, it's professional.

You wouldn't hire an employee without checking their references. You wouldn't rent a property without a credit check. You wouldn't invest money without reviewing the company's financials. So why would you invest your most valuable resource — your time — without doing the same?

Every hour you spend working for a client who won't pay is an hour you could have spent on a client who will. Due diligence isn't a tax on your workflow. It's the highest-return activity in your entire freelance business. Do it every time, for every new client, without exception.

The clients who pass your checks will respect that you're thorough. The ones who don't pass? You'll never know how much time, stress, and money you saved by walking away — and that's the whole point.