Is Which? Trusted Traders worth it? Cost, joining and the alternatives

Is Which? Trusted Traders worth it? For a trade, it is worth it when your customers check credentials before they pick up the phone, and you can carry about £1,076 in the first year for the smallest business. It is an endorsement first: a logo you earn through an assessment, with a profile on Which?'s site, rather than a paid list that sends you enquiries.

This guide sets out what Which?'s own pages said on 2 November 2026: the price, how you join, what you agree to, and how to leave. Then it puts the scheme beside the other endorsements a trade can join, some of which cost a fraction of it.

We sell websites to trades, so we have an interest. That is not a reason to call the scheme bad. For a heating firm, a roofer or a window company selling to cautious homeowners, a Which? logo on the quote can be the thing that wins the job. The point is to decide with the sums and the terms in front of you.

What is Which? Trusted Traders, and what do you get?

It is Which?'s endorsement scheme for home improvement, household repairs and motor trades. Which?'s FAQ calls it "an endorsement scheme that recognises reputable traders". You pass an assessment by one of its trading standards professionals, then you can use the logo and you get a profile on the Which? Trusted Traders website, where customers search for a trade and leave reviews.

What membership includes, on Which?'s trader pages:

• The logo, on your quotes, van, workwear, website and social pages, for as long as you are a member.
• A profile with moderated reviews. Which? checks reviews are genuine and does not remove one "simply because" it is negative; you can reply.
• A dispute route. If a customer complaint cannot be settled, it goes to an independent dispute resolution service. Which? charges you £240 plus VAT when the ruling goes the customer's way.
• Helplines and extras: free legal and wellness helplines, an account manager, a Which? subscription at no charge, and discounts with partners such as job management software.

What it does not do is promise work. The trader pages we read give no figure for how many enquiries a member gets. The name does carry weight with the public: "which trusted traders" is searched about 6,600 times a month in the UK, 5,400 in September 2026 (Google Ads, via DataForSEO). That count includes traders looking for their login, so it is a ceiling on demand, not a measure of enquiries.

How much does Which? Trusted Traders cost in 2026?

Which?'s join page, read on 2 November 2026, gives a one-off assessment fee of £248 and then a monthly or yearly fee set by the size of your business:

Business size	A month	A year	Assessment fee	If you use subcontractors
0 to 3 employees	£69	£828	£248	+£3 a month
4 to 9 employees	£89	£1,068	£248	+£4 a month
10 to 14 employees	£124	£1,488	£248	+£6 a month
15 or more	On request	On request	On request	On request

Things to know before you apply:

• The assessment fee is not refundable. In Which?'s words: "if you don't pass or you decide not to join, we can't give you the money back."
• The join page does not say whether these prices include VAT. Ask, and get the answer in writing.
• Older prices are still online. Which?'s consumer site lists £66 a month or £797 a year "inc VAT" for the smallest business, marked "Prices valid for applications from 1 August 2024". The join page is the one Which? points traders to, so use its figures.
• Headcount counts everyone, office staff and sales included, and subcontractors who do a large part of your work can be counted as staff. A second branch profile costs extra.
• Other fees: the £240 plus VAT dispute fee above, and a re-visit fee, which the older list puts at £200 plus VAT, if Which? has to reassess you outside its routine checks.

There are two ways to pay less. When we checked on 2 November 2026, Which? had an introductory offer of 50% off the assessment fee and the first six months' fees, for businesses trading at least six months with 19 or fewer employees, ending 11 November 2026; ask whether there is one when you apply. Separately, OFTEC, NICEIC and RECC members get 50% off the monthly fee for the first six months, but only if their trade body referred them. Which?'s consumer site also says NICEIC and Elecsa electricians are interviewed by phone with no assessment fee; its trader pages do not repeat that, so ask when you ring.

For the smallest business at full price, the first year is £248 plus £828: £1,076, before any VAT question. Each year after that is £828.

How do you become a Which? Trusted Trader?

You apply, pay the assessment fee, send your documents, and pass a set of checks and an assessment. Which? aims to finish within 30 working days, depending on how quickly you send what it asks for.

You can apply if your business is in the UK, has traded for at least six months, and works in consumer home improvement, household repairs or installations, or private motor servicing and repairs. You cannot apply if you sell door to door or cold call, have a County Court Judgment less than two years old, or were refused or removed from this or a similar scheme. Anyone running the business must have no unspent criminal convictions, no bankruptcy orders or IVAs, and no history of insolvent or repeatedly dissolved companies.

The steps, on Which?'s join page:

1. Apply and pay the £248.
2. Send your documents within 48 hours: your full public liability insurance schedule, an example quote and an example invoice with customer details removed, photo ID, a utility bill showing your address, your terms and conditions if you have them, and proof that your directors have applied for a DBS check.
3. Pass the checks: financial health, credit, trading history and background.
4. Be assessed by a trading standards professional, face to face or remotely, starting within 14 working days of applying. It usually takes about 90 minutes and covers your paperwork, staff and complaints process. Which? may ask your recent customers for feedback, with your permission.
5. Complete the actions in the assessor's report, such as changes to your paperwork or adding Which?'s complaints procedure to your website. Then a senior member of its team endorses you.

If your quotes are thin, sort them out first: the assessor will read one. Our guide on how to write a quote covers what a written quote should include.

What do you agree to as a member?

Two things: Which?'s membership terms, and its code of conduct, which every member signs.

The contract. Which?'s trader FAQ says membership is "a rolling contract with no set end date". You pay in full for the year or by monthly Direct Debit. To leave, you give three months' notice to your account manager, and you must stop using the logo. Which? reassesses members during the year and can suspend or remove you if you fall short.

The code of conduct (version 6, June 2025) is stricter than the law in places. The rules most likely to change how you work:

• Quotes in writing, with the total price including VAT, and a revised quote before any extra work.
• No full payment until the job is done and the customer has had a fair chance to inspect it, unless the payment is protected.
• Deposits over £500 must be protected, and refunded within 28 days in the cases the code lists, such as work that has not started.
• Jobs finished within four weeks unless you agree longer with the customer.
• Complaints acknowledged within 7 days, with a course of action within 28, and you must accept the dispute service's decision.
• No pressure or incentives for reviews. No discount, payment or gift for leaving one on Which?'s site. Our guide on how to get Google reviews works within the same kind of rule.
• No cold calling and no unsolicited visits to people's homes.

Which? can change the code with 28 days' notice. If your normal way of working is a large deposit on every job, read the code before you pay the assessment fee.

Is Which? Trusted Traders worth it for your trade?

It depends on how your customers choose. If they compare badges and read reviews before they ring, the logo helps; if they ring the first number on Google, it helps less. Which?'s own testimonials are from members, and mostly about the badge and the process: "The assessment was harder than I thought it would be, but also eye-opening" (Monsta Windows, 12 January 2024).

Your situation	Does it tend to pay off?	Why
Established firm, high-value jobs such as heating, roofing or windows	Often	A few extra jobs a year can cover the fee, and the logo goes on every quote
Customers worried about rogue traders	More likely	The scheme is built for them: trading standards checks and a dispute route
Your paperwork, quotes and complaints process are already in order	More likely	The assessment is less work, and the code changes less
New business, under six months	Not possible	Six months' trading is an entry rule
Sole trader on thin cash flow	Risky	About £1,076 in the first year, with a non-refundable £248 up front
Work comes from referrals and Google reviews already	Rarely	You would pay for trust you already have
You want enquiries, not a badge	Probably not	It is an endorsement; directories and your Google profile send enquiries

If you want calls rather than a logo, compare the directories in our Checkatrade alternatives guide, or read whether Checkatrade is worth it for a membership that is sold on leads.

What are the alternatives to Which? Trusted Traders?

The closest alternatives are the other endorsement schemes, and two of them are run by council Trading Standards services. "Trusted trader" covers three different things: Which?'s scheme, council Trusted Trader schemes, and TrustATrader, a private directory. Here is what each costs for the smallest business:

Scheme	Who runs it	Cost for the smallest business	Checked
Which? Trusted Traders	Which?	£248 assessment, then £69 a month or £828 a year (0 to 3 staff; VAT not stated)	2 Nov 2026
Buy With Confidence	Council Trading Standards services	£165 to apply, then £305 a year, plus VAT (0 to 5 staff)	Correct as of 1 Apr 2026, read 2 Nov 2026
A council Trusted Trader scheme, for example Derbyshire	That council's Trading Standards	£88 a year including VAT for a sole trader, £132 for other businesses	2 Nov 2026
TrustMark	TrustMark, with scheme providers that include trade bodies	We could not read TrustMark's own pages; ask your trade body	Not checked

• Buy With Confidence is "operated solely by local authority Trading Standards services" and is open to most business sectors, not only home improvement. With VAT, the first year is £564 and each year after is £366. Anyone who visits customers' homes needs a basic criminal record check, about £21.50 each. Your council does not have to be part of it: you can join through a regional or central hub.
• Council Trusted Trader schemes exist in some areas only, such as Derbyshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, and councils in Scotland through Scotland Trusted Trader. Each sets its own rules and fees, so search your council's site for "trusted trader" or "approved trader".
• TrustMark lists scheme providers on its site, including the Federation of Master Builders, OFTEC, Certass, KBSA, RECC and the Property Care Association. If you already belong to one of those, ask them whether you can register with TrustMark through them, and what it costs.
• Directories send enquiries rather than an endorsement. TrustATrader lists up to ten traders per trade in an area for a yearly fee; our Checkatrade alternatives guide compares it with MyBuilder, Bark and Checkatrade. A Google Business Profile is free, and so are the listings in our free business directories guide.

Whichever badge you choose, it only helps if customers see it. Put it on your quote, your van and your website, linked to your profile so a customer can check it is real.

How do you check it pays before you join?

Do the sum before you pay the £248, because that part does not come back. Take the first year's cost and divide it by the extra jobs you expect the logo and profile to win you. Compare that with the profit, not the price, of a typical job.

At £1,076 for the first year, one extra job a month costs £89.67 in fees, and four extra jobs a year cost £269 each. For a boiler or a roof that may be easy; for small repair jobs it is a lot. Those inputs are examples: put in your own.

Then ask Which? three things in writing before you apply: whether the prices include VAT, whether an offer or a trade-body discount applies to you, and how many members in your trade already cover your area. If the answers leave the sum marginal, Buy With Confidence or your council's scheme gives you a Trading Standards badge for far less.