Start to finish

How it works

You add a candidate. We get their consent, contact the referees they nominate, chase the ones who go quiet, and run six checks on each reply. The report reaches you minutes after the last referee answers — with the evidence behind every result, so you can judge it yourself.

Turnaround

6 minutes

from the last reply to the report, in the example check.

There is nothing to wait for except the referee

All six checks are automated: the Companies House record, the domain and mail records, the comparison of two sets of dates, and the sender checks on the reply itself. None of it queues, and none of it is read by hand. So the report is not a next-morning turnaround — it is produced within about fifteen minutes of the final reply landing.

last reply received
30 Jul 2026 19:41
report issued
30 Jul 2026 19:47
The process

Four steps, and you are only in the first one

  1. Step 1

    You raise a check

    Candidate name, email and role. Nothing else — we do not ask for a CV.

  2. Step 2

    The candidate consents

    They confirm who we may contact and nominate up to three referees.

  3. Step 3

    Referees respond

    A short mobile questionnaire. The six checks run behind it.

  4. Step 4

    The report is issued

    Minutes after the last reply. Each result with its evidence, plus a timestamped activity trail.

The six checks

Six checks on every referee, and the evidence under each one

Each check runs against every referee and produces a result plus the line of evidence it came from. The lines below are real evidence from the sample check.

Read the whole sample report
  1. 01

    Referee email

    Whether the referee’s email address belongs to the employer they claim.

    The address is compared with the employer given. We look up the domain’s mail records and how long it has been registered. A free webmail address, a disposable domain, or a domain registered weeks ago is reported as such — with the address shown.

    domain
    meadowbrookcare.co.uk · registered 19 years ago
  2. 02

    Public profile

    Whether the referee has a public professional footprint at that employer.

    A public lookup, treated as a result and never as sole proof. “No public profile found” is common and innocuous on its own; it carries weight only alongside another result.

    public profile
    None found · Peter Rowe, Rowe Domiciliary Care Ltd
  3. 03

    Employer record

    Whether the employer exists, is active, and whether the referee is an officer if they claim to be.

    Checked against Companies House. A dissolved company, a company that cannot be found, or someone claiming to be a director who is not listed as an officer are each reported with the record attached.

    Companies House
    MEADOWBROOK CARE LTD · 05512930 · active
  4. 04

    Employment dates

    Whether the candidate’s dates and the referee’s dates agree.

    The candidate supplies dates at consent; the referee supplies them independently. Where they differ, the report shows both values side by side and states nothing further.

    dates
    Jun 2021 – Dec 2022 (candidate) · Sep 2021 – Dec 2022 (referee)
  5. 05

    Email authenticity

    Whether the reply genuinely originated from the address it appears to come from.

    Sender checks run on the inbound reply, and we look at whether two referees’ replies share an origin. Reported in plain terms: passed, or an anomaly worth knowing about.

    sender checks
    Pass · j.hartley@meadowbrookcare.co.uk
  6. 06

    Response

    What happened if a referee never replied.

    Three reminders over 14 days. If there is still no reply the report is issued with the non-response recorded and the chase history shown, and the credit is returned.

    chase history
    29 Jul 2026 08:30 reminder sent · 30 Jul 2026 19:41 replied
Where we stop

What we will not do

Asked most

Common questions

How long does a reference check take?
The report is issued within minutes of the last referee replying — usually about fifteen. The checks are automated, so referee response time is the only variable; the activity trail shows exactly when each was contacted and reminded.
What does the employer have to provide?
The candidate’s name, email address and the role. No CV, and no other personal data.
Does the candidate have to agree?
Yes. Explicit consent from the candidate is the lawful basis for the check, and no referee is contacted before it is given.
What happens if a referee does not reply?
After three reminders over 14 days the report is issued with the non-response recorded as an outcome, and the credit is refunded.

All the questions we get asked →

Run one on your next candidate and see for yourself

Your first check is free. What it produces is a real report on a real candidate, and it is yours to keep.

PreHire reports verification evidence. Hiring decisions rest with the employer.