How Hero verification works: the 15 checks

Ten checks before a Hero can take any work, and five that never stop. All fifteen are published at /checks, and every Hero's current status is public on their Hero Passport.

Ten checks before a Hero goes live

1. Photo identity document.
2. A selfie.
3. A selfie holding that same document.
4. An automated cross-check of the document against the details entered.
5. Human review, within about a three-hour window.
6. Business verification, for limited companies.
7. Gas Safe registration, for gas work.
8. An electrical competent-person scheme registration, for electrical work.
9. Public liability insurance, with the cover amount recorded.
10. A signed Hero Agreement.

Five checks that never stop

• Daily credential expiry monitoring. A lapsed credential shows publicly as expired and pauses that Hero for the work it covers.
• Payment held until confirmation. The money reaches the Hero only when the client confirms.
• Verified-only reviews. Reviews come from real, completed, paid jobs, and are never incentivised.
• Evidence-first disputes. What was requested, quoted, done and paid is documented, so a dispute is settled on the record.
• The live public Hero Passport. Every Hero has a public page showing which checks they passed, when each was last checked, and when each credential expires.

All fifteen are published in full at /checks, and the passports are at /heroes.

What happens to your identity documents

Document images and selfies are encrypted at rest, and the decryption key is held separately from the database. Images are deleted automatically 30 days after a decision on your application; the outcome, the dates and the review reason are kept as your verification record.

The automated document reading assists the reviewer and never makes the decision. A person reviews and decides every application, and you can contest an outcome by replying to the decision email. The detail is in the Privacy policy.

Getting it right first time

Most rejections are a photograph problem rather than a documents problem. Screenshots, scans, photos of screens and edited images are declined on the spot, because the checks look for exactly those fingerprints. The step-by-step Hero verification guide shows what a photograph that passes looks like.

If an application is rejected, the email says why. Fix that one thing and resubmit from your dashboard: there is no penalty and no limit.

Last checked against the platform: 22 September 2026. All help topics.