Should I use a Checkatrade electrician?
Checkatrade and similar directories are decent candidate sources with useful review volume, but remember what they are: paid listings with membership checks, not guarantees. Use the reviews to build a shortlist, then apply the real filters, register verification, written quotes, certification, exactly as you would to any electrician.
What directories genuinely provide: aggregated reviews at volumes personal recommendation cannot match, some identity and insurance checking at signup, and a complaints channel with leverage (removal) that an independent trader does not face. Those are real, modest benefits.
What they do not provide: the trade-specific competence assessment that scheme registration does. A directory profile with 200 good reviews tells you the firm turns up and customers leave happy; it does not verify the testing regime behind the certificates. Reviews measure experience; registers measure competence. You want both.
Reading directory reviews well: weight recent reviews for your job type over the aggregate score, read the negative ones for how the firm responded (the response is more diagnostic than the complaint), and discount review counts achieved across a decade versus a year.
Costs deserve honesty in both directions: directory membership costs firms real money, which prices into jobs; and the directories' own published cost guides (Checkatrade shows £361 to £785 for Bristol electrician jobs) are useful calibration whoever you hire.
More in choosing an electrician, or browse all 40 questions on the FAQ index.
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