How we check reviews

The short version

Every review comes from a homeowner who hired that firm: either they asked it for a quote through Estiquote and told us they hired it, or they showed us proof of the job. A person at Estiquote reads every review before it is published. Nobody is paid or rewarded for a review, and we never hold one back for being negative.

Who can leave a review

Anyone who hired the firm, once the job has finished. There are two ways in, and a person checks reviews from both before they are published.

• Requested through Estiquote. You asked the firm for a quote through Estiquote, then told us you hired it and the month the job finished. You leave the review from the My requests page.
• Proof of the job checked. You hired the firm another way. You choose “Hired this firm? Leave a review” on its profile, confirm your email address with a 6-digit code and upload proof of the job from that firm: an invoice, a quote you accepted or a receipt, as a PDF or a photo.

The job must have finished in the last 36 months. You can leave one review of each firm for each job, and send up to 5 reviews a day. We never turn a review down just because the job didn’t start on Estiquote.

What a review shows

An overall rating from 1 to 5 stars; ratings for quality, communication, tidiness and value if the homeowner gave them; their words; their first name and the first letter of their surname; the town or district; the job; the month it finished; and how we know they hired the firm, “Requested through Estiquote” or “Proof of the job checked”. The firm’s reply appears under it if the firm made one.

Each firm’s profile shows the average of all its published reviews, how many there are, and every published review, newest first. We don’t choose which reviews to show or put the best ones first.

How we check every review

• A person at Estiquote reads every review before it is published and checks it against the request it came from or the proof of the job.
• Proof of the job stays private. Only the person checking the review sees it; the firm and the public never do. We delete it 90 days after we decide on the review.
• We don’t edit anyone’s words. We publish a review as written, or turn it down.
• We turn a review down only if it isn’t about a real job with that firm, is offensive, includes personal details (such as someone’s full name, phone number or address), or is about something else.
• We never turn down, hold back or remove a review because it is negative.

No payment, rewards or pressure

• Nobody is paid or given anything for a review: no money, discount, voucher, gift or prize draw.
• Firms may ask any customer to leave an honest review. They can’t pay for reviews, offer anything for one, ask only the customers they expect to be happy, write reviews of their own firm or of any firm they work for, own or are connected to, or pay to have a review removed or hidden. They can’t ask a homeowner to change or remove a review.
• The only review invitation we send is one email about 6 weeks after a request, asking whether the homeowner hired anyone. Every homeowner who sends a request gets the same email, whatever happened, so happy and unhappy customers are asked in the same way. If one can’t be sent when it is due, we send it later, but only while the request is less than 90 days old. Anyone who hired a firm can also leave a review from its profile.

Firms’ replies and reports

A firm can reply publicly once to each review. We check the reply before it is published, for the same reasons we would turn down a review.

A firm can report a review it thinks breaks these rules. We look into every report and remove a review only if it does break them. A reported review stays published while we look into it.

What we do about fake reviews

Every review is linked either to a real request through Estiquote or to proof of the job that a person has checked. We also look for signs of fake reviews, such as several reviews from the same person, proof that looks altered or reused, reviews that read alike, or a link between the reviewer and the firm.

If we find a fake review, or a firm paying, rewarding or pressuring people over reviews, we remove the reviews concerned and can pause or remove the firm’s listing. We assess the risk of fake reviews regularly, and change our checks when we find a new risk.

Report a review

Anyone can report a review they think is fake, paid for or pressured. Email support@estiquote.co.uk with the firm’s name and what is wrong. If you wrote a review, you can delete it at any time on the My requests page.

The law

Since April 2025, UK law has banned fake reviews and reviews that hide that they were paid for or rewarded, and has required websites that publish reviews to take reasonable and proportionate steps to prevent and remove them (the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024). This policy follows the Competition and Markets Authority’s fake reviews guidance and its short guide for businesses publishing consumer reviews.

Our terms set out the rules for reviews, and our privacy notice explains what a review shows and how long we keep it.