Product Terms - Book and Pay
Effective 4th March 2026
These Terms explain how Book and Pay works and what to expect when You use it through Your Checkatrade account.
What is Book and Pay
Book and Pay helps You manage bookings, take secure payments, and keep everything in one place - all through Your Checkatrade account. It’s designed to save You time and make payment hassle-free for both You and Your customers.
Your contract for the Trade Services is directly between You and Your customer. Checkatrade is not a party to that contract and does not supervise or guarantee the work.
Through Book and Pay, Checkatrade provides an online system that helps You:
receive and confirm Booking Requests;
take Deposits and full payments securely through our Payment Provider; and
manage cancellations and completion status in one place.
We do not employ You, act as Your agent, or control how You provide Your services. You remain responsible for performing the work agreed with Your customer and for complying with all applicable laws and Checkatrade policies.
2. Introduction
a. Book and Pay is a Service, as defined in Our Master Service Terms. These Book and Pay Terms apply in addition to the Master Service Terms and our Platform Terms of Use. If these terms ever conflict with the Master Service Terms, these Book and Pay terms take priority.
b. Book and Pay is provided on a per-job (transactional) basis and has no minimum term.
c. By accepting or confirming a Booking Request through the Checkatrade platform, You are agreeing to these Book and Pay Terms.
d. We provide Book and Pay, and facilitate payments through our Payment Provider. We’re not Your employer, contractor, or agent, and We don’t control Your bookings or payments. You’re an independent business, responsible for completing Your work and providing great service to Your customers.
e. Require that the trader provides pre-contract information consistent with CCR: identity, address, service description, price or estimate, right to cancel, contact details, etc.
3. Meaning of Terms
Here’s what We mean when We use certain capitalised words in these Terms:
Booking Request: a customer's request sent through Checkatrade for You to carry out Trade Services.
Booking: a contract for Trade Services between the customer and You pursuant to a Booking Request that has been accepted and confirmed by both You and Your customer on the Checkatrade platform.
Checkatrade Pay: our secure online Payment Processing Service, provided through a trusted third-party payment processor (the Payment Provider), which processes Job Price payments between You and Your customer.
Deposit: an upfront payment taken through Checkatrade Pay to secure a Booking and/or cover materials.
Job Price: the total amount You and Your customer agree for the job - including any Deposit or cost of materials.
Response Window: the period during which a Booking Request is available for You to accept through the Checkatrade platform before it expires for You.
Trade Services: the work, services or materials that You agree to provide pursuant to a Booking or as otherwise agreed between You both.
Service Fee: the fee charged by Checkatrade, in accordance with clause 6, for each completed Booking made through Book and Pay.
Any other capitalised Terms shall have the same meaning as set out in the Master Service Terms.
4. Booking Requests
a. When a customer sends You a Booking Request, You’ll get an alert. From there, You can:
accept it;
propose a new Job Price
ask for more information; or
decline it.
b. Once You accept, the customer will get a message to confirm. A Booking only becomes official (and your contract for Trade Services with them only begins) once they confirm through the Checkatrade platform - that’s when their contact details will be shared with You.
c. If You do not accept a Booking Request within the applicable Response Window, the Booking Request will expire for You and may be shared with other eligible Trades on the Checkatrade platform.
5. Consumer rights and cooling-off period
a. When you accept a Booking Request you must follow the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. That means you must:
Give customers clear information about Your service and the Trade Services e.g who you are, what You will do, and what it will cost, before they agree to go ahead.
Let them know they usually have 14 days to change their mind.
Not started the Trade Services during that 14 day period unless the customer has asked You to (or confirmed they want to go ahead) and agreed they may lose the right to cancel once the work’s finished.
If the customer cancels, You will need to follow Our Cancellation Policy, or your own, if it gives the customer at least the same level of protection required by law.
b. These rules are there to protect customers, and help You build trust. Failing to follow them could lead to action under our terms or removal from Checkatrade.
6. Payments
a. You must choose how to receive payment for a Booking.
If You use Checkatrade Pay:
When You accept a job, an authorisation is placed on the customer’s card for the Job Price.
The funds stay on hold until the Trade Services are marked complete and released to You (or refunded if needed, following our Cancellation Policy).
If the Job Price is reduced, You will need to contact Checkatrade so we can adjust the Authorised Payment. The Service Fee will remain based on the original Job Price.
If the Job Price increases, You will need to submit a new Checkatrade Pay request for the updated amount. No Service Fee will apply to this new payment.
We don’t possess, hold or control these funds – payments, chargebacks and refunds are managed by our trusted Payment Provider.
Deposits
Need to take a deposit? No problem - You can do this through Checkatrade Pay. customers will always see the amount clearly before confirming.
Deposits are charged immediately and paid to You in line with the Payment Provider’s normal timelines.
The balance of the Job Price will be authorised and paid as described in the Service Fee and Cancellation sections.
Offline Payments:
If You choose to be paid directly by Your customer (outside Checkatrade Pay), that’s fine - but it’s handled under Your own contract.
And just so You know - because We can’t see or verify those payments, We’re unable to help with chargebacks, refund tracking, or disputes.
7. Service Fee
a. Each completed Booking through Book and Pay is subject to a small Service Fee - this covers the cost of running the platform and keeping payments secure.
b. The Service Fee is not included in the Job Price paid by Your customer.
c. The Service Fee will be clearly displayed to You before You accept any Booking Request, so You can review and decide whether to proceed.
d. All Service Fees are non-refundable and subject to VAT where applicable.
e. If You use Checkatrade Pay: the Service Fee will be deducted automatically from the amount released to You before payment
f. If You use Offline Payments: We will invoice You monthly for all Service Fees due. Invoices are payable in accordance with the Master Service Terms.
8. Cancellations
Sometimes plans change - that’s okay. Cancellations are handled under the applicable Cancellation Policy, which forms part of these Terms.
9. Completion
a. Once You mark a Booking complete, Your customer has 48 hours to confirm or raise an issue. If We don’t hear from them, where Checkatrade Pay is used, any authorised payment is automatically released to You by the Payment Provider.
b. For Offline Payments, You remain responsible for collecting and managing that payment in accordance with Your contract with Your customer.
c. Completion of a Booking through the Checkatrade platform does not affect Your separate contractual obligations to Your customer, including any warranties or aftercare You have agreed
10. Disputes
a. If a customer reports an issue with the Trade Services within the 48-hour period, You will be notified through the Checkatrade platform and given an opportunity to respond and resolve.
b. Disputes relating to the Trade Services or any payment of the Job Price must be resolved directly between You and Your customer, whether or not payment was made through Checkatrade Pay.
c. If payment of the Job Price is through Checkatrade Pay, the Payment Provider may, in its discretion, hold authorised funds in accordance with its own terms.
d. We do not provide arbitration, mediation or adjudication services in relation to any dispute you have with a customer. Further guidance is available in Our Disputes FAQ.
e. We may monitor dispute data or complaint trends to ensure compliance with Our Master Service Terms and the Checkatrade Standard, and may take action where appropriate.
11. Your Responsibilities
a. You must use Book and Pay in accordance with these Product Terms, the Master Service Terms and our Fair Use Policy.
b. To keep everything running smoothly, please make sure Your booking info is accurate and up to date and You are managing each stage of the Booking through the Checkatrade platform.
12. Service Eligibility
a. To stay eligible for Book and Pay, just keep up good communication and fair Booking practices. We’ll let You know if anything needs improving - read our standards here in Our Fair Use Policy.
b. We may update Our Fair Use Policy from time to time. Failure to meet these standards may result in suspension or removal from Book and Pay in line with the Master Service Terms.
13. Contact
Need a hand? Our support team is here for You - just drop us a message at support@checkatrade.com and We will be happy to help.