If you were a member, this is what you lost
- Your membership has ended. Rated People's own page says it "closed all memberships before it became part of Checkatrade". Nothing carried over to Checkatrade automatically.
- Your leads are gone from your account. Rated People's help page says leads you had "will no longer be accessible through your Rated People account".
- Your reviews may not be visible any more. Rated People says existing reviews "stay where they are". When we checked 14 old Rated People trade profile addresses on 6 Oct 2026, 4 still showed their reviews and 10 returned "page not found".
- Money: no answer published yet. We found no statement on refunds for members who had paid ahead. Questions go to the liquidators (details below).
We looked for first-hand posts from ex-members on Reddit and trade forums on 6 Oct 2026 and found none we could read and check, so there are no trade quotes on this page yet.
What happened, dated
- 16 Sep 2026. Rated People Limited (company 05540422) went into creditors' voluntary liquidation. Two liquidators from S&W Partners LLP were appointed the same day. (Companies House)
- Before the sale. Rated People closed all trade memberships. (Rated People trade FAQ)
- 17 Sep 2026. Rated People's blog announced that Checkatrade Group "has completed the acquisition of selected Rated People assets, including the brand and website". (Rated People blog)
- 18 Sep 2026. The date Rated People gives as the changeover: homeowners who posted a job before 18 September are asked to post it again. (Rated People blog)
- Now. Every job posted on Rated People is matched to Checkatrade members. To keep getting those jobs, Rated People says ex-members "need to sign up with Checkatrade". (Rated People blog)
What ex-members were told
- Questions about your old membership: the announcement says to contact the liquidators, S&W, at ratedpeople@swgroup.com.
- Your old jobs, contacts and invoices: the announcement links to a request form. The trade FAQ adds that members eligible for their old data "will have received an email from Checkatrade" with instructions. Check your inbox and spam folder.
- Refunds and direct debits: not published on any Rated People or Checkatrade page we read.
- Moving reviews to Checkatrade: not published on the pages we read. One trade site (myjobquote.co.uk, updated 19 Sep 2026) reports Checkatrade plans to let members import them, with no date given; we could not confirm that from Checkatrade.
What to do this week
- Check your bank. If any Rated People payment still leaves your account, you can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by contacting your bank, according to the Direct Debit Guarantee. If you think a payment was taken in error, ask your bank about a refund under the same Guarantee. Keep your statements.
- Email the liquidators at ratedpeople@swgroup.com with your business name, the email on your account and what you had paid. Ask whether anything is owed to you and how to make a claim. Keep the reply.
- Save your reviews while you can. Search for your old Rated People profile. If it still loads, screenshot every review page with today's date showing, and note each customer's first name and job. Those reviews sit on Rated People's site, not anywhere you control; the customers who wrote them are the people to contact next.
- Request your old data (jobs, contacts, invoices) through the form on the Rated People announcement, or the Checkatrade email if you got one. Those contacts are your past customers.
- Claim your Google Business Profile. Google says you "can add or claim your business at no charge". Add your trade, area, hours and phone number.
- Ask past customers for a Google review. Google lets you send a review link or QR code. Ask everyone who was happy with the job, and do not offer a discount or gift for it: Google's policy treats that as rating manipulation and can remove those reviews.
Steps 1 to 6 cost nothing. Do them before you sign any 12-month plan.
Rated People alternatives: what each costs (read 6 Oct 2026)
Prices as each platform states them. "Not published" means we could not find the figure on the platform's own pages or a dated primary copy.
| Option | How you pay | Published price | Tie-in | Who else gets the job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Checkatrade (now also gets Rated People's jobs) | Monthly membership: free profile, "Approved" tick, or "Growth" lead plan. Or a free Opportunities Board account where you pay for each lead you pick. | Free: £0. Approved: £30/month. Growth: "from £59/mo", priced per trade and area on a call. Opportunities Board lead price: not published. Rated People's page says membership "starts at £30 per month"; ask which plan includes the leads you want. | Fixed lead plans run for 12 months. | Opportunities Board: taken down once 3 trades have paid for the lead. Fixed plans: not published. |
| MyBuilder | Free to express interest. MyBuilder charges when you are shortlisted, before you know if you have the job. | "Typically £2 to £35 depending on the size of the job" (last archived copy, Jan 2024). No joining or membership fee. Current live page: could not be read. | None stated. | Several trades can be shortlisted; exact cap not published. |
| Bark | Bark charges credits to reply to a lead. Credit cost shown on each lead. | £1.80 per credit as its UK help page showed when we read it (6 Oct 2026; the page is not open to every reader). Credits per lead: not published, set per lead. Credits bought from 1 Nov 2025 expire after 3 months, no refunds on unused credits. | None for one-off credits; optional credit-pack subscriptions. | Not published on the pages we read. |
| TrustATrader | Membership, applied for online or by phone. Says you "never pay for your leads". | Not published. Price given on application. | Not published. | "Memberships are limited per area"; the number is not published. |
| Google Business Profile | Nothing. You claim and run it yourself. | £0. Google: "add or claim your business at no charge". | None. | Shown in Google Search and Maps beside other local trades. The reviews stay on your profile. |
| Your own website | Built once, then hosting and a domain. | Depends who builds it. Ours: £695 once, or £59 a month (terms below). | Depends on the builder. Ours: none on £695; 12 months on £59/month. | Nobody. An enquiry from your own site goes only to you. |
Sources and read dates are listed at the bottom of this page. For a fuller look at Checkatrade's plans and the sums per job won, see our page Is Checkatrade worth it for tradesmen?
Which way to go
Joining Checkatrade makes sense if…
- Most of your work came from Rated People and you need the phone ringing this month. It is the only way to get the jobs still posted on Rated People.
- You start with the Opportunities Board, where the account is free and you choose which leads to pay for, before committing to a 12-month plan.
MyBuilder or Bark make sense if…
- You want no monthly commitment and will track what each won job cost you.
Your own Google profile and site make sense if…
- You have past customers you can ask for reviews. This closure is the reason to keep your reviews somewhere you control.
The other route: a website that is yours, built from your Google reviews
If Rated People held your reviews, you now know the risk: the platform closes and the reviews can go with it. Google reviews sit on your own Business Profile. A simple site that puts them front and centre, with your phone number one tap away, does the trust job a directory does, and the customer who finds it is not shown three other trades next to you.
- Your reviews stay yours. The site shows the reviews on your own Google profile, and they stay there whatever you do with us.
- Missed calls get a text back. When you are up a ladder, the caller gets an automatic text so they don't ring the next trade.
- Review asks go out after each job, so the Google reviews keep growing.
- Local search basics are set up so the site and your Google profile point at the same trade and area.
What it won't do: a site does not make the phone ring by itself on day one. It earns when people already looking for you (from your Google profile, van, cards, word of mouth) land on it, and as it builds up in local search over months. If you need jobs this week, a lead platform may be faster; that is a fair reason to use one alongside.
Get your free preview built
Send us your business name and the area you work in. We build a preview of your site from your own public Google reviews and send you the link. You look at it before you pay anything.
£695 onceThe website, built from your Google reviews. Your own domain, registered in your name, and 12 months of hosting and changes included. After that, renew hosting at a price agreed before the year ends, or take the site and domain with you at no charge.
£59 a monthThe site plus missed-call text-back, review asks after every job, and local search set-up. 12-month minimum (£708 in total), then month to month: stop any month after that.
To be straight with you: we are new. We have no paying trade customers yet, so there are no testimonials here. The free preview is how you judge us.
Email hello@getaxionlabs.comWe reply within 24 hours.
Put your trade, business name and town in the email. Nothing on this page collects your details.
Sources (all read 6 October 2026)
- myjobquote.co.uk, page on the Rated People closure, updated 19 Sep 2026 (reports a future review import to Checkatrade, no timeline; one trade site's report, not confirmed by Checkatrade): myjobquote.co.uk
- Rated People, "Rated People is now part of Checkatrade Group", dated 17 Sep 2026 (sale completed, memberships ended, sign up with Checkatrade, liquidators S&W contact, data request form, pre-18 September jobs, "starts at £30 per month"): ratedpeople.com
- Rated People trade FAQ (memberships closed, leads no longer accessible, data email from Checkatrade, reviews "stay where they are", fixed plan 12 months): ratedpeople.com/help/tradesperson and ratedpeople.com/tradespeople/signup/enquiry
- Companies House, Rated People Limited 05540422, insolvency (creditors' voluntary liquidation, winding up from 16 Sep 2026, liquidators of S&W Partners LLP appointed 16 Sep 2026): find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk
- Old Rated People trade profile addresses: 14 taken from 2026 Wayback Machine captures and opened on 6 Oct 2026; 4 loaded with reviews, 10 returned page not found. Our own check; a small sample.
- Checkatrade pricing page (Free £0, Approved £30/month, Growth from £59/mo, 12-month fixed plans): join.checkatrade.com/pricing
- Checkatrade, What's New summer 2026 (Opportunities Board, removed once 3 trades pay for it): join.checkatrade.com/whats-new-summer-2026
- MyBuilder trade sign-up page, archived 23 Jan 2024 (£2 to £35 shortlist fee, no joining fee): web.archive.org
- Bark help centre (UK), "What is a credit and how much does it cost?" (£1.80/credit, 3-month expiry): help.bark.com
- TrustATrader "Join us" (no price published, leads not charged, limited per area): trustatrader.com/join-us
- Google Business Profile Help, "Add or claim your Business Profile" (no charge): support.google.com; "Tips to get more reviews" (review link or QR code; incentives not allowed): support.google.com
- Direct Debit Guarantee (cancel at any time through your bank; refund if a payment is made in error): directdebit.co.uk
Brand names are used only to report published facts and prices. Axion Labs is not connected to Rated People, Checkatrade or any platform named here. Prices change; check the platform's own page before you sign.