About RefAssure

Reference checking was too expensive,
too slow, too manual.
We fixed that.

Enterprise reference platforms charge £3 to £5 per reference plus monthly subscriptions that cost hundreds regardless of volume. Manual processes consume hours of HR time and still produce inadequate evidence. RefAssure was built to deliver professional, compliant, written reference checking from 99p per reference — with no subscription, no contract and no compromise on quality.

Get Started From 99p View Pricing
99p
From per reference
vs £3–5 elsewhere
£0
Monthly fees
ever
1–3
Days average
turnaround
UK
Data hosting
always
Why We Built RefAssure

The problem with existing reference checking services

Before RefAssure, the options for professional reference checking were expensive enterprise platforms or time-consuming manual processes. Neither worked for most organisations.

Enterprise platforms
£3–5
per reference + monthly subscription
£50–£200/month whether you use it or not
£3–£5 per reference on top of the subscription
Per-user fees for every team member
12-month contracts with penalty clauses
Onboarding fees and setup costs
Sales calls required just to see pricing
RefAssure
99p
per reference — nothing else
No monthly subscription — ever
From 99p per reference — down to 80p at volume
Unlimited team members — no per-user fees
No contract — credits never expire
Self-serve — start in minutes, no sales call
Pricing on the website — no surprises
The team behind RefAssure
Built from real frustration Overpriced, overcomplicated, under-delivering. There had to be a better way.
Our Story

We looked at the market and couldn't justify the prices

Reference checking is not complicated. A referee receives a structured form, completes it online, and the hiring organisation receives a written record. The technology to do this well costs a fraction of what enterprise platforms charge — yet somehow the market had settled on pricing that put proper reference checking out of reach for smaller organisations.

A small domiciliary care agency processing 5 new care workers a month should not face a £150/month subscription for a process that takes 2 minutes to set up. A school business manager checking references for two new appointments a term should not need an enterprise contract. A recruitment consultant who places 20 candidates a year should not pay more in subscription fees than the references are worth.

So we built RefAssure. Professional, compliant, written reference checking from 99p per reference. No subscription. No contract. No sales call. Start in minutes, stop when you want, pay only for what you use.

What Makes RefAssure Different

Professional reference checking — without the enterprise price tag

Not cheaper at the cost of quality. Better in every way that matters — and genuinely affordable.

Pay per reference — not per month

No subscription. No monthly minimum. No annual contract. Credits from 99p that never expire. You pay in exact proportion to how many references you run — nothing more, nothing less.

Candidate consent — built in by default

Most reference platforms skip candidate consent entirely. RefAssure collects written, timestamped consent from the candidate via email and SMS before any referee is contacted — on every reference, automatically. GDPR compliant and audit-ready.

Compliance built into every template

Safeguarding suitability questions for care and education. Sector-specific templates. Mandatory fields that cannot be skipped. Every reference generates CQC and KCSIE-compliant evidence automatically — not as an add-on.

Instant requests — 1–3 day returns

Reference requests go out the moment you submit. Automated email and SMS chasing begins immediately if referees do not respond. Most references return in 1 to 3 days — not 1 to 2 weeks.

Unlimited team members

Add your entire HR team, consultant team or trust-wide management team at no extra cost. One credit pool, unlimited users, one consistent process.

Inspection-ready PDF on every reference

Written responses, consent record and full timestamped audit trail in a single professional PDF. CQC inspection ready, Ofsted inspection ready, client ready — generated automatically on every completed reference.

Total control — self-managed

You control every reference you send. See exactly where each one is, who has responded, what has been chased and when. No waiting for account managers. No opaque black-box process.

UK data hosting — always

All data stored in the UK. GDPR compliant. No data sent overseas. No question about data residency for regulated sectors.

Transparent pricing — always visible

Every credit pack and its per-reference cost is published on the website. No pricing available on request. No contracts required to see what you pay.

1

You add the candidate

Name, email and mobile. Select template. Under 2 minutes.

2

Candidate receives consent request

Email and SMS asking for written consent to reference checking. Timestamped and stored the moment they respond.

3

Only then — referee contacted

Reference request goes directly to the referee. Not via the candidate. Independently obtained.

4

Automated chasing — no manual effort

5 email chasers + 2 SMS reminders automatically. Most references back in 1–3 days.

5

PDF generated — consent included

Written responses, consent record and full audit trail in one inspection-ready PDF.

Our Standout Feature
Written candidate consent — automatic on every reference

We collect candidate consent before contacting any referee. Most platforms don't.

This might sound like a small detail. It isn't. Under UK GDPR, processing a referee's personal data without a clear basis — and without the candidate's knowledge — creates legal and ethical risk. In regulated sectors like care and education, candidates must be aware that references are being sought. Most reference platforms skip this step entirely.

RefAssure contacts the candidate first — by email and SMS — to collect written, timestamped consent before any referee is approached. This consent record is stored permanently and included in every PDF report. It demonstrates ethical, transparent recruitment practice and satisfies the data processing requirements that apply to reference checking.

It's not just a compliance tick-box. It's the right way to conduct a reference. And it's built into every single RefAssure reference — automatically, at no extra cost.

See the full process
The Platform

Total control over every reference you send

Self-managed, transparent, and built so you always know exactly where every reference stands.

RefAssure dashboard — checking reference status

See every reference at a glance

Live status on every candidate — who has consented, which referees have responded, what has been chased and when. No chasing your own system to find out what's happening.

RefAssure — viewing completed reference

Complete written responses — always

Every completed reference stored in your dashboard with full written responses. Download the PDF or review online — the evidence is always there.

RefAssure — recruiter using reference checking platform

Built for the people who send the references

Designed for HR managers, compliance officers, recruiters and school business managers — not for enterprise IT departments. Set up a reference in under 2 minutes.

Why Organisations Trust RefAssure

Built for compliance. Priced for everyone.

CQC-compliant

Regulation 19 evidence generated automatically on every care reference.

KCSIE-compliant

Safeguarding suitability questions mandatory on every education reference.

UK data hosting

All data stored in the UK. GDPR compliant. No overseas transfers.

Secure by design

Encrypted in transit and at rest. Referee links are single-use and time-limited.

Audit-ready PDFs

Every reference generates a professional PDF with full timestamped audit trail.

Transparent pricing

All pricing published. No sales calls. No hidden fees. No surprises.

No per-user fees

Unlimited team members on every account — no per-seat costs ever.

Credits never expire

Buy credits when you need them. Use them when you need them. They never expire.

RefAssure — care sector reference checking

Built for the care sector. And education. And recruitment.

RefAssure works across every sector that needs compliant, documented, written reference checking — with sector-specific templates and compliance features for care, education and regulated recruitment.

Sectors We Serve

One platform — every sector that needs compliant references

Sector-specific templates, compliance features and in-depth guides for every industry we serve.

Care Agencies & Providers
CQC Regulation 19, FPPR, safeguarding questions
Schools & Education
KCSIE, safer recruitment, SCR audit trail
Recruitment Agencies
High-volume, pay-per-placement, scalable
Healthcare
NHS suppliers, clinics, regulated health roles
Employers
In-house HR teams, all sectors, all role types
Multi-Academy Trusts
Trust-wide consistency, one account, shared credits
In Depth

Professional reference checking — without the enterprise price tag

The employment reference checking market in the UK has historically been divided into two segments: expensive enterprise platforms aimed at large corporations, and manual processes that consume HR time and produce inadequate evidence. RefAssure was built to create a third option — professional, compliant, fully automated reference checking that any organisation can afford.

Why existing reference platforms are so expensive

Enterprise reference checking platforms are priced for enterprise procurement cycles — annual contracts, implementation fees, per-user licences and volume-based pricing tiers that require a conversation with a sales team before you can even find out what it costs. For the majority of organisations that need reference checking — small care agencies, individual schools, growing recruitment businesses — this pricing model simply does not work. The monthly subscription often costs more than the references themselves.

RefAssure removes every element of that pricing complexity. One credit pack. One price per reference. Credits that never expire. No conversation required. Pricing on the website for anyone to see.

Why candidate consent changes everything

Most reference checking platforms — and most manual processes — approach the referee directly without formally notifying the candidate first. Under UK GDPR, processing a referee's personal data has a legal basis, but the candidate's awareness and consent adds a layer of transparency that matters in regulated sectors. In care settings, GDPR-compliant recruitment processes are part of demonstrating safe, ethical practice to CQC. In education settings, KCSIE recommends candidate awareness of the reference process.

RefAssure collects written, timestamped consent from the candidate before any referee is contacted — automatically, on every reference, at no extra cost. This single step distinguishes compliant reference checking from the shortcut approach that most platforms take.

Affordable does not mean lower quality

RefAssure generates the same quality of reference evidence as platforms costing five times as much — written responses, structured questions, mandatory compliance fields, candidate consent, automated chasing and professional PDF reports. The difference is in the business model, not the product. We chose pay-as-you-go pricing because it aligns our revenue with the value we deliver. When you run a reference, we earn. When you do not, we do not charge you.

FAQ

Questions about RefAssure — answered

RefAssure charges from 99p per reference with no monthly subscription, no annual contract and no per-user fees. Credits start at £9.99 for 10 references and never expire. Larger credit packs reduce the per-reference cost to as low as 80p. No setup fees, no onboarding costs and no sales call required — pricing is published on the website.

Three things. Pricing: from 99p per reference with no subscription, versus £3–5 plus monthly fees on enterprise platforms. Candidate consent: RefAssure collects written, timestamped consent from the candidate before any referee is contacted — a step most platforms skip entirely. Compliance by default: CQC and KCSIE-compliant evidence is generated automatically on every reference, with sector-specific templates and mandatory safeguarding fields built in.

Yes. RefAssure generates Regulation 19 safe recruitment evidence automatically — candidate consent, safeguarding suitability questions, conduct history and a full timestamped audit trail. Every completed reference produces a PDF with all the documentation a CQC inspector expects to see.

Yes. Education templates include mandatory safeguarding suitability questions and disciplinary history fields consistent with KCSIE requirements. Written candidate consent is collected before any referee is contacted. Every reference generates an SCR-ready PDF with full audit trail.

Yes — before any referee is approached, RefAssure contacts the candidate by email and SMS for written, timestamped consent. This satisfies UK GDPR requirements, meets KCSIE transparency expectations and demonstrates ethical safe recruitment for CQC inspections. The consent record is in every PDF report.

Most references return within 1 to 3 working days. Requests go out instantly and automated email and SMS chasers follow over 12 days if the referee does not respond — 5 email reminders and 2 SMS. No manual effort from your team required.

Unlimited. No per-user or per-seat fees. An entire HR team, consultant desk or multi-academy trust shares one account with a shared credit pool — one consistent process regardless of who sends the reference.

All data is stored in the UK. GDPR compliant. No overseas transfers. UK data hosting is standard on all accounts — important for organisations in regulated sectors where data residency requirements apply.

Professional reference checking.
Finally affordable.

Start in minutes. From 99p per reference. No subscription, no contract, no sales call — just compliant, written, documented references with a full audit trail.

Get Started From 99p View Pricing

From 99p per reference · No monthly fees · Credits never expire · UK data hosting · No sales call needed