Lead sites or your own leads? What's better for a UK electrician

Lead sites are good for plugging gaps and poor as a foundation. They rent you demand. That helps in your first year or a slack month, and it's dangerous once it's the only way work reaches you.

Rated People shows the risk. It went into creditors' liquidation in September 2026, and its leads went to Checkatrade. Anyone who'd relied on it had to join Checkatrade to keep them, or look elsewhere.

You've also got routes most trades lack: scheme registers, letting agents and five-year repeat work. Below is a fair comparison and the mix I'd use. We sell services that build your own leads, so bear that in mind as you read.

What each one charges

Confirmed on 6 November 2026. Terms and prices move, so check them yourself.

The small print

Checkatrade

Well known, in my view, and its qualification check names NICEIC as an example for electrical work. The terms need a careful read:

• 12 months' membership, renewing for another 12.
• Stopping renewal means phoning, no earlier than 35 days before the date.
• Cancelling free of charge is limited to 2 business days from the start, unless there's cause.
• The contract outlives a cancelled direct debit.
• RPI can push fees up once in each term.

Reviews are the big one. The terms say they belong to the people who wrote them, Checkatrade has the exclusive right to use them on its platform, and when membership ends you must remove them from your business materials. So you can't simply lift them onto your own website. Those terms are undated, and I couldn't confirm the position on the other sites, so ask.

Bark

The credit cost shows before you respond, which is fair. Bark says your first pack's credits come back if it wins you no business, though the eligibility rules weren't read. After that, nothing comes back if the customer's mobile is verified, or if you made contact and lost. Credits bought since 1 November 2025 expire after three months. How many people can respond to a lead isn't stated on the pricing page, so ask.

MyJobQuote

No contract is the attraction. Credits last 6 months, and prices appear once you've signed up. That help page was last reviewed in July 2024.

TrustATrader

It says there's no charge per lead and no commission. You pay a year up front, can't cancel once live, and renewal isn't automatic. Those terms date from February 2023 and no price is published, so get it in writing.

Which? Trusted Traders

Treat this as a badge more than a lead source. Vetting covers credit and trading history, references, an interview and a DBS certificate. The page showed 50% off the assessment and first six months until 11 November 2026, so ask what's current. The FAQ doesn't name electrical work, so confirm you're eligible first, because the £248 is non-refundable.

Google Local Services Ads

Electricians are a listed UK category, and you pay per valid lead rather than per click. The UK list shows a business check and public liability insurance.

A warning if you're often up a ladder. Google's help page says a missed call in business hours can be charged when the caller stays on for more than 20 seconds. So set honest hours, and don't pay for calls you can't take.

Rated People

Closed to members. Rated People Limited entered creditors' liquidation on 16 September 2026, and Checkatrade Group bought selected assets. Its help page tells former members to join Checkatrade to keep those leads, on a 12-month fixed plan or by paying per job on an Opportunities Board.

Routes the comparison sites never mention

Agents get a section of their own, because I think they're the most underrated source you've got. One relationship can be worth more than a year of credits. Since 2025 and 2026, English rules have covered social housing too, with existing tenancies due an inspection before 1 November 2026. That's a lot of work, but I'd expect larger contractors to take most of it, so chase it only if you can face housing association paperwork.

Credits against a letting agent

The price of a lead tells you almost nothing. Run this instead.

That's no promise. Agents take months to win, and remedial work has to come from honest reports, with the landlord free to go elsewhere.

Track each site for three months, split into faults, planned work and EICRs. If you aren't winning enough, speed may be the fault, not the site. Why electricians lose work after the first call goes through it.

Rented leads and owned leads

Those timings are my judgement. Reputation does have evidence behind it: 36% of people who used a trader found them through someone they knew, in Citizens Advice's 2026 survey.

What I'd do at each stage

• New: one low-commitment lead source, a Google profile, reviews from day one, and every tradesperson you know.
• Registered: keep the register entry current and start seeing letting agents.
• Busy on thin prices: cut lead spend and move it to reviews and your website.
• Full: drop the leads and put your prices up.

And fix the phone before spending a penny. A paid-for lead that rings out while you're on a board change is the dearest way there is to lose a job.

David Bell, founder of Real Business Systems

David helps small UK businesses get found, answer every enquiry and keep customers coming back. We sell some of the services mentioned here, and we say so where they come up.