What CRB Checks Can I Take if I’m a Sole Trader

If you have your own business and feel having a CRB check would enhance your services, then there are ways and means of obtaining more than the basic check.

A clear CRB check will help build customer and creditor trust and it will display due diligence on your part.

Basic CRB Check

You can personally apply for a basic CRB check if you are self-employed. You just need to go onto the Disclosure and Barring Service (DSB) website and fill in the application online. It costs £23 and has a 10 working day turnaround.

It will flag up any unspent convictions and cautions you have on your record. If you don’t have any, then your check will come back clear.

If, for example, you are a self-employed chef, then having a clear CRB check to produce is going to work in your favor. You can provide your clients with a reference number and your full name and address and they will be able to confirm your CRB check online.

Standard CRB Checks 

A standard CRB check is usually helpful if you are in the financial sector, be it a bookkeeper or a mortgage advisor. Providing proof of a clear CRB check will give your clients peace-of-mind and go a long way to building up trust.

You can’t apply for this check yourself, but if you are deemed eligible for the standard CRB, then you can apply to have it done through a service that is registered with the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Alternatively, if you are a member of, for example, the AMI (Association of Mortgage Intermediaries) or AAT (Association of Accountant Technicians), they can request one on your behalf.

A standard CRB check is also required for the security industry. If you are self-employed and your skills cover door supervision, guarding, close protect CCTV management or cash and valuables in transit you will need a standard screening. A good start would be to become a member of the SIA (Security Industry Authority).

Enhanced CRB Checks

If your business involves dealing and being around the vulnerable, then you will have to have an enhanced CRB check.

Children, the elderly, and the disabled are classed as vulnerable, so if you are a contractor who comes into contact with this group more than three times in a 30-day period you will be asked to provide proof of an enhanced background screening.

You can provide the nature of your contracting to a service registered with the Disclosure and Barring Service to see if you are eligible for an enhanced CRB check.

If for example, you are a self-employed nanny, you can become a member of the British Association of Professional Nannies (BAPN) and this organization will be able to request the enhanced CRB check for you.

Use the DBS Check Update Service

This service is available for standard and enhanced CRB checks. You can sign up to it for £13 a year and you can give organizations access to check if anything has altered on your check.

This “portable” CRB check is great if you are working in the same role for different organizations. If, for example, you are a self-employed electrician and carry out work in the local residential home on a regular basis and a nursery school in the area, this would be well worth investing in.

Make sure you apply for this update service using your standard or enhanced certificate number within 30 days of it being issued.