Who runs this. How to verify us. What we are and aren't.

What SortedUK is

A free UK consumer-help website. We turn confusing UK letters, benefits, scams, debts and life-admin tasks into plain English with a clear next step. We're based in the UK, focused only on UK rules, and we never charge you a penny.

• Free, always. No login, no subscription, no ads, no affiliate fees from debt firms / mortgage brokers / claims-management companies.
• Private by default. Your uploads + saved cases live in your browser (localStorage + IndexedDB). Nothing is sent to a SortedUK server because we don't yet have one — see "what's still being built" below.
• Sourced. Every figure is cited to GOV.UK, HMRC, DWP, NHS or a UK regulator. See /sources.
• Self-correcting. Every mistake is logged at /corrections with the date, source, and what we changed.

What SortedUK isn't

Most consumer-help websites blur the line. We're deliberately clear about what we are not:

• Not FCA-regulated. We do not give personalised investment, mortgage, insurance or pension advice. For regulated mortgage advice we route to FCA-authorised brokers or MoneyHelper.
• Not a charity. We're not registered with the Charity Commission. Donations are not tax-deductible.
• Not a law firm. No SRA registration. For legal advice we route to Law Centres, Citizens Advice, LawWorks pro bono, or solicitors on the Law Society register.
• Not a tax adviser. No ICAEW / ACCA / CIOT registration. For complex tax we route to chartered accountants.
• Not government-endorsed. References to GOV.UK / HMRC / DWP / NHS are as sources, not partners. None of those bodies has reviewed or approved this content.
• Not a substitute for human help on anything serious. Every AI result links to a free FCA-regulated charity or to Citizens Advice. Use them.

Who runs it

SortedUK is built and maintained by one person — not a team, not a fund-backed startup. The owner has chosen not to publish his name on the public site for personal privacy reasons. That doesn't mean we're anonymous to the institutions that matter:

• The domain sorteduk.uk is held in the owner's personal name (verifiable on Nominet WHOIS).
• When SortedUK Ltd files at Companies House, the director's name will be public on the official register.
• The site's hosting (Netlify) and email (corrections@sorteduk.uk) are real, working, and respond.

We understand this looks unusual for a consumer-help service. Most charity / government sites publish names + photos. The reason we don't, while still being publicly registered with UK authorities, is the same reason private landlords use letting agents and self-employed people use trading names: separation between personal life and a project they're building solo.

If that disqualifies SortedUK for you, that's fair — use Citizens Advice or MoneyHelper instead. Both are excellent and government-backed.

How we're funded

Today: entirely self-funded by the owner. No investors. No grants. No ads. No affiliate kickbacks. Hosting is on Netlify's free tier. The domain is paid out of pocket.

Once SortedUK Ltd (filed at Companies House 5 June 2026, awaiting Company Number) is incorporated + ICO Tier 1 is paid, the future commercial model is committed to in our trust promise at /promise:

• What we'll never take: affiliate fees from debt management firms, mortgage brokers, claims-management companies, conveyancers, "free credit score" referrers, insurance comparison sites, or any business that profits when users are confused.
• What we may charge: an optional transparent SortedUK Pro subscription for cross-device sync, weekly digest email, and document vault (only after SortedUK Ltd is incorporated + ICO Tier 1 is in place). The free tier stays comprehensive.
• What we may accept: verified council partnership fees for licensed local-data integration; B2B charity partner fees for anonymised aggregated insights. All disclosed in public.

The single pledge: SortedUK will never profit from your confusion.

How to verify us

You shouldn't have to take our word for any of this. Five ways to check:

What's still being built

SortedUK launched in May 2026. The honest list of what's not yet in place:

• Companies House Ltd registration: FILED 5 June 2026. SortedUK Ltd is incorporating now. The application is under review pending the new ECCTA 2024 director identity verification + Personal Verification Code submission. Companies House approval expected within 14-21 days. Once approved, we publish the Company Number on the trust pledge.
• Business email: LIVE 5 June 2026. business@sorteduk.uk + corrections@sorteduk.uk operational via ImprovMX. You can reach SortedUK on a real domain email today.
• ICO Tier 1 Data Controller: requires Ltd company first. Will be paid (£40/yr) the same day Companies House issues the Company Number. Pre-paid budget allocated.
• Backend + accounts: not yet built. The site runs entirely client-side today (localStorage + IndexedDB). Accounts + cross-device sync ship once foundations 1+2 (SortedUK Ltd incorporation + ICO Tier 1 registration) are confirmed — the Company Number is the gating step.
• Independent security audit: planned for after backend launch. Until then there's no server holding your data — just your browser.
• Live AI letter decoder: the AI route works when the API key is set on the backend. If not, we fall back to a rule-based classic decoder + the limitation is disclosed on the result page. CLAUDE_API_KEY scheduled for Netlify deployment within 7 days of Companies House approval.

We'd rather under-promise + over-deliver. None of these gaps changes what's true about the free service today: every figure is sourced, every correction is public, every limitation is documented.

Answers to hard questions

"Why is there no Trustpilot or external reviews?"

We chose not to put a fake Trustpilot badge on the site (some indie sites do). We also haven't asked users to leave reviews because we don't yet have a Trustpilot profile. We'd rather build trust through public corrections + verified outcomes than chase a 4.8/5 sticker.

"What happens to my data if the site disappears?"

Everything you've saved lives in your browser, not on our server. So if SortedUK shuts down tomorrow, your saved cases + Sorted Score + Opportunity Engine results stay on your device until you clear your cache. We've added an Export button at /passport so you can download your full data as JSON + a calendar (.ics) file at any time — no need to wait until the site dies.

"What if the AI gets a letter wrong?"

It will, occasionally. Every result page links to a free human helpline (Citizens Advice 0800 144 8848 + the right charity for the case type). If you spot a wrong AI explanation, email corrections@sorteduk.uk with a redacted screenshot — we investigate within 7 days and publish the fix at /corrections.

"Is SortedUK going to add ads / sell my data / pivot to premium-only later?"

The commitments at /promise are public. They specifically rule out the predatory monetisation patterns (affiliate kickbacks from debt firms, claims-management referrals, selling anonymised data outside of disclosed council/charity partnerships). If we ever change them, the change ships with a public corrections row + an email to anyone subscribed to corrections updates.

"Why should I trust a one-person project with my data?"

You shouldn't trust it more than Citizens Advice, MoneyHelper, StepChange or other established UK charities. They have decades of track record, government backing, and proper staffing. We're new. We're honest about that. The argument for SortedUK is: speed (instant, 24/7, no waitlist), privacy (nothing sent to a server today), and focus (one platform that covers letters + benefits + scams + debt + housing in one place). Use both: Sorted to get clarity quickly, then call the relevant charity to confirm + escalate.