Step 1 — Programme check
Before anything else we confirm the referral programme exists and is open to new UK users. The writer finds the provider's official referral or refer-a-friend page, records the URL and the date, and notes the headline reward for both the referrer and the new customer. If the only evidence is a third-party blog, the offer does not proceed.
Step 2 — Live code or link test
The writer enters the code or opens the link in a clean browser session and watches what the platform does. A valid code is accepted at the point of sign-up and, in most cases, shows a confirmation of the reward. A code that returns an error, is silently ignored, or applies a different value than advertised is rejected.
Step 3 — Qualifying-action mapping
Most rewards are not paid on sign-up alone. We map every hurdle between joining and being paid: minimum spend, minimum deposit, holding periods, identity verification, direct debit requirements, trial cancellations and regional exclusions. These become the terms box you see on the offer page, written in plain English.
Step 4 — Payout observation
Where we can complete the journey, we record how long the reward actually took to arrive rather than repeating the provider's estimate. Where we cannot complete it, the page says the timing is based on the provider's stated terms, not our own observation.
Step 5 — Independent second check
A different editor then repeats the critical parts of the test: the code is re-entered, the reward is compared against the provider's live terms and the programme's UK availability is reconfirmed. Only that second editor can apply the verification date. Their name appears on the page as the verifier, and every page they have signed off is listed on their author profile.
Step 6 — Evidence log
For each verification we record the source URL, what was tested, the result and the date. This log is what lets us answer a reader who asks why a page says what it says, and it is what our standards editor reviews when a complaint comes in.
Where our codes come from
Most referral sites recycle codes they found somewhere else. We generate, obtain or confirm every code at source. There are only four sources we accept, in order of preference:
- Codes generated in our own accounts. Our writers hold real accounts on the platforms we cover, so the referral code on the page is frequently one generated by that account and tested by the person who owns it.
- Codes published by the provider. Public promotional codes taken directly from the provider's own website, app or help centre, with the source URL recorded.
- Codes supplied by the provider's team. Occasionally a platform gives us a campaign code. We still test it before publishing, and it gets no preferential placement.
- Reader-submitted codes. Accepted only after we have tested the code ourselves and confirmed the terms independently.
What we will not do
- Copy codes from other referral directories, forums or comment sections without testing them.
- Publish a code taken from a screenshot we cannot verify at source.
- Scrape and republish expired codes to keep a page looking full.
- List an offer for a platform that no longer operates in the UK.
- Invent, guess or pad reward values, and we never round a reward up.
Whose code gets shown
Where a platform runs a person-to-person scheme, one code has to appear on the page. We are open about this: that code usually belongs to a member of our team or to the site, and using it may earn us a referral reward. It never changes whether an offer is listed, how it is described or where it ranks. If a reader-submitted code offers a genuinely better reward than ours, we use the reader's code.
Re-verification schedule
- Weekly: the 50 most-clicked codes on the site, re-tested on a live account.
- Monthly: all Editor's Picks, trending offers and any page covering a regulated financial product.
- Quarterly: a full sweep of the entire directory, including a check that each platform still trades in the UK.
- On report: immediately, whenever a reader tells us a code has stopped working.
When an offer fails
A failed check has three possible outcomes. If the reward has changed, we update the page and re-date it. If the code is dead but the programme still runs, we replace the code and note the change. If the programme has closed or the platform has left the UK, gone into administration or rebranded, the page is removed from the directory entirely. Twenty-two platforms were removed in our most recent audit for these reasons. We never leave a dead code on the page with the date quietly untouched.
What the badges mean
- Verified [date]: a named editor other than the writer completed the checks above on that date.
- Editor's Pick: the offer passed verification and our editor-in-chief judged the reward worth the effort involved.
- Trending: a high volume of readers used this code recently. It is a popularity signal, not a quality one.
Migrated listings
This directory grew out of an earlier version of ReferAndSave. When we rebuilt the site we kept the original page addresses so old links still work, but every article was rewritten from fresh research and every code and link was re-tested. Platforms that had closed, left the UK or ended their referral schemes were not carried across.
Tell us when something breaks
Readers find dead codes faster than any schedule can. If a code fails, report it through the corrections process in our editorial policy and we will re-test it, usually within one working day.