Pest control firms

What to put in your job description

• What you have seen or heard: mice, rats, wasps, ants, bed bugs, fleas, cockroaches, moths or birds.
• Where: the kitchen, the loft, under the floor, the garden, the shed.
• How long it has been going on, and how many you have seen.
• Who lives there: children, pets, or anyone with a health condition.
• Whether you rent, live in a flat or share walls: the landlord or neighbours may need to be involved.

Don't put your name, phone number or address in the description: every trade who covers your area reads it. Your name, phone, email and address go only to the trades who take the job (3 at most).

Questions to ask before you hire

• How many visits are in the price, and what happens if they come back?
• What will you use, where will you put it, and how do I keep children and pets safe?
• Will you find and block where they get in?
• Are you a member of a trade body, and what training do you have?
• Do you have public liability insurance?

Registers and schemes to check

There is no legal register for pest controllers. Many belong to a trade body, such as the British Pest Control Association (BPCA) or the National Pest Technicians Association (NPTA), and some are on the BASIS PROMPT register for pest controllers' training. Professional rat and mouse poisons may only be sold to people who can show they are trained to use them. Honey bees are not killed: a local beekeeper may collect a swarm. We don't check this for you yet.

What the job usually involves

• A survey: what the pest is, how many, and how they get in.
• Treatment: traps, baits, sprays or heat, by the pest and where it is.
• Proofing: blocking gaps, air bricks and pipe holes, so they don't come back.
• Return visits to check traps and baits, and to take away dead pests.
• Advice on food, waste and clutter that draws pests in.

How quotes and visits work

Many pest control firms give a fixed price for a treatment by the pest, such as a wasp nest or a mouse treatment with a number of visits. Bed bugs and larger rat problems usually need a survey first. Ask what proofing costs on top, and what happens if the pests come back.

Ask for a written quote (a fixed price) rather than an estimate (a guess that can change), and for what it includes. If you agree a job in your home, you usually have 14 days to cancel under the Consumer Contracts Regulations; if you want work to start sooner, you may have to pay for what has been done.

Safety

• Keep children and pets away from baits and treated areas, and ask where every bait box is.
• Don't try to remove a wasp nest yourself, or block its entrance.
• Wear gloves to touch droppings or dead pests, and wash your hands after.

Insurance

Ask for public liability insurance before the first visit: it covers damage or injury caused by the firm. If you rent, tell your landlord first: they may be responsible for some pests.

Guides for homeowners

• How to compare quotes from local trades

We take jobs from anywhere in the UK: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Trades choose the postcode districts they cover.

Pest control firms by town and city

England

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland