Based on your Health Check answers, your firm is likely trading as an estate agency business without HMRC Money Laundering Regulations supervision. That's a legal obligation, not optional. There are two ways forward — one free, one paid. Both are legitimate. We'll lay them out.
HMRC registration is a government process, not a service we sell. The registration itself is done by HMRC, free (£300 annual supervision fee after the first year). The first is the DIY route via gov.uk — anyone can do it. The second is an application-assistance service for firms that want an experienced compliance person to prepare the documentation with them and make sure the application lands clean.
We are not HMRC. We are not an authorised agent to HMRC. We cannot submit an application on your behalf. What we sell is a preparation service — an experienced pair of eyes to help you fill the application in correctly before you submit it via gov.uk. If your firm is straightforward, Route 1 is genuinely the right answer. Route 2 is for firms where something is non-obvious, where a wrong answer would delay processing by months, or where the MLRO designation needs thinking through.
SamCart checkout. You pick a 60-min call slot from our calendar within a week of purchase. If no slot works for you, we'll extend.
Within 24 hours of booking, you get an email asking for: your Companies House number, your registered address, your services description, and a rough answer to three questions about your business model. You reply with what you have.
We walk through every section of the HMRC application together. You answer; we note down the right wording. We flag any answers that will raise HMRC queries, and agree how you'll position them.
Within 48 hours of the call, you get a document with draft answers for every non-obvious question plus a note on MLRO designation (who in your firm, why, what their obligations become).
You log into the HMRC portal with your Government Gateway account, paste in the prepared answers, pay the £300 fee, submit. Processing time from HMRC is typically 6–8 weeks.
If HMRC comes back with clarification questions, we respond with a follow-up email on how to handle them. Included in the £440.
Compliance buyers reward honesty. This service is application-preparation assistance. It is not the following — and nothing on this page claims otherwise.
Because it's a conditional service, not a general product. We only want to offer it to firms that have identified — via our Health Check — that they aren't yet HMRC-registered. Advertising it publicly would misframe what it is. If you arrived here from the Health Check, you're in the right place; if you didn't, you probably don't need this.
For most firms, yes. The application is structured and HMRC's guidance is clear. The £440 service is for firms where something is non-obvious — unusual corporate structure, multiple trading names, lettings-only businesses where the applicability is debatable, or firms where the MLRO designation needs thinking through. If your firm is a straightforward limited company offering sales and lettings, try DIY first.
Yes. MLR 2017 requires estate agency businesses to register before beginning to act as an estate agency business. If you've been trading without registration, you need to stop or register urgently. The regulations set out penalties that can include an unlimited fine and up to two years' imprisonment for serious cases. This is exactly the kind of situation where getting the application right first time matters — our service exists for that.
Yes. If, during or after the 60-minute call, we conclude your case is genuinely outside what our service can help with (for example: you're not an estate agency business under MLR 2017's definition, or the situation requires specialist legal input), we'll refund the £440 in full and point you at the right kind of adviser. We'd rather refund than take money for work we can't do well.
Typically 6–8 weeks from submission to approval, though it can be longer at busy periods. We don't influence processing time — that's HMRC. You can continue preparing the rest of your AML documentation during the wait so you're ready to operate compliantly the moment approval lands.
If your firm is straightforward: go to gov.uk, spend 2–4 hours completing the application, submit, pay the £300, wait. If you're unsure, or the call would give you peace of mind: book the £440 assistance service. Either way, don't continue trading unregistered for longer than you need to.
HMRC registration is the first step. Once supervised, your firm has ongoing obligations: a written AML Policy & Procedures document, a Firm-Wide Risk Assessment, CDD on every transaction, ongoing sanctions screening, SAR process, staff training, and five-year record retention. Our other products — the £80 Procedures Guide, £280 Bespoke Procedures Wizard, £350 Training Course — cover those obligations. None of it is required before registration; all of it is required after.