How much does it cost?

99p per check on pay as you go, with no contract and no monthly minimum, or £1.39 with PEP and adverse media screening added. The per-check price drops in bulk. There is no annual licence, unlike the £200-plus per month compliance suites most providers sell.

Single check · AML

Sanctions check

Screen any person or company against the official UK, UN, EU and US sanctions lists, refreshed daily. From 99p a check, no contract, no monthly minimum. The result is on screen in seconds and saved to your file for the audit trail.

See who was added to and removed from the lists this week (free, updated every morning).

New duty since 14 May 2025

Every UK letting agent must now report to OFSI as soon as practicable if a landlord or tenant is on the UK sanctions list. This applies to every agent, whatever the rent, and it is separate from the £10,000-a-month money-laundering registration threshold. Ignoring it is a criminal offence. Screening each landlord and tenant is the practical way to meet the duty and keep a dated record.

What this check returns

Name match against the UK Sanctions List, the UN and EU consolidated lists and the US OFAC lists
For each possible match, the listed date of birth and nationality, and whether they agree with yours
A clear verdict (no matches, or possible matches to review) with a confidence score per match
A dated record saved to your dashboard history for MLR-2017 record-keeping
Optional: PEP and adverse media screening for 40p more (£1.39 in total)

Person or entity name

Full name as you have it. We screen it against the official UK, UN, EU and US sanctions lists.

Optional: add date of birth and nationality(recommended for common names)

Date of birthNationality

Each possible match then says whether its listed date of birth and nationality agree with yours, and namesakes whose details differ are ranked lower. Both are also saved with the check for your records.

Add PEP and adverse media screening (+40p)Also checks whether the person is politically exposed (a PEP) and for serious adverse news. £1.39 in total with the sanctions check.

This check costs 99p, deducted from your Certaby credit balance. Top up.

Why it costs a fraction of the usual price

Most sanctions screening is bundled into a compliance suite on an annual contract (SmartSearch from around £200 a month, ComplyAdvantage from around £500 a month). If you only need to screen a name now and then, that is a lot to carry. This is the official UK, UN, EU and US sanctions lists, refreshed daily, billed by the check, with no contract.

Need the tenant, the landlord and the property in one signed certificate? See the letting checks →Got a list to screen? Run it in bulk →

How the sanctions check runs

You enter a name (and, for common names, an optional date of birth and nationality). The check fuzzy-matches it against the official sanctions lists: the UK Sanctions List, the UN Security Council consolidated list, the EU consolidated list and the US OFAC lists, all refreshed daily. Each possible match comes back with a confidence score, the list it appears on, and the listed details (such as date of birth and nationality). If you entered a date of birth or nationality, each match also says whether they agree, and namesakes whose details differ are ranked lower, so you can quickly rule them in or out. The whole screen runs in a second or two and the result is saved to your dashboard with a check ID and the list versions, so you have dated evidence the screen was run.

Common questions

Which lists does it screen against?

The UK Sanctions List (the official list of everyone under UK sanctions, which OFSI enforces), the UN Security Council consolidated list, the EU consolidated financial sanctions list and the US OFAC sanctions lists. All four are refreshed daily and screened in one check.

Does a match mean the person is sanctioned?

No. A match means someone with a similar name appears on a list. Each match carries a confidence score. You confirm a true match using date of birth, nationality or other identifiers before you rely on it. If a true match is confirmed, do not proceed and report to OFSI as soon as practicable.

Do letting agents have to run sanctions checks?

Since 14 May 2025, every UK letting agent is a "relevant firm" that must report to OFSI as soon as practicable if it knows or suspects a landlord or tenant is on the UK sanctions list. That duty applies to every agent whatever the rent, and is separate from the £10,000-a-month money-laundering registration threshold (which governs the wider checks for the larger firms it catches). Screening each landlord and tenant is the practical way to meet the sanctions duty and keep a dated record. Your firm still makes the final decision, freezes if there is a true match, and submits any report; this tool runs the screen and evidences it.

Do I need an account?

Yes, a free Certaby account. Each check is charged against your credit balance, so sign in and top up once, then run checks whenever you need them. Every check is logged to your dashboard for the audit trail.

Disclosure: screens against the named sources only at the time of the check. A "no matches" result is not a guarantee of clearance. Confirm any possible match against the official source before relying on it.