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Frequently Asked Questions

Everything about how Tree Key works, what it costs, and how your data is handled.

About Tree Key

What is Tree Key?

Tree Key finds new tree work before your competitors do. We continuously monitor UK local council planning portals, the GLA Planning Datahub, and other statutory public sources for tree-related applications — TPO (Tree Preservation Order) consents, Section 211 notices, felling and pruning applications — and turn each one into a Lead you can quote on directly.

How is this different from a directory like Checkatrade or Bark?

Directories sell the same lead to several competing contractors at once and take a cut of what you earn. Every Lead on Tree Key is single-sale: the moment it's dispatched to a subscriber (or bought from the Marketplace), it's burned from our system and never sold to anyone else. You quote the homeowner directly, under your own brand, with no ongoing commission.

Where does the data come from, and is it legal?

Entirely from public statutory sources: council planning registers and Companies House, both publicly accessible under the Open Government Licence. We don't buy data from private brokers or scrape anything that isn't otherwise publicly available. Full detail on how we're allowed to process it is in our Privacy Policy.

Is there a mobile app?

Not a separate app to download — the whole site, including your dashboard, is built to work properly on your phone's browser. Save it to your home screen and it behaves like one.

Pricing & Plans

What are my options if I'm not ready to pay?

You can sign up for a free account with no card required and get one real, fully-unlocked free lead near you to start with, plus occasional teaser emails after that. When you're ready for full coverage, upgrade to a subscription tier from your dashboard at any time.

What's the difference between a subscription and the Marketplace?

A subscription gives you priority, ongoing dispatch of every matching Lead in your territory as it's discovered. Any Lead that isn't claimed by a subscriber flows into the single-purchase Marketplace, where anyone can buy it one-off — useful for topping up, or for trying Tree Key out before subscribing.

Am I tied into a long contract?

No. Subscriptions are a rolling monthly agreement — cancel any time from your account settings with zero penalty and no further charges from the next billing date.

Can I get a refund?

Because you get immediate access to the Lead data itself the moment you subscribe or buy, payments are non-refundable — the same policy that applies to unused portions of a billing cycle. Full detail is in our Terms of Service.

What if a lead turns out not to be tree work at all?

Every lead is filtered to confirm it's genuine tree work before it's listed or dispatched, so this is rare — but if one slips through, screenshot it and email contact@treekey.uk. We'll issue you a correct replacement lead or a refund for that lead.

How Matching Works

How do you decide which leads I get?

You set a home postcode and a radius (up to 50 miles depending on tier). We match leads to you by exact area first, then by distance within your radius, then by wider regional area as a fallback — so you get the closest, most relevant work first. Enter your full postcode rather than just the outward code (e.g. "NG22 8AA" instead of just "NG22") for the most accurate distance matching.

Can I filter by job size?

Yes — each subscription can be set to small, medium, large, or all job sizes, so a one-van operator isn't drowned in commercial clearance leads meant for a multi-crew outfit, or vice versa.

What if no leads come through for a while?

Lead volume depends entirely on how much planning activity is happening in your area — we don't manufacture leads. If a source genuinely goes quiet for an unusual length of time, that's exactly the kind of thing our internal monitoring is built to catch and flag automatically, and we treat it as something to actively fix, not something to leave unexplained.

Tools Included With Your Subscription

What is TreeKey Ledger?

A financial dashboard built specifically for tree surgeons: it tracks your rolling 12-month turnover against the £90,000 UK VAT registration threshold so you're never caught out, holds a running CIS developer-tax tracker, and includes a van/crew-day cost calculator so you can quote profitably. Find it in your dashboard once you're a subscriber.

What is the Chip-Drop Network?

A directory of local allotments, farms, stables and gardens who want your arborist woodchip or logs for free. Instead of paying £60–£120 in commercial tipping fees and losing 45 minutes each way, you drop your waste at a nearby registered site instead. Landowners register their own site through the site; the directory only ever shows real, self-registered listings.

Your Account

How do I log in? Why no password?

Tree Key is passwordless by design — enter your email and we send you a secure, one-tap login link (valid 15 minutes). There's no password database that could ever be breached. If you're reading the email on a different device than the one you want to log in on, the email also includes a 6-digit code you can type in instead of clicking the link.

Is WhatsApp involved?

Two places: in Settings, any subscriber can turn on a one-tap 'Forward on WhatsApp' button next to each lead email, so you can send it straight to your crew. The Chip-Drop directory also gives you a direct WhatsApp link to message a drop site's contact. There isn't yet a general WhatsApp support line — for anything else, email is the way to reach us.

Do you have testimonials from other contractors?

Not yet — we're a young platform and would rather wait for genuine results than publish anything that isn't real. That'll change as more contractors come through the platform.

Data & Privacy

Is my business data sold to anyone?

No. Your own account information (name, email, phone, billing) is never sold to data brokers or advertisers — it's used only to run your account and the Service. What you're paying for is licensed access to Lead data compiled from public records, which is a different thing entirely. See our Privacy Policy for the full breakdown.

I'm named in a Lead and want it removed — what do I do?

Email contact@treekey.uk and we'll action your request in line with the rights set out in our Privacy Policy.

Still have a question? Email contact@treekey.uk or submit a suggestion.