How to verify a client before accepting a high-value event booking

A large booking can look convincing and still leave basic questions unanswered: who is instructing you, who will sign, and who is responsible for payment? For UK event suppliers, checking identity before committing substantial time or stock can reduce avoidable risk.

Build My Event processes booking proposals, digital contracts and deposit collection in one workflow, and uses Stripe Identity for identity checks. Payments are processed directly via Stripe. The available product information does not specify when a check is triggered, what status the supplier sees, or whether a booking can be blocked until it is complete. Confirm those details before building your process around an automatic check.

Set a clear point for checking

Choose a point in your booking process when you need more confidence, then apply it consistently. For a high-value private event, that might be before you reserve a peak date or order costly materials. For a corporate event, it may be before you treat a proposal as accepted and begin substantial work.

Do not make the check a blanket demand for every enquiry without considering the friction it creates. Use a consistent, risk-based rule: for example, flag bookings that involve unusually high costs, urgent requests, a new client asking for significant work before a deposit, or unclear responsibility for payment. Those are practical warning signs, not proof of fraud.

Work through the booking in order

1. Capture the booking facts. Record the event date, venue, service, agreed scope and the name of the person instructing you. For a company event, ask for the organisation's name and the role of the person approving the booking. Keep the enquiry and replies attached to the booking rather than relying on memory or scattered messages.
2. Check for date and scope conflicts. Review the date against your diary before promising availability. Build My Event includes live diary checking that warns against double-bookings. Confirm the job is workable before spending time on a detailed proposal.
3. Send a priced proposal. Set out what is included, what is optional, the total price and the payment schedule. A clear proposal gives both sides a reference point if the booking details change or a request seems inconsistent.
4. Decide whether identity verification is warranted. If the booking meets your risk criteria, explain that you need to verify the person booking before you commit resources. Use the identity-check process available through your booking workflow. Confirm in advance how to initiate it and how you will know it has been completed; do not assume every enquiry is checked automatically.
5. Check the result, then confirm the agreement. An identity check can help establish that a person has verified their identity. It does not, by itself, prove that they are authorised to book for a company, that the event is genuine, or that a payment will not later be disputed. For a corporate client, confirm the signatory's authority through the organisation's normal booking contact or process.
6. Complete the contract and deposit step. Once the details are coherent, proceed with the digital contract and agreed deposit through the booking workflow. Keep the event scope, cancellation terms and payment schedule aligned across the proposal and contract.

Keep the check proportionate

Tell the client why you are asking and what stage of the booking it affects. Do not request identity documents by ordinary message or keep extra copies “just in case”. Use the verification process provided, and only collect information you need for the booking. If the client is booking on behalf of a business, separate the question of personal identity from the question of authority to commit that business.

A request to skip verification, a mismatch between the event details and the proposed payer, or pressure to start work before the terms are agreed should prompt a pause. Ask for clarification and keep the date unconfirmed until the essential facts line up. An identity result is one signal in that decision, not a green light on its own.

Make verification part of a wider booking control

The point is not to turn every enquiry into an investigation. It is to avoid committing a valuable date or taking on meaningful costs while the person, scope and payment responsibility remain unclear. Build My Event brings proposals, digital contracts and deposits into one workflow, but suppliers still need a rule for when to verify and how to handle an incomplete check.

For more on what should happen after an enquiry becomes a real booking, see how UK suppliers are closing the loop on dropped bookings. A signed agreement, a deposit and an identity check address different risks. Treating them as separate controls makes the booking process clearer for both supplier and client.