Troubleshooting

Sign-in issues

I can't sign in

Try these steps:

1. Check you are using the email address associated with your organisation.
2. Use the Forgot password? link to reset your password.
3. Use the Email me a sign-in link option instead.
4. If you are locked out (too many incorrect attempts), wait 15 minutes and try again.

I'm seeing "That password isn't right"

Double-check your password. If you are unsure, use the password reset link. After six incorrect attempts in 15 minutes, you will be locked out temporarily.

Link issues

The link says "This link is no longer active"

The line under that heading is what tells you which problem you have.

• "We could not find this link." The link does not resolve. It may have been mistyped or broken across two lines in an email; the check may have been cancelled or closed; or the referee holding it may have been replaced. Whoever sent you the link can send a new one, and that is what the screen offers. It does not say which of those it was, on purpose: a link is a credential, and telling whoever is holding it why it failed would say something about a check they may have no business knowing about.
• "This link has been replaced by a newer one." Only ever a candidate's link. When a referee says they cannot give a reference or are not the right person, or an automatic reply from their email says they are away — with no return date, or not back before the closing date — we email you a new link so you can name someone else — and the link before it stops working. Open the most recent email from PreHire about your reference check and use the link in that one.
• "This report has reached the end of its retention period." Only ever a report link. Reports are kept for 12 months from the day they are issued, and this one is past that date. This is the one case where a new link cannot help — the report has been deleted, which is why the screen does not offer you one. The employer who raised the check would have to raise a new one.

The link says "Too many attempts"

A different heading, and a different problem: your link may be perfectly good. Too many attempts have been made from where you are, so we have stopped answering for a while. Wait an hour, then open your link again.

Asking for a replacement link will not help here — a new link does not clear this, only waiting does. That is why this screen, alone among the link failures, does not offer you one.

The link says "Something went wrong at our end"

A third heading, and it is not about your link at all. We could not reach the part of PreHire that opens links, so nothing was looked up and nothing was refused. Nothing is wrong with your link. Open it again.

Asking for a replacement link will not help here either, and this is the one case where it can make things worse: a new link is created, sent and opened by the same part of PreHire you have just failed to reach, so it would fail in exactly the same way — and once it is sent, the link already in your inbox stops working. That is why this screen does not offer you one.

I'm a referee and the link doesn't work

If you received a link but it does not work, you may have been replaced — by the candidate or by the employer — or the check may have closed. If you were replaced, speak to whoever asked you for the reference; once the check has closed, nobody can send you a new invitation.

Referee issues

A referee says the invitation was not delivered

If the email address was correct, the referee should check their spam folder. If it still does not arrive, the employer or the candidate can replace the referee with a different email address.

A referee is marked as "undeliverable"

This means the invitation could not be delivered — the email address bounced, was blocked, or the recipient marked it as spam. The employer is notified. Either the employer or the candidate can replace the referee — the employer does not have to wait.

Report issues

I can't see the report

If the check is still in progress, wait for the referees to respond. Reports are generated once the required number of referees have replied or the closing date has passed.

The report shows "not yet run"

Some checks have not run yet. This is normal — checks run as data becomes available. If a check never ran, it means the data was not available at the time of processing.