Evidence before certainty
Bed bug worries often start with an itchy mark or an odd spot. Those signs deserve attention, but they do not always point to bed bugs. Our guides separate possible hints from stronger physical evidence.
We never diagnose an infestation or a medical condition from a photo or a description. For example, our bed bug bites guide explains why bites alone prove very little.
Because bed bugs are small and hide well, careful checking matters. Therefore, we also explain where bed bugs hide so you can look in the right places before you decide anything.
Source order
We rank our sources. Because official bodies check their facts, we always start at the top of the list below.
- UK public-health, regulator and government material, including NHS, HSE and GOV.UK.
- Direct legislation, local-authority policy and official council service pages.
- Named professional bodies and primary research, when the first two levels do not answer the question.
- Commercial provider material, only for clearly labelled examples and never as the sole basis for a safety claim.
Our source index lists the core official sites. Each guide also cites sources close to the claims they support.
AI-assisted production
We may use automated tools to organise research, draft structures and create editorial images. However, a tool never decides what we publish, since a person is responsible for each page. A person checks that each claim fits its cited source, avoids duplicate pages and makes sure the metadata matches the page.
Review and corrections
Every guide shows a publication date and a review date. We change a date only after a real review or a material edit. When we find a mistake, we correct the page in place. If a safety statement changes, we explain the change on the page where that helps.
You can report a problem through the complaints and corrections page. For the checks we run before publishing, see how we review guidance.
Commercial separation
We order information by what readers need, not by how much an enquiry might earn. We pass your enquiry to a UK pest control company that covers your area, so it can contact you about an inspection or treatment. We may receive a fee for passing on an enquiry. It never changes what our guides say. We write guide content without regard to which firms receive enquiries. A provider cannot buy an unqualified treatment endorsement.