Catch-all emails are one of the trickiest challenges for B2B marketers and sales teams. These addresses can look valid but provide no certainty that a real decision-maker is on the other side. For UK businesses relying on email as a primary prospecting channel, knowing how to handle catch-all emails is vital for protecting deliverability and maintaining campaign performance.
What Exactly Are Catch-All Email Addresses?
A catch-all email configuration means that a company’s mail server accepts all emails sent to its domain, regardless of whether the specific address exists. For example, if a company enables catch-all, a message sent to randomperson@company.com won’t bounce – even if that employee doesn’t exist.
From a marketer’s perspective, this creates ambiguity. Verification tools may show these addresses as “valid” simply because the server accepted the message, but there’s no guarantee anyone will actually read it.
Companies often enable catch-all to avoid missing potential enquiries or to protect against lost leads when staff leave. However, it creates headaches for outbound campaigns: higher risk of low engagement, wasted effort, and potential deliverability problems if too many messages go unread.
Leading Email Verification Tools for Catch-Alls
ZeroBounce
ZeroBounce is one of the most widely trusted verification providers, with specific functionality for identifying catch-all emails. Their system doesn’t just label them – it uses AI-driven scoring to predict how likely the address is to be actively monitored.
- Strengths: Catch-all identification, risk scoring, and data enrichment (e.g. location, gender, company data).
- Best for: Agencies and outbound teams needing large-scale verification plus extra intelligence on contacts.
NeverBounce
NeverBounce is another strong option, particularly for real-time verification. It flags catch-all addresses and uses proprietary models to assess the probability that the email connects to an active inbox.
- Strengths: Fast bulk list verification, real-time checks via API, integrations with CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce.
- Best for: Established B2B teams needing to keep databases clean on an ongoing basis.
Hunter.io
Hunter.io blends email discovery with verification, making it useful when building lists from scratch. When a domain uses catch-all, Hunter provides a confidence score and often uncovers naming patterns (e.g. firstname.lastname@domain.com) that help you guess likely valid addresses.
- Strengths: Combines “find” and “verify,” helpful when building outreach lists in niche industries.
- Best for: Prospectors who want both discovery and validation in one tool.
Advanced Catch-All Verification Strategies
Cross-Verification With Multiple Tools
No single provider can perfectly validate catch-all addresses. Many agencies run the same list through two or more tools, then compare results. When multiple tools agree that an address is risky, it’s safer to deprioritise it. This layered approach costs more but significantly reduces wasted sends.
Analysing Domain Behaviour
Not all catch-all domains behave the same way. Some route enquiries to monitored inboxes (like a shared support account), while others quietly discard unknown addresses. Look for clues:
- Do they list generic contacts like
info@orsales@on their website? - Have they responded to past general enquiries?
- Does the company publish team emails publicly?
These signals help gauge whether catch-all addresses are worth pursuing.
Best Practices When Using Catch-All Emails
- Start small: Send to catch-all addresses in small batches first. Measure opens and responses before scaling up.
- Personalise heavily: These addresses often reach shared inboxes. Make your message stand out by referencing company-specific details rather than sending generic pitches.
- Protect your sender reputation: Track your sending domain’s health using tools like Google Postmaster Tools or Microsoft SNDS. High volumes of unopened or unengaged catch-all emails can drag down your reputation.
Where Catch-All Verification Fits in B2B Prospecting
Verification is just one part of a broader system. Even when you can’t fully confirm a catch-all address, you can balance the risk by supplementing email with other channels:
- LinkedIn outreach to reach decision-makers directly.
- Cold calling when you have a verified phone contact.
- Website visitor identification to prioritise companies showing intent signals.
Modern prospecting platforms combine these approaches, automatically flagging catch-all addresses and routing them into workflows that reduce risk.
Final Thoughts
Catch-all emails sit in a grey area: technically deliverable but not always useful. By using the right verification tools, layering strategies, and monitoring performance closely, UK B2B teams can reduce wasted effort and maintain strong inbox placement.
At SendIQ, we help companies handle these challenges by integrating email verification into a multi-channel system that blends outreach, LinkedIn automation, calling, and intent-based targeting. That way, even when catch-all domains appear, you can engage the right decision-makers through the right channel at the right time.
