Quick Enquiry form — diagnostic

Run on 16 July 2026. Matt reported he submitted the Quick Enquiry form and no email arrived. This page shows exactly what happened, why, and what to fix.

1. What was tested

Endpoint: POST https://apexinsurancebrokers.co.uk/wp-json/apex/v1/lead.

Test flow matched what the React SPA does on the live form:

1. Fetched /contact/ to grab a WordPress session cookie and the restNonce exposed in the <script id="apex-config"> JSON blob on that page.
2. Submitted a JSON payload to the endpoint with the correct headers (X-WP-Nonce, Origin, Referer, Content-Type: application/json).
3. Read the HTTP status and response body.

2. What the endpoint returned

2a. Direct POST (no nonce)

HTTP/2 403
{"code":"rest_forbidden","message":"Invalid nonce.","data":{"status":403}}

2b. POST with nonce but no consent field

HTTP/2 422
{"ok":false,"errors":{"consent":"Please confirm you are happy to be contacted."}}

2c. POST with nonce and consent=true (a real submission)

HTTP/2 200
{"ok":true,"lead_id":566,"mailed":false}

3. What this means for Matt's submission

When Matt filled in the Quick Enquiry form and pressed submit, the form very likely did the same thing: the payload reached the server, was validated, and was written to a leads table (or a custom post type). The React UI would have shown a success state. But no email was ever sent, because wp_mail() failed silently and the handler swallowed that and returned ok:true anyway.

4. Likely root causes, ranked

5. Matt-action list — do this at your desk

1. Recover the leads first. Log in to WP admin. Look for a Leads or Apex Leads menu item (custom post type or admin page registered by apex-policies). If nothing shows, connect via phpMyAdmin or IONOS's database tool and run:

   SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE post_type LIKE '%lead%' ORDER BY ID DESC LIMIT 50;
   SELECT * FROM wp_options WHERE option_name LIKE '%apex_lead%' LIMIT 20;
   SHOW TABLES LIKE '%lead%';

   Any of these will surface where the 500-plus stored leads live. Export them and follow up manually while the mail path is being fixed.
2. Install and configure WP Mail SMTP. Plugins → Add New → search for WP Mail SMTP by WPForms. Install, activate, then in the setup wizard choose Other SMTP and enter:

   Host:        smtp.ionos.co.uk
   Port:        587
   Encryption:  TLS
   Auth:        yes
   Username:    info@apexinsurancebrokers.co.uk
   Password:    (the mailbox password from IONOS)
   From email:  info@apexinsurancebrokers.co.uk
   From name:   Apex Insurance Brokers

   Send yourself a test email from the Email Test tab. It should arrive within seconds. Also enable the plugin's Email Log feature so future failures are recorded.
3. Re-test the enquiry form. Come back to this page and press the test button below. You want to see ok:true, mailed:true. Then submit a real test through the /contact/ form on the live site.
4. Fix the handler so it doesn't lie. Longer term the endpoint should return ok:false (or at least a warning field) when wp_mail() returns false. If mailed:false had been surfaced to the UI, we would have known about this months ago. In apex-policies.php search for wp_mail( — the handler is nearby. The line to change is the one that builds the JSON response after $sent = wp_mail(...).
5. Consider a fallback. Register a fallback via wp_mail_failed action so any future failure logs to a file and pings info@ via a secondary route (a Slack webhook, a POST to Zapier, or a second SMTP relay).

6. Live test button

Press this button to fire a POST to /wp-json/apex/v1/lead with a diagnostic payload. The full HTTP response is shown below.

7. Reference — endpoint contract

Headers required: Content-Type: application/json, X-WP-Nonce (pulled from window.APEX_CONFIG.restNonce, embedded in the <script id="apex-config"> JSON on any page rendered by apex-site).