Fix file upload stale reference and improve company matching

File upload fix:
- Buffer file data immediately on selection to prevent stale IBrowserFile references
- Add BufferedFile record to hold file data in memory
- Add loading indicator while files are being buffered
- Fixes "Cannot read properties of null (reading '_blazorFilesById')" error

Company matching improvement:
- Prefer companies that existed at the claimed employment start date
- Fixes matching wrong company when newer company has similar name
- Example: "UK MATTEL LTD" (2025) vs "MATTEL U.K. LIMITED" (1980)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/TrueCV.Infrastructure/Services/CompanyVerifierService.cs

@@ -70,8 +70,8 @@ public sealed class CompanyVerifierService : ICompanyVerifierService
                 return CreateUnverifiedResult(companyName, startDate, endDate, jobTitle, "No matching company found in Companies House");
             }
 
-            // Find best fuzzy match
+            // Find best fuzzy match, preferring companies that existed at claimed start date
-            var bestMatch = FindBestMatch(companyName, searchResponse.Items);
+            var bestMatch = FindBestMatch(companyName, searchResponse.Items, startDate);
 
             if (bestMatch is null)
             {
@@ -560,7 +560,8 @@ public sealed class CompanyVerifierService : ICompanyVerifierService
 
     private static (CompaniesHouseSearchItem Item, int Score)? FindBestMatch(
         string companyName,
-        List<CompaniesHouseSearchItem> items)
+        List<CompaniesHouseSearchItem> items,
+        DateOnly? claimedStartDate)
     {
         var normalizedSearch = companyName.ToUpperInvariant();
 
@@ -568,10 +569,32 @@ public sealed class CompanyVerifierService : ICompanyVerifierService
             .Where(item => !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(item.Title))
             .Select(item => (Item: item, Score: Fuzz.TokenSetRatio(normalizedSearch, item.Title.ToUpperInvariant())))
             .Where(m => m.Score >= FuzzyMatchThreshold)
+            .ToList();
+
+        if (matches.Count == 0) return null;
+
+        // If we have a claimed start date, prefer companies that existed at that time
+        if (claimedStartDate.HasValue)
+        {
+            var existedAtStartDate = matches
+                .Where(m =>
+                {
+                    var incDate = DateHelpers.ParseDate(m.Item.DateOfCreation);
+                    // Company existed if it was incorporated before the claimed start date
+                    return incDate == null || incDate <= claimedStartDate.Value;
+                })
                 .OrderByDescending(m => m.Score)
                 .ToList();
 
-        return matches.Count > 0 ? matches[0] : null;
+            // If any matches existed at the start date, prefer those
+            if (existedAtStartDate.Count > 0)
+            {
+                return existedAtStartDate[0];
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Fall back to highest score if no temporal match
+        return matches.OrderByDescending(m => m.Score).First();
     }
 
     private async Task CacheCompanyAsync(CompaniesHouseSearchItem item, CompaniesHouseCompany? details)

src/TrueCV.Web/Components/Pages/Check.razor

@@ -76,7 +76,17 @@
                             </label>
                         </div>
 
-                        @if (_selectedFiles.Count > 0)
+                        @if (_isBuffering)
+                        {
+                            <div class="mt-4 text-center">
+                                <div class="spinner-border text-primary" role="status">
+                                    <span class="visually-hidden">Loading files...</span>
+                                </div>
+                                <p class="mt-2 text-muted">Reading files...</p>
+                            </div>
+                        }
+
+                        @if (_selectedFiles.Count > 0 && !_isBuffering)
                         {
                             <div class="mt-4">
                                 <div class="d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center mb-2">
@@ -156,8 +166,9 @@
 </style>
 
 @code {
-    private List<IBrowserFile> _selectedFiles = new();
+    private List<BufferedFile> _selectedFiles = new();
     private bool _isUploading;
+    private bool _isBuffering;
     private bool _isDragging;
     private int _uploadProgress;
     private string? _errorMessage;
@@ -172,6 +183,9 @@
     private static readonly byte[] PdfMagicBytes = [0x25, 0x50, 0x44, 0x46]; // %PDF
     private static readonly byte[] DocxMagicBytes = [0x50, 0x4B, 0x03, 0x04]; // PK.. (ZIP signature)
 
+    // Buffered file to prevent stale IBrowserFile references
+    private sealed record BufferedFile(string Name, long Size, byte[] Data);
+
     private void HandleDragEnter()
     {
         _isDragging = true;
@@ -187,12 +201,18 @@
         _isDragging = false;
     }
 
-    private void HandleFileSelected(InputFileChangeEventArgs e)
+    private async Task HandleFileSelected(InputFileChangeEventArgs e)
     {
         _errorMessage = null;
+        _isBuffering = true;
+        StateHasChanged();
+
         var invalidFiles = new List<string>();
         var oversizedFiles = new List<string>();
+        var failedFiles = new List<string>();
 
+        try
+        {
             foreach (var file in e.GetMultipleFiles(MaxFileCount))
             {
                 if (!IsValidFileType(file.Name))
@@ -208,10 +228,29 @@
                 }
 
                 // Avoid duplicates
-            if (!_selectedFiles.Any(f => f.Name == file.Name && f.Size == file.Size))
+                if (_selectedFiles.Any(f => f.Name == file.Name && f.Size == file.Size))
                 {
-                _selectedFiles.Add(file);
+                    continue;
                 }
+
+                // Read file data immediately to prevent stale reference issues
+                try
+                {
+                    await using var stream = file.OpenReadStream(MaxFileSize);
+                    using var memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
+                    await stream.CopyToAsync(memoryStream);
+                    _selectedFiles.Add(new BufferedFile(file.Name, file.Size, memoryStream.ToArray()));
+                }
+                catch (Exception ex)
+                {
+                    Logger.LogWarning(ex, "Failed to buffer file: {FileName}", file.Name);
+                    failedFiles.Add(file.Name);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        finally
+        {
+            _isBuffering = false;
         }
 
         // Build error message if any files were rejected
@@ -220,12 +259,14 @@
             errors.Add($"Invalid file type(s): {string.Join(", ", invalidFiles.Take(3))}{(invalidFiles.Count > 3 ? $" and {invalidFiles.Count - 3} more" : "")}");
         if (oversizedFiles.Count > 0)
             errors.Add($"File(s) exceed 10MB limit: {string.Join(", ", oversizedFiles.Take(3))}{(oversizedFiles.Count > 3 ? $" and {oversizedFiles.Count - 3} more" : "")}");
+        if (failedFiles.Count > 0)
+            errors.Add($"Failed to read file(s): {string.Join(", ", failedFiles.Take(3))}{(failedFiles.Count > 3 ? $" and {failedFiles.Count - 3} more" : "")}");
 
         if (errors.Count > 0)
             _errorMessage = string.Join(". ", errors);
     }
 
-    private void RemoveFile(IBrowserFile file)
+    private void RemoveFile(BufferedFile file)
     {
         _selectedFiles.Remove(file);
     }
@@ -269,10 +310,7 @@
 
                 try
                 {
-                    await using var stream = file.OpenReadStream(MaxFileSize);
+                    using var memoryStream = new MemoryStream(file.Data);
-                    using var memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
-                    await stream.CopyToAsync(memoryStream);
-                    memoryStream.Position = 0;
 
                     // Validate file content (magic bytes)
                     if (!await ValidateFileContentAsync(memoryStream, file.Name))