Over 3 million people are affected by cowboy builders in the UK every year.
But the overwhelming majority of botched building jobs are entirely avoidable. Paperwork and correspondence can be a big giveaway – take a look at this fake estimate, compiled by ProblemSolved.co.uk, which contains its fair share of alarm bells…
1) A company without an address for its premises and only listing a mobile number makes them difficult to contact in the event of a problem.
2) The quotation doesn’t go into anywhere near enough detail. What exactly is the money going on? What bathroom suite is it? Does it include plumbing? Does it include the tiling? All of these elements must be itemised in detail.
3) The deposit is about 60% of the total build cost – this is a lot more than would normally be payable and payments should be structured against work completed (which we’ll come on to later).
4) Alarm bells should ring if a builder is inviting a payment in cash or if the company is listed as limited but the owner is asking for a cheque to be written to a personal account.
5) The company is listed as a limited company but the owner is asking for a cheque to be written to a personal account. Normally, the cheque would be made out to the company for tax purposes.
6) The company is quoting VAT not only at the incorrect rate but hasn’t included a VAT Registration Number. This is compulsory when charging VAT on any transaction.
ProblemSolved is a network of tradespeople powered by public recommendation and review.
The website allows people to search for tradespeople in their local area, recommend someone they know and send in their reviews. It's free for tradesmen and the public and currently has 60,000 members and is the largest site of its kind in the UK.
