The nightmare began with a leaking roof. Andrea Giles* duly sought out a specialist company to repair it. But in the space of a month, Giles, a full-time carer for her disabled husband and two special needs children, had lost almost £13,000 and part of the roof of her home after falling victim to two sets of cowboy builders.
Her plight highlights the lack of protection for householders who are conned or persuaded into paying rogue builders for botched or unnecessary repairs.
Nationally, unscrupulous traders cost homeowners about £3.5bn a year, according to trading standards authorities, and the problem is escalating as demand for home improvements, loft conversions and extensions increases.
In Giles’s home city, trading standards received more than 200 complaints about home improvements in the space of a year, with some householders reporting losses of up to £250,000.
In an unregulated sector, anyone can set up as a builder without scrutiny, and most rogue traders get off scot-free, typically vanishing without a paper trail when rumbled and leaving householders to pick up the bill.
Giles ended up losing out twice over, after seeking a reputable company to fix her leak.
“I initially chose a company which had a very thin online presence, but the job was small and their quote was the most thorough of the three I obtained,” she says. “More fool me! The workmen put up a wobbly scaffolding tower and proceeded to tear chunks off my roof. They then told me the roof was thoroughly rotten, and said they would help me out by replacing it for £10,000.”
Giles was asked to transfer £5,000 there and then but declined. The workmen departed, leaving a large hole in her roof.
Fortunately, she had not yet paid their initial quote and set about finding another firm that would make good the damage.
“We are always being told to ask for recommendations, but none of my family and friends had ever needed a roofer,” she says.
“I was advised to use Checkatrade, so I would know I was dealing with a legitimate and reliable roofer. I ended up choosing a sole trader who had great reviews on Checkatrade. I completely fell for his patter that he felt sorry for me having been scammed, so he was keeping the price as low as he could and offering a 15-year guarantee.”
Giles paid £12,900 when the job was completed. Too late, she discovered that it had been botched, and the leaks got worse. The trader returned over the next few months to make ineffectual repairs, but has refused to accept liability or properly fix the problem.
Her formal complaint was returned as undeliverable as he had provided an incomplete address. Without a valid address, she could not start court action to recover her money.
“From 30 minutes of Googling, I discovered other roofing companies registered at the incomplete address, both active and dissolved, with company directors who share the same surname as my roofer,” she says.
Since he had, in her opinion, used Checkatrade to give his operation “a veneer of respectability,” Giles says she asked the site if it could consider helping with a discretionary payment, but it told her it was not liable.
“We live on my husband’s disability benefits and my part-time job and can’t afford to pay a third builder. I feel so foolish,” she says.
Checkatrade promises “guaranteed” traders, “rigorous checks” and “recommendations you can rely on”. Its 12-month guarantee pays up to £1,000 if workmanship is found to be substandard, but ultimately it and other similar platforms offering vetted contractors are not liable if a trader fails to deliver. The guarantee doesn’t cover cases where a trader absconds with the deposit or ceases trading.
Giles was told she was eligible for the £1,000. A Checkatrade surveyor then estimated that it would cost £10,000 plus VAT to replace the wrecked roof. Checkatrade cancelled the trader’s membership after her complaint, then told her that since he was no longer a member, it could not investigate further.
However, after Guardian Money got in touch, Checkatrade persuaded the trader to hand back £6,000 of Giles’s £12,900 payment and said it would support her in reclaiming the full repair costs.
It says that when it ends a trader’s membership, it engages with them to find a resolution, and says it has supported Giles since her complaint.
“Her experience with this tradesperson does not reflect the high standard we expect of members,” says a spokesperson. “On the rare occasion that things do go wrong, we leverage our team of customer dispute specialists to support homeowners, often helping them to secure a better outcome than they might outside Checkatrade. This level of support, alongside our 12 checks and ongoing review monitoring, is testament to why Checkatrade remains the best and safest place to find a trade.”
Unlike gas and electricity technicians, anyone can trade as a builder with or without qualifications, and the construction industry is lobbying for an official licensing scheme to weed out charlatans.
According to the Federation of Master Builders, the problem “shames” the building trade, and it argues that platforms such as Checkatrade, which promise basic vetting, have made little difference, because membership is voluntary.
“At the core of the problem is a lack of industry standards,” says Brian Berry, the FMB chief executive. “This leaves consumers without a clear route to challenge cowboy builders for their bad work, and the construction industry reliant on the shaky foundations of unregulated builders.”
* Name has been changed
How to avoid cowboy builders
Personal recommendations are best. If family and friends can’t help, try asking road and neighbourhood WhatsApp and Facebook groups.
Beware builders who are ready to start immediately. Good traders are likely to be booked up well in advance.
Never employ anyone who cold-calls at your home.
If you have to rely on an online platform, the Federation of Master Builders says its Find a Builder service is the only one which physically audits the work of its members. It also offers a dispute resolution service.
Also check out Buy With Confidence, a national register operated by local authority trading standards services (not all local authorities support the scheme). It says all the businesses listed have been vetted, approved and continue to be monitored.
Check the builder is registered with a trade association that offers an alternative dispute resolution scheme.
Insist on a written contract setting out a payment schedule, with the final payment due when the work has been completed and approved.
Walk away if a trader asks you to pay the full amount upfront or requests a cash payment. If possible, pay by credit card for work costing under £30,000 so that you are covered by section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
If things go wrong, Natalie Hitchins, head of home products and services at the consumer body Which?, recommends keeping a written record of your communications with the trader and setting a deadline for all works to be completed by.
Check your home insurance policy to see whether it covers you for legal expenses. Legal action is a last resort, but a court judgment can be enforced only if a sole trader has sufficient assets, while limited companies can be dissolved to avoid liabilities, then incorporated under a new name.
• This article was amended on 11 March 2024. Andrea Giles was told she was eligible for £1,000, under the guarantee scheme, before the Checkatrade surveyor assessed the roof, not afterwards as an earlier version said.
