How do YOU spot a rogue trader?

How to spot a rogue trader
Cold callers may use these lines to frighten homeowners into doing business with them

"You have loose tiles on your roof"
"Your roof has been leaking"
"I see cracked brickwork on your house"
"You need to have some pointing on your chimney"
"You need some work doing on your driveway"
"I'm doing some work in the area and have materials left over which we need to use up"
"I'm doing some work for the council down the road"
"I'm doing free property surveys to check if you have any rising damp"
"Your brickwork is acting like a sponge soaking up the rainwater" (Ignore this popular line as bricks are supposed to behave like this!!)

These are the things cold callers will say need doing

Roofing repairs
Gardening services, tree surgery
Path or driveway work
Block paving or tarmac driveways
Damp proofing
General maintenance work
Guttering repairs
Fascia boarding repairs
Wall surface coatings

How do I get rid of these rogues?

Do not engage in conversation with them
Say you do not buy goods and services at the door
Say you need to compare prices
Say you have to discuss it with your partner, son, daughter or friend

In the case of the elderly, particularly those living alone, it is well worth thinking about having a son or daughter authorised as a joint signatory on bank accounts for amounts over, say £200.

If you think your house needs work, then these are the steps you should take.

Never EVER employ a cold caller

Always use a professional builder who is recommended for doing similar work or a bona fide member of a trade association, see the list below. Alternatively you can submit online free to get quotes from a pre-vetted tradesperson and then rate and recommend them afterwards.

Talk to the builder's previous customers. Go and see the jobs they have done and make sure the customers were happy. Check they completed the job properly and came within/on budget.

Produce a detailed written specification for the work you want done.

Ask at least three builders to provide written quotes.

Make sure the builders' quotes cover everything you would like done, including the supply of materials, removal of rubbish and making good after the work is finished.

Check our Do's and Donts when using a tradesperson.

To give you an idea, it states on the Corgi website, quote: "CORGI has carried out the industry’s first research into the illegal gas market and concluded that there could be as many as 20,000 people working illegally on gas in the UK" un-quote. This information can be found at http://www.trustcorgi.com/cowboys/fightthecowboys.htmx