Rogue traders and fake email invoices are giving Brits every reason to be on their guard when having work done on their home, a new poll1 from Nationwide Building Society shows.
The two crimes – one old and one new – form two sides of the same coin when it comes to conning people out of their hard-earned money for work that is either shoddy or not done at all. Even if the work goes well you can still get caught out when making the payment.
Rogue traders:
According to Nationwide’s poll of more than 3,000 people across the UK, more than half (54%) have had someone knock on their door uninvited saying they could help with work on their home.
When doing research to find a tradesperson, nearly two thirds (65%) ask family or friends for a recommendation, with women (75%) more likely to do so than men (55%). Nearly half (46%) would try and find someone via websites providing a directory of tradespeople and 43 per cent would read reviews online or via social media to find someone. However, nearly one in ten (9%) would choose a tradesperson based on the cheapest price.
However, more than two in five (44%) have or know someone who has had work done on their property to such a poor standard that it required fixing or redoing to bring it up to the required standard. While nearly a third (32%) of those got someone else to remedy the work, 12 per cent did it themselves.
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