Dealing With Cowboy Builders
Cowboy builders give the whole trade a bad name. Trading Standards and Citizens Advice still receive tens of thousands of complaints about home improvement work every year, ranging from shoddy workmanship to vanished deposits. The good news is that rogue traders remain a small minority. The bad news is that they tend to be persuasive, and the damage they cause can take months to put right, both financially and structurally.
A bit of caution before you sign anything, and a clearer idea of your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, can save you from most of the common traps.
Spotting a Rogue Trader Early
The clearest warning signs tend to appear before any work starts. Look out for the following:
- A request for cash only, often with a hint that you can avoid VAT. A legitimate business does not work off the books.
- Reluctance to provide a written quote, a breakdown of costs, or a timeline for each stage of the job.
- A quote that is noticeably lower than others you have received, paired with pressure to start straight away.
- A demand for a large deposit up front, particularly in cash, before any materials have been ordered.
- No fixed business address, no company number you can check at Companies House, or a mobile number as the only point of contact.
- Vague answers about public liability insurance, or no insurance at all.
- Claims of membership of trade bodies that you cannot verify on that body's own website.
None of these are conclusive on their own, but two or three together suggest you should walk away. Reputable trades are usually busy and happy to wait while you make checks.
Doing Your Homework
Before agreeing to anything, ask for references from recent jobs and follow them up. Most genuine tradespeople are pleased to be asked. You can also check whether the firm belongs to a recognised scheme such as TrustMark, the Federation of Master Builders, or a Competent Person Scheme for electrical or gas work. Membership can be confirmed directly with the scheme.
For gas work, the engineer should be on the Gas Safe Register. For notifiable electrical work, the installer should be registered with a scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT. These can be checked online in a couple of minutes.
Get at least three written quotes for any sizeable job. This gives you a realistic price range and makes it easier to spot the outliers.
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Try our Bad Builder Action Plan free, here on this site →Getting It in Writing
A written contract is your strongest protection. It does not need to be elaborate, but it should cover the scope of work, materials, total price, payment schedule, start and completion dates, and what happens if either side wants to make changes. Both parties should sign and keep a copy.
If the contract is agreed away from the trader's business premises, for example in your home, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 usually give you a 14 day cancellation period. The trader should tell you about this in writing. If you want work to start within that period, you may need to agree to that in writing, and you could be charged for any work done up to the point you cancel.
Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.
Paying Safely
How you pay matters if things go wrong. Paying by credit card for any single item costing more than £100 and up to £30,000 brings Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 into play, making the card provider jointly liable with the trader for breach of contract or misrepresentation. This can be very useful when chasing a refund from a builder who has disappeared.
For debit card or e-money payments, Section 75 does not apply, but you may be able to use chargeback under the Visa or Mastercard scheme rules. Time limits are short, so contact your bank quickly. Bank transfer offers the least protection, so avoid it for large deposits where possible.
Try to keep any deposit modest. Stage payments tied to completed work are usually safer than paying a large lump sum in advance.
If the Work Goes Wrong
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, services supplied to a consumer should be carried out with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonable time, and for a reasonable price where one was not agreed in advance. Materials supplied as part of the job should be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described.
If the work is substandard, you can usually ask the trader to put it right at no extra cost. If they refuse, or the repeat work is also poor, you may be entitled to a price reduction. Keep a paper trail of photographs, dated notes, copies of texts and emails, and receipts for any materials.
Put your complaint in writing, set out what you want, and give a reasonable deadline. If the trader belongs to a trade association, ask whether it offers a dispute resolution scheme. If not, you can try mediation, or take a claim through the small claims track of the County Court for amounts up to the current limit shown on GOV.UK.
Things become more complicated when a builder goes bankrupt mid-job, since recovering money from an insolvent business is rarely straightforward. Section 75 claims and chargeback become particularly useful in that situation.
For specific trades, the principles are the same but the regulatory bodies differ. If you need guidance on what to do if your plumber makes mistakes, the process of complaint, remedy and escalation follows the same pattern.
Reporting Rogue Traders
Even if you recover your money, reporting a cowboy builder helps protect others. You can report concerns to Trading Standards via Citizens Advice, who pass details on. Serious cases involving fraud or threats can be reported to Action Fraud or the police. For up to date thresholds, court fees and reporting routes, check GOV.UK or the Citizens Advice website.
Come and paid £8000 in May he was going to start my roof in June then July when we were away. Paid for a house sitter - no show. We tried to engage and finally arrived on site end of September stripped one side of the house. This took a week and half - conservatory leaked like a sieve still does, kitchen water leaks in through the rain. En-suite shower had an another fellow of dirty water coming in now my main bedroom leaking through .
Builder is so defence we are 8 weeks in still not finished one side of the house I’ve already paid £10000 to the builder and now because we are complaining about our two week job now being in it’s 8th week he is threatening to walk off the job as he is saying we are bullying him by sharing the photos videos of the leaks!
He has threatened to walk off the job every time I don’t pay him when asked. He is saying that we over complicated the job when we decided to add solar ( solar team were on and out) also to note when we asked about solar we asked the roofer and he recommended the solar company !
He is a constant let down I’ve damage all over my house and only a quarter of the tiles on my house . What can I actually do at this point. He knows we took out a second mortgage and he has us over a barrel what can I do. I wish I had more money to throw him off the job I don’t know what to do.
Here's what I'd suggest. Send one final written message (text and email) stating clearly: "The outstanding work must be completed by [specific date - give him 7 days]. If you cannot commit to this, please confirm so I can make alternative arrangements. If I don't hear from you, I'll have no option but to engage another tradesperson and pursue recovery of those additional costs."
Meanwhile, get quotes from other builders to finish the job - it's only a few days' work so should be straightforward. Document everything: all your contact attempts, his responses, photos of the unfinished work.
If he doesn't respond or show, go ahead and hire someone else to complete it. Then pursue him through small claims court for the difference in cost. You can also report him to any trade associations he belongs to and leave factual reviews.
For future reference: never pay the final balance until work is 100% complete and signed off. That final payment is your only real leverage with builders.
Hope you get it resolved quickly.
Builder has now disappeared and we havnt seen him for nearly 3 weeks!!
Contact a couple of times telling me he will get to me when he can, then he was ill, then he was hoping to get to me by the end of the week!
Doesn’t answer his phone or reply to texts!!
Balance has been laid in full and I feel completely stuck and cheated!!
What do I do?
What can I do?
He told me all the blocks would have to come up but he had since moved to Doncaster. He tried to arrange a young lad to come with him but no takers, three times set dates to come back and let me down. He then said he would pay another nearer company to do the work but told me the quotes were too high..I said he better come back and fix or I would see a solicitor. He then said oh you want to go down that route don't contact me again. I have phoned five times to be brushed off by his partner saying he would call me and he never does. This has gone on 2.5 years now.
So the guy who inspected the membrane I asked to lay flags to the back garden. They looked OK to start with. They had asked me if I wanted stones which I declined. My conservatory and side of the house was sat in a swimming pool when it rained and on brushing water it flowed back from the patio. There were also quite a few loose flags especially on the patio where water did not pool. Also the gaps between flags were showing concrete and the resin was coming loose and out in places.
He came back and cut the flags around the edges. drilled holes and put down stones which I had to pay £150 for but there seems great reluctance to provide my receipt, there were stones left which he took with him. There was also a cracked flag "oh don't worry I have a spare at home."
He started to redo the patio it was a hot day. That night I noticed one flag higher than another and another not square. I videoed it and sent it then got a curt voice message. I was told I shouldn't stand on the flags that's why they've moved, you will cause air pockets and they will have to be relaid. I bet you walked on them the first time, and thats why they came loose, I said no I only let the dog out late at night, apparently that was not allowed either and a lady should walk alone in the dark. I was also told because I didn't want stones the water has caused the loose ones when the majority They have refused to come back and once again I'm left with a bodged unfinished job. I have recently retired and don't have the money to put either right and it has just ground me down, it is hard on your own feeling intimidated and frightened of builders..
So do some very serious checks on who you employ to work on your home, do not become a victim, potentially having your home and finances totally devastated.
I can't seem to include the email address as it is usually written, which I guess is to prevent people giving personal details, but this is an address set up specifically for this conversation and I'll deactivate immediately afterwards.
Find me at bon bah enfin at hotmail dot com - you will need to format it as you would a regular email address. Thanks.
. On 28th December 23 he texted me asking if we are home then he is coming to start the job so I said to him to come on 29 December with the roll of my felt and the raw materials which he said he purchased to do the work. Then in the morning today on 29 December he is asking me to send pictures of the wall which I said I have no strength to go down in the basement to click pictures because I am ill. I told him to come with my roll of felt and the raw materials to do the work. Earlier on the text message I had asked him for a refund and he said he purchased the raw materials. So he came today and wanted to get in to see the wall I don't know why. As I saw he did not bring in any raw materials or my roll of felt I asked him where are the raw materials and the roll of my felt but he only wanted to get in I don't know why. I did not let him as I don't trust this guy and don't feel safe and comfortable with this guy. So then went to his van and brought a small roll may be 1 metre in length and says that is mine and lying about it. I said that this roll is not mine and I have a pictures of my roll. I can't trust this person as he told many lies to me
I feel cheated by him and am scared of him I am also very ill and had been off work for nearly 1 and half month now due to this issues, stress and my illness. He has texted me on my whats app saying that my husband and I bullied him which is not true. I am the victimised and scammed by this person
He infact bullied us and wasted my time 3 months now and have scammed me. I feel that he is not a builder as the quotes are sent from residential address and not business address.
I hope no one else falls trap to these type of scams.
We had a quote for bathroom remodel, looks professional, the quote listed all materials to be used but didn’t have any prices on each item only a final material figure and labour figure, he said work would be guaranteed for 3 years, I was a bit confused why there was no separate figures for each item on the quote as he said it’s 20% off , any way we put are trust in this guy Alan West from Wrexham, from day 1 he was a shambles, he obviously didn’t have a clue? About plumbing for a start , even the guys he got in for the tiles dot and dabbled them on , shocking , on the final day he threatened my wife , we where put in such a awkward position, we called trading Standards and they said we would have to email Alan West to put the problems right and if then he didn’t they could then act on it , we wouldn’t have this guy step foot in are house again so nothing happened, we have had a plumber in to re do everything, I could right a book on this experience, He then finished trading as ideal in bathrooms and started up as AW landscaping, he is now trading as AW builders at Oswestry in Shropshire, so keeps changing his name ,
This guy doesn’t go in cheap , looks professional and talks the talk , he changes into a different guy on day 1 , this is a warning to anyone in the Oswestry area , beware,
Cowboy Rouge builder
Alan West , apparently on the move from Oswestry to Gobowen
caldwell paving colchester he changes is name the work needs putting correctly he is abusive towards you blocks your phone
Maybe this page does not like emails being posted?
Ignoring the spaces it is
dec 'dot' 68 at hotmail 'dot' co 'dot' uk
The situation is worsening and at the last visit we were advised the worktop was far too faulty to continue repairing and as such the company (Stoneworld Ltd based in Kendal) have said the only option now is for them to replace it.
This would entail us having to get an electrician, gas engineer and plumber out at our cost and they have also advised any damage to worktops, tiling etc. caused in the replacement wouldn’t be covered by them, purely the actual worktop.
My husband recently had a stroke and as such the thought of dealing with all the disruption and having to find the money for various tradesman and for possible damages to new tiles and units is just too much to deal with.
As such, we asked for a refund (to be honest a partial refund would have been acceptable) but they have flatly refused and said it’s replacement or nothing.
Any ideas on how to deal with this.
https://chng.it/HvqFqzK4bb
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