Fraudsters posing as legitimate contractors are charging homeowners thousands of pounds for unfinished, poorly done or unnecessary roofing work, according to Citizens Advice.
The Consumer Advisers Association says that one in ten of all scams recorded last year were related to roofing, making it the most common type of scam reported to them.
It can leave victims like Crystal, from the Midlands, thousands of pounds out of pocket.
The 68-year-old man was terrified and unable to sleep after the rogue builder left his roof with broken bricks and a fence.
He said he felt pressured to agree to have his roof redone and paid a sum of £5,500, only for the original contractor to send his son instead, who left the job at the resort incomplete.
“We had a heavy rain a few weeks after he did this work, and it ended up like a waterfall going down the wall,” he said.
His neighbor’s house was also damaged.
“They led to my neighbour’s side of the chimney, causing bricks to fall into his room and rain into his house,” he told the BBC.
The experience still haunts him: “I can’t sleep. I don’t eat properly”.
In the year to August the Citizens Advice Consumer Service received 9,000 complaints about roofing work, including problems with construction, repair and weatherproofing.
Of those 2,205, or nearly one in four complaints, fraud was suspected, up from 2,098 last year.
Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, has urged consumers to check brokers carefully before agreeing to hire them.
“Fraudsters take advantage of the fact that the roof is invisible and accessible, knowing that many people cannot easily inspect the work,” he said.
Victims also reported aggressive and intimidating behaviour, with three out of three fraudsters using “doorstep” sales tactics.
Citizens Advice cited the case of Charlotte, 65, who lives alone in the north east of England.
Traders he found online initially offered to fix his leaky gutter for £250. The two men then said there was further work to be done, which would cost £2,500.
“After an hour they said it was fixed but they found another problem,” he said.
It was dark and Charlotte felt scared. “They knew I was on my own, I didn’t feel like I could handle anything after that, so I paid £3,500,” he said.
But the next day he did not realize that any work had been done, he said.
To avoid falling victim to roofing scams, Citizens Advice suggests:
-
Note: Always ask for references and have everything written down. Beware of unsolicited knockers and callers
-
Collect evidence: If the merchant causes problems, be sure to take pictures and collect the necessary documents and receipts
-
Know your rights: Traders must provide you with information about your right to cancel in writing. If the work was not done with “reasonable care and skill,” the Consumer Rights Act 2015 also gives you the right to ask for the problem to be fixed or a refund.
Lord Bichard, chairman of National Trading Standards, said rogue traders are “criminals who deliberately exploit people in their own homes”.
He described roofing corruption as “particularly brutal”, and said Trading Standards would go after fraudsters through legal channels.
“Victims can lose their life savings in a matter of hours and be left with damaged homes, financial problems and a deep sense of vulnerability the criminals have long since left,” he said.
Source link
