Beware of rogue roofing contractors

A couple of months ago, we became aware of an elderly lady locally who had unfortunately fallen victim to a rogue roofing contractor.

She had been pressured into paying large amounts of money for poor quality and incomplete roofing work, leaving her out of pocket and with a roof that still needed significant repairs.

As a business, we decided to step in and put the roof right at no cost to the homeowner.

Whilst we’re pleased we could help, the bigger issue here is that these scams are becoming far too common, particularly involving elderly and vulnerable people.

If there’s one positive to take from this situation, it’s hopefully raising awareness of some of the warning signs people should look out for when approached by contractors.

A few things we would strongly advise people to be cautious of:

• Contractors knocking doors claiming urgent roofing problems;
• Pressure to make immediate decisions;
• Requests for large cash payments upfront;
• Being driven to a cash machine or bank to withdraw money;
• No written quotation or paperwork;
• No company address or landline number;
• Unmarked vans or no company branding;
• Refusal to provide references or examples of previous work;
• Prices changing dramatically once work starts;
• Claims that “extra problems” have suddenly been discovered;
• Contractors asking for full payment before work is complete.

Any genuine contractor should be happy to provide:

• a written quotation;
• company details;
• insurance information;
• realistic timescales;
• photographs of the work;
• proper invoices and payment methods.

We’d also always encourage people to:

• avoid paying cash where possible;
• get more than one quotation;
• speak to family or friends before agreeing to major works;
• check online reviews and Companies House records.

Roofing work can be expensive and unfortunately rogue traders know that roofs are something many homeowners can’t easily inspect themselves.

Please look out for elderly relatives, neighbours and vulnerable people, especially when cold callers are involved.

If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.