Watchdog, Homes from Hell, Rogue Traders - We still haven't learned

NCD News: Watchdog, Homes from Hell, Rogue Traders - We still haven't learned - 04.11.09

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Watchdog, Homes from Hell, Rogue Traders - We still haven't learned: Once again the effects of the credit crunch can be seen in the rise in reports of rogue traders, often targeting the elderly. These rogue traders usually turn up on the victims doorsteps offering seemingly cheap rates for work which usually ends up costing much more than expected.

The TV is full of programs warning us of the dangers and showing how much work is required to put it right. Rogue Traders, featuring Matt Allwright, and Watchdog have featured many examples of botched household maintenance and building work over the years. Other examples are Homes From Hell and the Canadian show Holmes on Homes, which features Mike Holmes, a self styled saint who literally saves Canadians from dangerous and often illegal work carried out at high expense.

Unfortunately in many of these cases people simply had not done the necessary homework required to choose the right tradespeople. Research from Lloyds TSB Insurance in May 2009 has shown that more than 4.6 million poorly completed jobs of this type were reported in the past 12 months. 32% of the victims admitted they had not checked the credentials of the tradesman before the work was completed.

Meanwhile, one in ten people in the UK had claimed on their insurance to correct damage to their homes following a visit from a rogue trader. This represented a 16% increase in these types of claims.

The research also showed that the householder may claim an average of £460 to fix the damage and that the main trades at fault were plumbers and builders without proper qualifications or experience.

Consumer Direct has also been warning people of the dangers of the Rogue Traders. They pointed out that they had received 2384 complaints from people being offered home maintenance services on the doorstep during the summer last year, which was 15% higher than during the winter months.

It has not been until recently that the law had any real way of preventing this type of activity. It was often carried out by transient people, with no fixed address and who were very difficult to track down and charge. Either that or the dodgy tradesman would state that the doorstep conversation constituted a contract and that there was no way out for the homeowner once they agreed to the work.

That has been rectified in part by a 2008 consumer protection regulation which states that all doorstep traders must provide a 7 day cooling off period. This has been backed up by a Consumer White Paper, "A Better Deal For Consumers", which provides a framework for enforcing consumer rights.

As well as reforms in the way credit is sold to consumers, it also introduces a Consumer Advocate service to help people get their money back. It will also introduce powers to ban persistent rogue traders with a national team to tackle internet scams. This will give Trading Standards more rights to get money back for consumers.

Unfortunately the police have very few powers to disrupt people from doing business in this way and have to resort to stopping them on other offences. Regulation of the industry is the only way to prevent rogue traders. A license for tradespeople showing their qualifications and their addresses. If it can be done for gas engineers, then it can and should be done for all people carrying out work on our homes. †