THE boot is on the other foot for Britain’s tradesmen…three quarters of them have been ripped off by rogue CUSTOMERS, a study has found.
A whopping 87% of tradespeople in London – including builders, plumbers, heating engineers and gardeners – have suffered from a client refusing to settle the bill for completed work.
That compares to just 32% of customers in London who say they have been fleeced by rogue tradesmen, according to a poll of 2,500 adults by online marketplace Rated People.
Almost half (44%) of workmen in London say they have had clients who refused to pay a single penny for a completed job.
Whether intentional or as a result of misunderstandings concerning the project, the average tradesperson in the UK loses 20% of their annual earnings to issues with customers, costing them an average of just under £7,500. More than six in ten (64%) of them even had to sue in order to get their money.
Rated People has partnered with Shieldpay to launch an industry-leading Protected Payments service. A great alternative way to pay, that fully verifies the identity of both parties and builds trust between a homeowner and tradesperson. The homeowner’s money is held securely by Shieldpay but is visible to both the homeowner and tradesperson. Only when both parties are happy the work’s been completed as agreed is the money released to the tradesperson.
Across the whole of the UK, the paving, gardening and plumbing trades are most affected by payment refusals. Nine in ten (96%) paving tradespeople have had this problem, followed by 77% of gardeners and 76% of plumbers. Heating, paving and plumbing trades have suffered the highest losses, while those in the roofing trade have been fleeced the least.
