Unqualified tradespeople cause millions of pounds of misery
British homeowners are paying a high price for inviting unqualified tradespeople into their home as they shell out millions to rectify botched jobs.
Every year 1.1 million* homeowners spend £181 million** to fix work carried out by tradespeople without the correct qualifications or training, according to new research by Direct Line Home Response 24.
One in six (17 per cent) homeowners have had work carried out by a tradesperson in the past two years who turned out to be unqualified or improperly trained with one in five of these saying the job was carried out poorly or incorrectly.
The problem is made worse by the fact that the rogue tradespeople refuse to revisit botched jobs (16 per cent) or to honour their work’s guarantees (nine per cent). As a result almost half of these homeowners (48 per cent) have had to hire further help – at extra cost - to correct inadequate work.
Worryingly, homeowners often fail to ask for proof of identification (33 per cent of those who have used a tradesperson) or qualifications (53 per cent) before allowing tradespeople into their home. And it’s society’s most vulnerable putting themselves at risk, with more than half of women (55 per cent) home alone when letting in a tradesperson without checking their ID, along with 47 per cent of the over 60s.
Despite the potential risks to both property and security, two fifths of those who had let a tradesperson in without seeing ID or qualifications (41 per cent) admit that they simply don’t think to check, while one in 10 say they do not want to appear rude.
The Direct Line Home Response 24 research also highlights the widespread ignorance of the qualifications tradespeople should have, with 92 per cent of homeowners admitting that they do not know the relevant qualifications of all tradespeople.
As a result, 84 per cent of homeowners believe that all tradespeople should have compulsory regulation.
Andrew Lowe, head of Home Response 24 Insurance at Direct Line commented:
“Homeowners shouldn’t have to shell out twice for the same job. They should have peace of mind that the person they hire is up to the job and able to do the work to a good standard. We would strongly advise homeowners thinking of hiring a tradesperson to ask for ID and qualifications or to consider one of a number of services that have qualified engineers on hand 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”
Direct Line HR24 has thousands of tradesmen available, 365 days a year to carry out maintenance and repairs for homeowners. All tradesmen are vetted and have relevant qualifications, which will allow a homeowner piece of mind and avoid the complications that can result for unknowingly hiring a rouge trader.
For more information, log on to www. Directline.com/homeresponse24
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Carmel McCarthy / Direct Line Press Office
0208 256 2178 / carmel.mccarthy@directline.com
Notes to Editors:
Research was carried out by YouGov Plc who interviewed a representative sample of 2,249 GB adults. The core sample was of 575 GB adults who were homeowners, had hired a tradesperson in the last two years and not seen proof of ID or qualifications. Results are weighted to be representative of the British adult population. YouGov is a member of the British Polling Council.
* There are 44.2 million GB adults (Office for National Statistics). Sixty-three per cent of these are homeowners, of whom 68 per cent have hired a tradesperson in the last two years. Fifty-nine per cent of these have not seen a tradesperson’s proof of ID or qualifications, with 20 per cent of these having had work done poorly or incorrectly. Therefore:
44,200,000 x 0.63 x 0.68 x 0.59 x 0.2 = 2,234,363 people, or 1,117,182 people a year
** There are 44.2 million GB adults (Office for National Statistics). Sixty-three per cent of these are homeowners, of whom 68 per cent have hired a tradesperson in the last two years. Fifty-nine per cent of these have not seen a tradesperson’s proof of ID or qualifications, with 20 per cent of these having had work done poorly or correctly. Seventy-one per cent of these people paid to correct the work, at an average cost of £228.40. Therefore:
44,200,000 x 0.63 x 0.68 x 0.59 x 0.2 x 0.71 x 228.4 / 2 = £181,166,624 a year
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