10 warning signs of a cowboy builder (and how to protect yourself)

Rogue traders cost UK homeowners an estimated £2 billion a year, and the damage isn't always undone by a refund. Botched structural or electrical work can be dangerous, not just expensive to fix. These are the warning signs worth knowing before you hire anyone.

1. Cold-calling or door-knocking: "I noticed your roof needs work" from someone who just happened to be passing is a classic setup for scaring you into an unnecessary or overpriced job.
2. Pressure to decide immediately: "This price is only good today" is a pressure tactic, not a genuine time-limited discount. Legitimate tradespeople expect you to compare quotes.
3. Cash only, no invoice: a trader unwilling to provide a proper invoice is often avoiding tax, which also means you have no paper trail if the work is defective.
4. Large upfront deposit for a small job: some deposit for materials is normal on bigger jobs, but a demand for 50%+ upfront on a modest repair is a common scam pattern. They take the deposit and disappear, or do a token amount of visible work and demand more before continuing.
5. No fixed address or can't be found online: a trader with no verifiable business address, website, or reviews anywhere is much harder to hold accountable if something goes wrong.
6. Vague or verbal-only quotes: "Around £2,000, give or take" with nothing in writing leaves you exposed to scope creep and disputed final bills.
7. Refuses to show ID or certification: Gas Safe, NICEIC, or trade body membership should be checkable, not just claimed.
8. Job suddenly needs "more work": once they're in your home, a legitimate but sudden discovery of extra necessary work is possible; a pattern of surprise extras on every job is not.
9. No insurance, or won't confirm it: ask directly and ask for the insurer's name. A real policy holder can tell you without hesitating.
10. Reviews that feel copy-pasted or too uniformly glowing: a small number of generic 5-star reviews with no detail can be a sign of fake reviews rather than a genuinely good track record.

If you've already paid and something's wrong

Stop any further payment immediately, document everything (photos, messages, the original quote) and get a second tradesperson to assess the work in writing. If you paid by card, contact your bank about a chargeback (Section 75 protection applies to credit card payments over £100). Trading Standards and Citizens Advice can also advise on formal complaints.

This is exactly the problem escrow payments solve: on Fixies, payment is held securely and only released to the tradesperson once you've confirmed the job is done to your satisfaction, so a rogue trader can't take your money and vanish.