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Consumer Direct, a trading standards watchdog, has seen hundreds of complaints about the poor quality of maintenance and home improvements made by such tradesmen in the last 12 months, the Bridgwater Mercury reports.

The organisation warned that these builders often try to get away with below-par work while charging exorbitant prices - something that could force some Britons into making a home insurance claim.

It explained that some rogue tradesmen attempt to get money from the homeowner before doing any work, with others ramping up quote prices as the work progresses.

Consumer Direct advised local residents to avoid getting work done by builders who call round to their homes uninvited and to instead choose a local tradesman with a solid reputation who can display evidence of previous work.

“The vast majority of tradesmen are worthy of the name, but it is important that people take precautions to avoid the minority who give others a bad name,” commented councillor Jim Mochancz, Somerset county council’s portfolio holder for community safety.

He added: “The trading standards team is committed to protecting the public and taking action against those who flout legislation put in place to safeguard all of us.”

In 2006, the government launched the TrustMark scheme to help homeowners easily find a reliable builder to carry out home improvements and maintenance work.

Members of the scheme are required to undergo independent checks of their technical skills and sign up to a code of practice.

Source: ArticleCube.com - Insurance

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This entry was posted on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.