Cash-in-hand Britain sleepwalking into home owning hell

British homeowners are making easy pickings for rouge traders, almost nine in ten (87%) readily handing over cash-in-hand to self employed tradespeople rather than using a reputable company or agency, according to new research by AA Legal Services.

With 78 per cent of homeowners using a tradesperson in the last twelve months, almost one in five have experienced grievances with cowboy tradesmen (18%), leading to home-owning heart-ache and revealing that the ‘cheap job on the side’ may in fact cost homeowners dearly.

As part of its Safe as Houses Campaign, which seeks to demystify the legal rights of homeowners and help them to put the law on their side, AA Legal Services questioned over 1,200 homeowners about their experiences of tradespeople. The results reveal an alarming similarity between those whom homeowners seem happy pay cash to – and those who cause them the greatest grief.

Problem Cash-in-Hand Plumbers

Whilst window cleaners top the poll as the service people homeowners would most trust to pay in cash (35%), perhaps because they can see the results of the job before handing over the money, plumbers top the list of cash-in-hand traders leaving homeowners counting the cost of shoddy work. With almost one in five homeowners over the past year saying that they were happy to pay cash to a plumber (17%), a third had grievances with the quality of the work they did (33%).

Home Improvers Turn Home Wreckers

Builders (17%), roofers, electricians and painter-decorators (11%) have caused the bulk of complaints in the last 12 months. Over one in ten homeowners experienced problems with each. Of these, electricians and decorators were the most likely to have been paid cash-in-hand (13% and 12% respectively), leaving homeowners with almost no opportunity for come-back when shoddy work subsequently comes to light.

Scotland the Cash-in-Hand Capital of the UK

Scots are the most happy to pay trade people cash in hand rather than seeking out a reputable company or agency, 26 per cent paying plumbers the folding stuff compared to a national average of 17 per cent. However this trust may be misguided, as the Scottish are also the most likely to have had a dispute over the quality of work in the last 12 months (32% compared to a national average of 18%).

Careful West Country

People living in the South West are the most cautious with their cash, one in five saying they would always use a reputable company (19%). Just one per cent would pay a gardener cash-in-hand, compared to 9 per cent nationally, and five per cent would trust a decorator with cash, compared to 12 per cent nationally. Because of such prudence South West citizens have experienced half as many problems with trades people than their Scottish counterparts (15% compared to 32%).

James Molloy, Head of AA Legal Services commented: “Whilst paying tradespeople cash-in-hand might seem the cheapest option, homeowners should be aware of the legal sacrifices they are making by failing to employ someone from a reputable organisation who can be held accountable after a payment has been made.

“Traders who offer a cheaper deal for payment in cash rather than cheque or credit card should be avoided – getting a written quote before work starts and paying a bit extra to ensure a legitimate transaction against a proper invoice gives record of the work done and amount paid which could be vital in the event of a dispute.

“AA Legal Services was launched to provide sound advice and cost effective solutions for modern homeowners in order to ensure their interests are taken into account, helping them to understand their rights. Should you be unfortunate enough to become a victim of an unscrupulous tradesperson, seeking advice could be the answer to getting problems smoothed out before they get out of hand.”