As the worst storms of 2009 battered Britain last weekend and much of Cumbria now under water, homeowners should be wary of dishonest tradesman who will be lining up to cash in on victims of storm damage. Cowboy builders and rogue traders are an annual £1.5billion problem for homeowners across the country – that’s £17,123 every hour!
Roman Russocki, Chief Executive of TrustMark, says: “Storm damage can cost a homeowner thousands of pounds in repair work with flooding alone costing an average of £28,000*. With winds gusting up to 100mph over the weekend and worse still to come, rogue tradesmen will be coming out of the woodwork to exploit vulnerable people with damaged properties. It is therefore vital that homeowners, particularly the elderly in high risk areas such as Wales, the South West, the North West and West Midlands, do their best to minimise the potential damage and ensure that they hire legitimate tradesman to carry out any repair work or risk spiralling costs.”
“High risk homeowners should start by checking roofs for loose, cracked or broken tiles which will dislodge in high winds. Blocked-up drains are notorious for causing floods and should be checked for blockages, especially dead leaves which are plentiful at this time of year. If any tree around your property looks dangerous, be sure to secure it as best you can or else call a tree surgeon to fell it or make it safe. Fences are another area prone to damage.”
“However hard we try to protect our homes from a storm, many of us will still require a tradesman to carry out repair work. To avoid falling prey to a rogue trader it is best to use a Government backed website such as TrustMark which hosts thousands of reliable and trustworthy tradesmen, whose work is regularly inspected on-site and who operate to Government Endorsed Standards.”
About TrustMark:
TrustMark is the Government backed, not for profit quality mark for tradesmen. It offers UK consumers easy access to thousands of reputable and reliable local tradesmen, thereby avoiding the dangers of having to deal with cowboy builders and rogue tradesmen. The unique trades search engine at www.trustmark.org.uk is the largest database of accredited tradesmen in the UK and the handy postcode search tool means searching for specific trades is quick and simple.
All members are monitored for quality of work, trading practices and customer satisfaction and are required to operate a user-friendly complaints procedure.
Visit www.trustmark.org.uk for more information.