Homeowners ripped off by rogue builders will be able to claim back money from their bank under new scam rules after National Fraud Helpline achieved a landmark payout.
We recovered £6,100 for a home-owner after a builder started work on his roof repair but then failed to complete the job.
The payout from Barclays Bank could open the door to thousands of claims each year.
News of our success featured in the Sunday Mirror newspaper.
The victim had found a builder on Facebook and asked for him to re-tile the roof but after initially removing some tiles the roofer then stopped communicating and disappeared.
Martin Richardson, a senior partner at National Fraud Helpline, a trading name of Richardson Hartley Law, said: ‘The new bank scam reimbursement rules have made it even easier for anyone who has been defrauded by builders or tradesmen to claim back money they lost from their bank if they made the payment via bank transfer.
‘This payout from Barclays has proved the principle that a builder taking money without ever intending to carry out the agreed work is a fraud. We are delighted to be able to return the funds. Rogue tradesmen are a huge problem throughout the UK with millions of pounds lost by homeowners, so it’s good that these new rules offer a degree of protection.
‘Key to these cases is that it was found that the rogue builder never intended to do the job.
‘We argued that, in this case, the builder only started the work to get more money and wasn’t ever intending to finish the work.
‘We should make it clear that this redress scheme does not cover cases where a builder has done a poor job or failed to meet an agreed deadline.’
The new mandatory reimbursement fraud rules require all payment service providers (PSP), which includes banks, to refund customers who have lost money to fraud if those funds were transferred to the scammer through an Authorised Push Payment or CHAPS payment to another PSP in the UK.
In the landmark case the rogue builder had requested a £300 deposit upfront in cash and then turned up to take off some of the tiles. He then demanded a series of payments to carry out the work but never returned to the property. The homeowner was given a myriad of excuses by the roofer as to why he couldn’t turn up, including that he had fallen ill.
Find out more about: Making A Scam Claim Against A Cowboy Builder.
Have you fallen victim to a rogue builder? If they never intended to carry out the work we may be able to help. Contact National Fraud Helpline us on 0333 0033218 or fill out our Claim Form.