How to avoid the cowboy traders

If you don’t have home emergency cover or any other 247 Home Rescue service plan, and you encounter a home emergency, serious electrical problems or any other problem, you may be tempted to find any old tradesman so you can have the issue resolved as quickly as possible.

Be warned – this haste could be a waste should you find yourself choosing a rogue trader instead of a legitimate, competent and registered professional. Not only might you find yourself spending a fortune repairing their shoddy work or finishing incomplete installations, but you could also actually be putting the health and safety of you and your family in real danger. This is especially the case when we offer one-off repairs!

So don’t allow your urgency to arrange emergency home repairs cost you your money and your health – take some time to carefully choose a tradesman and receive repairs that will stand the test of time.

Qualifications

Do you know what accreditations and qualifications are necessary for your particular project? For gas boiler breakdowns, only Gas Safe-registered engineers who are qualified to work on your particular boiler are permitted to perform reparative work, while only Part P-registered electricians should conduct emergency electrical repairs.

Find out if a tradesman is experienced in doing the kind of work you want them to and that they have the required qualifications. Bear in mind that some tradespeople will falsely claim to be Gas Safe-registered or to be a member of other reputable trade associations – don’t hesitate to contact the organisation to check a tradesman’s qualifications if you have any doubts!

Research

The internet is a fantastic place to research boiler repair firms, electricians and other contractors. Put their name into Google and see what their previous customers have to say. Don’t be too dissuaded by one negative review – it’s rare for a business to be able to please everyone – but reams of poor reviews should set the alarm bells ringing.

Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn profiles can give you a good idea if a company is reputable or not.

Referrals

Reviews are similar to friend and family member referrals, but you should take all of these reviews with a pinch of salt. Just because a friend is satisfied with an engineer’s work does not mean they are Gas Safe and does not mean you should let them work on your gas appliances!

Reputable tradesmen may also be able to present you with a portfolio of their completed work, or may have images of work they have completed on their website. If you are unsure, you can always ask to speak with some of their previous customers.

But no referral is as important as the right registration and competencies – don’t give an unregistered contractor the benefit of the doubt if you are not certain that they are accredited and safe to work on your gas or electrics!

How can 247 Home Rescue help?

If you have a home emergency cover, appliance cover or boiler breakdown cover service plan with 247 Home Rescue, you will never have to worry if a tradesman is legitimate or not – we wouldn’t dream of using anyone who is not competent!

When you’re covered with us, you can rest assured that all emergency electrical repairs, gas appliance repairs and other domestic problems will be resolved by a trained and skilled professional who knows the safe and proper ways to complete their work.

Call us on 0345 3192 247 and one of our friendly technical team will go through some simple diagnostics to see if your problem can be resolved over the phone. If not, we’ll send an engineer to be with you as soon as possible to ensure you’re back up and running in no time.