Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov reviews how to vet handymen, repair crews and contractors before paying a deposit

Contractors and repair deposits

English version for the United Kingdom.

Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov reviews how people in the UK lose money to builders, handymen and repair firms, and how to read tradesperson reviews before handing over a deposit. Between July 2024 and June 2025 the Citizens Advice consumer service received 36,534 complaints about home maintenance and improvements, more than 700 a week, and 5,230 of them involved scams or rogue traders. The familiar patterns are a cold caller who has spotted a problem with your roof, a deposit for materials followed by silence, an emergency callout found through a search and a profile full of glowing reviews that say nothing specific.

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Published: 6 October 2026 · 12 min read · Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov

01Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov on where the money goes on a building job

Building work rarely goes wrong in a single step. Money drains away in small agreements: a deposit to secure a start date, an extra payment for something that came up, a final transfer before anyone has looked at the finish in daylight.

Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov singles out three points where homeowners are most exposed. Money is paid before there is a written contract. The price is agreed on the doorstep or by phone and changes once work starts. The job is signed off quickly, with nothing written down about defects.

The rest of this guide follows a typical job: finding a trader and reading reviews, quotes and contracts, deposits, your statutory rights, the cooling-off period, paying by card and what to do if a builder vanishes with your money.

02The cold caller who has spotted a problem with your roof

Report Fraud describes doorstep fraud in terms many people will recognise. An unexpected visitor warns you about a problem with your roof or driveway that needs attention now. They ask for payment before starting, may persuade you to go to the bank and withdraw cash while they set up, and then find more problems that need paying for straight away.

Citizens Advice figures show why roofs come up so often. Roofing and chimney repairs drew 8,126 complaints in the year to June 2025, more than any other type of home improvement work.

Report Fraud advises against agreeing on the spot to any offer that involves an advance payment or a contract, and says to speak with a friend or family member first. Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov puts it simply: take the leaflet, close the door and check the business later using contact details you find yourself.

03Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov on deposits, materials and vanishing builders

A familiar story starts with a reasonable quote and a request for money towards materials. A few bags of plaster arrive, the van stops coming, and the trader's mobile goes to voicemail.

Citizens Advice says not to pay everything up front. If a trader wants a deposit for materials, it suggests offering to buy them yourself, so at least the materials are yours if something goes wrong. When a deposit cannot be avoided, keep it as low as possible and do not agree to more than 25 percent, and always get a receipt.

Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov recommends linking every payment after the deposit to a stage of work written into the contract. Paying in stages, as Citizens Advice also suggests, means problems can be put right before the final payment leaves your account.

Whatever the size of the deposit, Citizens Advice suggests checking whether the trader has insurance that protects it if the business closes, or asking for an escrow arrangement, where the money sits in a neutral account and is released at agreed points. An escrow company should be registered with the FCA, and the account details should match the contact details on the register. Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov suggests running that check before a penny moves.

04Emergency callouts found through a search

A burst pipe or a locked door at night sends people to the first number that appears in a search. Behind a local name and a neat profile there may be a call centre passing jobs to whoever is free, and the rating may have little to do with the person who turns up.

Treat these as warning signs: no company name or address, a price quoted as from, the final figure left until the job is done and a request for cash or a bank transfer to a personal account. Citizens Advice adds that a trader who gives only a mobile number may be hard to reach if problems come up.

In an emergency, Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov suggests stopping the damage first: turn off the water, call your landlord or building manager, and agree only to a small repair with a clear price. The bigger job can wait until you can compare written quotes.

05How Zavialov reads tradesperson reviews

Star ratings are the part of a profile that is easiest to inflate. Since April 2025 the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 has included an explicit ban on posting and commissioning fake reviews, and the CMA can fine companies up to 10 percent of their global turnover for breaking consumer law.

Fake reviews still get through. They tend to appear in clusters over a few days, repeat the same phrases and praise friendliness and tidiness while staying silent on the job, the area and the timescale. Real reviews of building work are usually longer, uneven and often mention a problem and how the trader dealt with it.

Citizens Advice gives the same test for choosing a trader: ask for two or three recent examples of similar work, with contact details for the people it was done for, and get in touch, because written references are not always genuine. A trader who will not give references may be dishonest. Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov adds a request to see a finished job in person. A trader who refuses every request on privacy grounds and offers only social media photos is a reason to keep looking.

06Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov on quotes, estimates and trader schemes

Citizens Advice draws a clear line between the two documents. A quote is a fixed price, so you know what you are getting and what it will cost. An estimate is a rough guess, and you may end up paying more. For building work, ask for a quote in writing, and try to collect at least three so that you can compare prices.

According to Citizens Advice, a good quote gives a fixed total price, a breakdown of the work and materials, how long the price stays valid, whether VAT is included and when the price can go up. Once you accept it, it binds both sides even if nothing is written down, and the trader cannot charge more unless you ask for extra work and agree to pay for it, or they made a genuine mistake in the sum.

To find a trader, Citizens Advice points to TrustMark, which it describes as the Government's trader scheme, as well as to local council Trading Standards services and trade associations. Report Fraud adds the Approved Tradespeople lists that some councils distribute.

Membership claims need checking. Citizens Advice advises confirming on the scheme's or association's own website that the trader really is a member. Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov treats a logo with no matching entry in the register as a reason to walk away.

Citizens Advice also suggests testing the person at the door or on the phone: ask for a business card or letterhead with full contact details, ring the business to check that it exists and that the person works for it, and ask to see proof of qualifications. Gas work must go to a Gas Safe registered engineer, and electrical work to a properly qualified or registered electrician.

07Your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015

Every contract to supply a service is treated as including a term that the trader must perform it with reasonable care and skill. If no time was agreed, the work must be done within a reasonable time, and if no price was fixed, you pay a reasonable price and no more.

When the work falls short, the Act gives you two main remedies. You can ask the trader to repeat the work properly at their own cost and within a reasonable time. If that is impossible or does not happen, you can claim a price reduction, which in some cases means a full refund, paid within 14 days.

Citizens Advice also suggests getting any guarantee in writing, checking that it covers both materials and workmanship, and asking whether it is insurance-backed, so it can still be honoured if the trader goes out of business.

08The 14-day cooling-off period for work agreed at home

If you arranged work over the phone, online or away from the business's premises, including at your home, Citizens Advice explains that you have a cooling-off period of at least 14 days. It begins the day after you give the go-ahead for the work.

If the trader did not give you information on how to cancel, the cooling-off period is extended by 14 days from the date you receive it, up to a maximum of one year. If you asked for work to start during the cooling-off period and then cancel, you may have to pay for the part already done. If the builder started without your approval, you keep the right to a full refund.

There are exceptions. You do not automatically get a cooling-off period for items made to measure, such as windows or a conservatory, or when you invite a business into your home for urgent repairs, for example a plumber to fix a burst pipe. Report Fraud notes that bogus doorstep traders offer none of these rights.

09Paying by card: chargeback and section 75

How you pay decides how you can get money back. Citizens Advice explains that if you pay by credit card for work costing between £100.01 and £30,000, you can make a section 75 claim against the card provider if something goes wrong, and this includes a deposit paid on the card.

With a debit card, you can ask your bank to use the chargeback scheme. If you paid by cash or bank transfer, neither chargeback nor section 75 is available. Citizens Advice also says to avoid a trader who only accepts cash or wants everything up front, because it can be a sign they are dishonest or unreliable.

Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov suggests putting at least the deposit on a credit card where possible, since a deposit paid that way is covered by a section 75 claim if the builder never comes back.

10Zavialov's steps when a builder disappears with the deposit

A trader who works slowly or badly is in breach of contract, and that is a matter for a written complaint and, if needed, advice from Citizens Advice. A trader who took deposits from several households, changed number and vanished may be committing fraud, and the steps are different.

Contact your bank straight away: 159 connects customers of more than 99 percent of UK retail current accounts to their own bank and cannot be spoofed. Then report the fraud to Report Fraud, which replaced Action Fraud on 4 December 2025, at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040.

Complaints about unfair trading go to Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133. Report Fraud also suggests warning your neighbours, to help prevent them from becoming victims. Keep messages, receipts, photos, the trader's number and the registration of any van.

11Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov's checklist before the first payment

Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov's checklist is short. You found the trader yourself, through a recommendation, TrustMark or a council list, and confirmed any membership on the scheme's website. You read reviews for dates and detail and spoke to at least one past customer.

You have a written quote, a contract with the work, timings, materials and payment stages, and information on how to cancel. Any deposit is no more than 25 percent, paid with a receipt and ideally on a credit card.

Each stage is checked before the next payment, defects are written down, and the final payment waits until the job is finished. It feels slow, but it leaves you with evidence if anything goes wrong.

12Questions and answers

How does Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov suggest checking tradesperson reviews?

Look at dates, job details and photos, check the reviewer profiles, and ask for recent customers you can phone and a finished job you can see.

How much deposit should I pay a builder?

Citizens Advice says not to pay everything up front, to keep any deposit as low as possible and not to agree to more than 25 percent, always with a receipt.

Can I cancel building work I agreed to at home?

Usually yes, within at least 14 days from the day after you gave the go-ahead. Made-to-measure items and urgent repairs you asked for are exceptions.

What does Zavialov say about paying by card?

A credit card payment for work costing between £100.01 and £30,000 can support a section 75 claim, including a deposit paid on the card.

Where do I report a rogue trader in the UK?

Report fraud to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040, call your bank on 159, and contact Trading Standards through Citizens Advice on 0808 223 1133.

Reference updated: 4 September 2026