OFT Fines Are a Warning to Homeowners

Feb 2010

"Today's news about the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) fining 103 UK building companies £129.5m for rigging bids for contracts is proof that rogue traders are still at large within the UK and therefore homeowners should be cautious when selecting a tradesman for work around their home, as they risk being ripped off in a similar way," said Ian Chisholm, Chairman of TrustMark.

"Brits are prone to spending way over the odds as a result of rip-off traders and cowboy builders and in today's uncertain times businesses and homeowners alike should get smart and do their research first to save themselves time and money. Dishonest tradesmen are an annual £1.5billion problem for homeowners across the country - that's a whopping £17,123 every hour. The easiest way to avoid this kind of problem is use one of the thousands of reliable and trustworthy TrustMark tradesmen, whose work is regularly inspected on-site and who operate to Government Endorsed Standards."