20
AUGUST 2015 PRO INSTALLER
PRO NEWS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
ESSENTIAL
GUIDE TO...
Don’t miss Pro Installer’s new
special quarterly supplements.
Packed with information and advice,
each supplement brings you an insight
into the latest products and services.
ESSENTIAL
GUIDE TO...
ISSUE 01 SUMMER ‘15
All Doors
A Nu-Era
4
6
11
Sapa Building System
Safedoors
DDG Windows
Time Savings
Offering
Helping Your
Business Grow
A First For
Everything
Sapa Building System
Safedoors
DDG Windows
4
6
11
Offering
Time Savings
Business Grow
Helping Your
12
Everything
A First For
COMING SOON... The essential
guide to installer support.
Find it in the October issue of
Pro Installer and the November
issue of Clearview.
Contact Steve for more details
on 01226 321 450 12
All Doors
GUIDE TO...
ESSENTIAL
A Nu-Era
ISSUE 01 SUMMER ‘15
TACKLING
‘COWBOY’
TRADESMEN
A new scheme to tackle “cowboy” builders and reduce
issues with problem customers is appealing for more
tradespeople to sign up so it can refer public enquiries
for home improvements work to its new members.
Over the next few months, this
column will discuss the scheme
and aim to address issues affecting
tradespeople such as deposit protection, explaining the concept to
potential customers, vetting procedures for members, dispute resolution, referrals from the scheme, how
membership can boost credibility
and increase business levels/pricing
power.
The Home Improvements Guarantee
(HIG) scheme, which currently has about
350 members, is the brainchild of Harvey
Ellingham, a former electrical engineer, who
devised what he describes as a “virtually
foolproof template” for agreements between
customers and tradespeople for building
works after his parents were ripped off for
£23,000 by rogue builders.
Ellingham has devised a scheme that
protects both customers and tradespeople,
and provides peace of mind to worried consumers who don’t know how to source or
structure any types of building work.
‘The scheme is as much for
the benefit of tradesmen
as for the consumers’
A key feature is a regulated “holding account” into which the customer pays money
for each stage of the work, and only releases the funds when that part of the job has
been completed to their satisfaction.
This has the added bonus of showing the
tradesperson that the customer does indeed
have the money to pay for the work they
have commissioned.
“Both parties can draw comfort from this
feature” he says. “The scheme is as much
Harvey Ellingham, founder of the Home
Improvement Guarantee Scheme
for the benefit of tradespeople as for the
consumers”.
Any extras are signed off along the way
by the customer and money for the extras
is also paid into the account – once again
released when the extras have been completed.
The scheme, which has the backing of
Trading Standards, also “guarantees” any deposit paid by the customer to the tradesperson, so that contractors still get important
money up front that aids their cash flow
and consumers have the reassurance that
this money is protected.
Finally, the scheme carries an insurance-backed guarantee that effectively
guarantees the tradespeople’s guarantee. So,
if a building firm goes bust, for example,
the customer does not lose out even if the
things begin to go wrong with the work
that was carried out.
“This is a great selling point for builders
and contractors because by joining the
scheme they are displaying the fact they are
transparent and committed to best practice” says Ellingham. “It also shows that the
tradesperson is prepared to stand by the
quality of their work.”
For more information visit www.
homeimprovementsguarantee.co.uk
Pick up the PRO Installer, FREE, from
one of over 600 trade counters.