Consumer insight from home services marketplace Plentific. com has found that four out of five( 79 per cent) of UK homeowners do not ask to see evidence of VAT credentials when hiring a tradesman. Despite growing more wary of cowboy tradesmen, the majority of UK homeowners do not check their tradesman’ s VAT credentials. The HMRC estimates that £ 3.4 billion * is uncollected every year from VAT fraud. Whilst it is legal for a tradesman to not be VAT registered when earning under £ 83,000 per annum, there are some that claim to be VAT registered so that they can charge customers higher prices.

Although the VAT charge can appear on the bill, if the trade professional is not upfront with their credentials, they can keep the 20 % fee. Consequently, the homeowner is overcharged while participating in VAT fraud.

Plentific’ s survey found that homeowners aged 18-34 are twice as likely( 41 %) to ask to see their trade professional’ s VAT credentials when compared to the UK’ s average. Perhaps this generation are more

cost-conscious and inclined to negotiate the final price. Londoners too are cautious with 37 % asking for evidence. This may be a result of the higher prices for London services, causing the homeowners to be wary of additional expenses. Nottingham, on the other hand, appears to care the least, as only 12 % said they would ask to see the VAT credentials. Despite the varied results across the UK, however,

the majority of homeowners do not ask to see evidence of a trade professional’ s VAT credentials. While it is not imperative to confirm a trade professional’ s VAT number or even to hire a registered specialist, homeowners are more likely to get a better deal if they are registered. Stephen Jury, spokesperson for Plentific, said:“ Homeowners are very cost-conscious. However, according to our research,

they’ re unaware that they could be paying too much for their home improvements. By simply asking for a pro’ s VAT number and instantly confirming this online, you know you’ re not being overcharged.“ As part of the Plentific verification process, we confirm VAT credentials to ensure our listed trade professionals are not acting against the law or overcharging our customers.”

Wellingborough-based trade fabricator Astraseal has expanded its conservatory package with the addition of the Stratus Thermal Lantern Roof. The Stratus is the latest conservatory roof offering from Synseal, and delivers both best-in-class thermal performance and sleek, stylish looks with its thermally-broken ridge, rafters and eaves beams, and discrete, custom-designed radius end caps. The system provides up to 65 % better thermal efficiency than standard aluminium roof systems, and comes available in sizes up to 2m by 6m with a 20˚ pitch.“ The Stratus is exactly the kind of product the market is crying out for,” commented Zac Nedimovic, Astraseal marketing manager.“ Over the past five years, we’ ve seen consumers become increasingly demanding – they’ re very willing to spend, but they want a lot more for their money than was once the case. The Stratus roof is the perfect example of a product that excels in all areas –

delivering extremely fashionable aluminium aesthetics and fantastic thermal performance, while still coming in at a competitive price. As such, we’ re predicting it will be a runaway success – and help our trade clients secure a lot of new business.” Astraseal’ s conservatories package has won respect throughout the industry, for reasons such as its commitment to pre-fabricating each and every roofing product it

sells on-site, to ensure all components fit together perfectly before dispatching it to the customer. Zac added:“ We’ d be delighted to hear from any installers looking to learn more about our conservatories offering, or taking the first steps to becoming an Astraseal customer.”

For more information, call Astraseal on 01933 227233 or visit www. astraseal. co. uk

VEKA fabricator Modplan is celebrating a successful two decades in partnership with The VEKA UK Group. To celebrate this longstanding relationship, The VEKA UK Group delivered two bottles of champagne and celebratory cupcakes for all the staff. Heidi Sachs, director at Modplan, said:“ We’ ve always been committed to quality, and that’ s why The VEKA UK Group has been such a fitting partner for so long. The products are second to none and the systems are backed up with a

host of additional support services.” Dave Jones, managing director of The VEKA UK Group, congratulated Modplan on the company’ s ongoing success.“ It’ s always great to see that our customers are thriving. Modplan is a great example of a fabricator that takes advantage of all the additional support services we offer in order to grow their business. I’ d like to thank Modplan for the years of loyal custom and we look forward to working with the team for many more years to come.”