It has come to our attention that companies presenting themselves as professional operations are really merely job 'brokers,' in other words, they get the business via their website, and then farm it out to self employed contractors.
In itself this is not an issue providing the customer realises the situation and it is made clear that the sub contractor will be doing the work and will be taking the responsibility for the quality of work. If something goes wrong with a contractors work, who will put things right?
Some things to always ask when making a booking with any handyman service, or builder for that matter.
Do you employ the staff, or are they self employed?
Are they fully insured for public liability issues?, (we have £2,000.000 of PLI)
Are the staff uniformed, i.e. can they be easily identified when they arrive at your door?
Are the staff (or contractors) checked for criminal records (CRB checked)? This is a must do if someone is coming into your home. Ask them!
Do they ride clean, safe and fully insured company motorbikes or scooters?
Do they have proper office premises with call centre staff ready to take your call from morning to night? (If the number on the website is a single stand landline or a mobile number you should be concerned about the size of this operation. (It’s easy for ‘one man bands’ to hide behind a website.
Do they provide a free 0800 number for you to call?
Follow these steps and don’t afraid to ask the questions that will give you peace of mind when booking a handyman to come into your home.
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