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On Tuesday 21 January 2025, business journalist Adam Shaw was in Rip Off Britain HQ to reflect on the experiences of consumers who felt let down and out of pocket after using a leading trader recommendation site.

In our film, we showed how people had lost large sums of money to rogue traders found on the Checkatrade platform.

Carlos and Gemma wanted to upgrade their kitchen to make it more accessible. They paid £28,000 to a builder to demolish an existing conservatory and extend and fit a new kitchen.

But the builder vanished with their money without completing the work – forcing the couple to spend tens of thousands of pounds more for a different builder to complete it.

Checkatrade has since removed the original construction firm from its website and awarded the couple £1,000 in line with its Checkatrade Guarantee.

Checkatrade told us it was sorry for Carlos and Gemma’s experience, which it said is “extremely rare”. It said it had terminated their builder’s membership of the site and had supported the couple in making a guarantee claim.

It describes its vetting and protections are industry-leading and told us that out of three million jobs annually, only 0.03 per cent result in a guarantee claim.

Adam Shaw’s view

Checkatrade says it makes 12 checks. But Adam says not many of those checks are into the quality of the work or that these people turn up to do the job. And after all, when you get a builder or any tradesperson, what you want to really make sure that they'll turn up on time and they'll do the work.

Adam says that while the company says it checks customer reviews, you can do that yourself.

“It perhaps isn't all that you think it is at first glance and you should look carefully at any company’s small print about what the guarantee actually means,” he says.

“Customers who see the word ‘guaranteed’ on the Checkatrade adverts might assume that the quality of the work is guaranteed, and that is not completely accurate. The checks that Checkatrade undertakes are generally to confirm that the tradesperson has an ongoing registered business and has not previously been found guilty of major legal infringements.

“So be careful when you see the word ‘guaranteed’ and make sure you know what they are actually guaranteeing.”

In response, Checkatrade told Rip Off Britain it is wrong to imply that its checks are not robust and workmanship is not monitored.

It said its vetting “exceeds industry standards” and it uses consumer reviews to monitor tradespeople. It said that when a claim under its guarantee is made, its surveyors check workmanship and “robust vetting” has seen the company reject a record number of trades during the last year.

A growing problem

Concerns about trader recommendation sites are growing. In July 2024, the Competitions and Markets Authority announced that analysis of the conduct of these sites identified a number of concerns that had the potential to cause harm to consumers.

That has led to action by the CMA, which in November 2024 issued advice to the industry on how to make sure it complies with consumer law.

This includes ensuring that representations about traders are clear and accurate and are not misleading, and having the necessary procedures in place to ensure that the claims the traders make themselves within their own profiles are not misleading, either.

Tips on using trader recommendation sites

The Competition & Markets Authority has issued a range of recommendations about using trader recommendation sites.

1. Don’t rely solely on claims of ‘trustworthiness’ from the trader recommendation site
Many use terms like ‘trusted’, ‘reliable’, or ‘expert’ to describe their listed traders. However, it’s important to check exactly what the site does to verify these claims. There should be clear information on their website, but if you have any further questions contact the trader
recommendation site to ask about their vetting process.

2. Choose a trader recommendation site that verifies trader details
Some sites may only rely on traders’ self-reported information. To protect yourself, look for a site that goes beyond self-assessment and has an effective vetting process

3. Make sure the trader recommendation site has a strong complaints process
Before choosing a site to use, make sure it has a complaints procedure which appears to be easy to use. Look for details about how complaints are handled, including whether the process is straightforward and whether the trader recommendation site commits to a timely response to complaints.

4. Understand how the trader recommendation site monitors traders and sanctions poor performance
A site should continuously monitor the performance of listed traders. Look for sites that have systems in place to identify traders with poor performance, such as regular reviews of customer feedback or alerts for repeated complaints.

5. Be cautious about online reviews
If the trader recommendation site includes customer reviews, check what steps they take to make sure reviews are genuine. This could include checking to see if reviews are flagged as being from a verified customer or whether the site verifies reviews and has processes to remove fake or misleading feedback.

6. Compare traders before deciding
Don’t rush into selecting a trader based on the first recommendation you find. Review and compare several options, pay attention to important details like experience, qualifications, certifications and verified customer reviews.