TrustMark, the Government endorsed quality mark for tradesmen, is urging greater coordination between insurers, loss adjusters and local authorities to help flood victims find fully vetted and technically competent firms to repair homes and carry out flood resilience home improvements.
TrustMark has welcomed the Government’s £5,000 Repair and Renewal grant announced yesterday (20 February) to fund additional flood resilience or resistance measures for affected homes.
But it is also warning of the dangers of rogue traders who will be ready to exploit vulnerable homeowners, especially the elderly and also new homeowners without experience of finding good local tradesmen.
The new Repair and Renewal Grants will go live from 1 April and will provide financial support for households and businesses to contribute to work that improves a property’s ability to withstand future flooding. Administered by local authorities, grants of up to £5,000 will be paid to flooded homeowners and businesses for appropriate resilience measures such as waterproofing external walls, repointing walls with water-resistant mortars, new types of insulation, raising ovens, boilers and electrics well above flood levels, replacing floors and installing new types of kitchen units.
Liz Male, Chairman of TrustMark, says: “This grant is a very welcome support for those homes which have been so badly damaged and may face increasing flood risks in the future. But rogue traders will be the next wave of misery to hit these homeowners unless there is greater vigilance and more consistent advice on how to find good tradesmen.
“Too often insurers are encouraging policyholders to find their own local tradesmen for emergency repairs or longer-term reinstatement works. If cash settlements are to be made, don’t just leave homeowners at the mercy offindanyoldbuilder.com type websites or, worse still, the doorstep rogue traders.
“It is vital that the community of insurers, surveyors, councils and anyone supporting flood victims now consistently signpost to TrustMark. Here they will find reputable firms to do this work, tradesmen who are properly vetted, insured and working to the well-established Government-endorsed standards.”
TrustMark operates under licence from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and provides homeowners with advice and access to a database of more than 14,500 local vetted, inspected and insured tradesmen and firms through its website (www.trustmark.org.uk) and telephone helpline.
With over 21,000 licensed trades available, TrustMark is the only scheme that requires qualified inspectors to check every firm’s technical skills through on-site inspections. The number of searches for flood protection services has more than doubled since the bad weather - a 300% increase from the same period last year.