ADVICE Know your rights in case things go wrong

Under the Consumer Rights Act, consumers who enter into a contract for goods and services can expect these to be supplied with reasonable care and skill. This applies to all traders.

It includes materials, too. They should be of satisfactory quality, as described and fit for purpose.

If you talk to the trader or installer, get it in writing as well.

Set a final deadline date:

Agree a date by which the work has to be completed.

If the trader or company doesn’t turn up for that, contact them again to agree a final completion date.

Make it clear that if they fail to meet that deadline, you will ask someone else to do it and you’ll be claiming back the costs from them.

Get estimates from other traders:

If you can, when requesting that a trader fixes their work, include estimates from other traders for the job.

This gives the trader a clear indication of how much you will claim from them if they don’t put the problem right.

If they are not cooperative, warn the trader that you’ll take them to court if necessary.

If resolving things amicably hasn’t worked, ask for the trader or company’s complaints procedure.

If they don’t have one, find out whether they are a member of a trade association, as there may be a dispute resolution scheme that you can use.

To use any resolution scheme, you’ll need to show that you’ve tried to resolve the issue with the trader first.

Traders and businesses aren’t required to be part of a dispute resolution scheme, but they are legally obliged to point you to an accredited scheme, and specify whether or not they’re willing to use one.