To feel iffy about giving builder 50% deposit before they start work?

[Missnearlyvintage]

We have picked some tradespeople to do about £2000 worth of building work for us.

We received their quote, and booked them to start next week, but the terms on the quote are that we pay a 50% deposit before work starts.
The quote has a description of the works but is not itemised so I cannot see how much the materials will cost.

I didn't really pay attention to this when I accepted the quote (I should've I know!), but am now becoming increasingly concerned about it - we haven't paid anything to them yet.

I've never paid a tradesperson a deposit for work before it commences before - we have always paid in full when the work is complete and satisfactory.

We have not signed a contract regarding the work or the deposit.

AIBU to be concerned about this, and is it reasonable to go back to the company and try to agree to pay in installments during the job or on completion instead?

I chose the company as they are trying to grow their business locally - they appear to have good reviews and are making partnerships with other local businesses I know. They have a fleet of their own work vehicles with their signage on them all etc. so I doubt ripping customer's off is their best interests, but I'm still nervous. I know their presence locally doesn't necessarily mean they'll do a good job on our project...

DH thinks I'm being too cautious, but we've been let down by cowboys before in one way or another and I don't want it happening again if we can help it.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Builders buy from trade,they get 30 days to pay.
If they can’t get credit from suppliers it’s for a reason

your 50% could become no more than a kind donation

If you're trying to imply that the builder could legally say "hey, thanks for the money" and bugger off without doing any work, that's totally wrong. If A says to B, "how much to do this job?" and B says "£2,000, 50% up front" and A says "great, here's £1000, off you go", no court in the land is going to agree that the £1000 was a gift. In fact, if the builder tried to treat it as such, they'd not only be liable in the civil courts, but they'd probably be guilty of the criminal offence of fraud as well.

That's not to say a contract is pointless, of course. Without one, you're subject to disagreements about exactly what is to be done and when, plus lots of other details. A shady builder COULD perhaps claim that you'd verbally agreed a start date six months in the future...

Builders merchants run lines of credit. If your builder needs materials and tools, he should be sufficiently financially robust to get them

This ^^

Paying for materials yourself and having them delivered doesn't always work, though. I tried that once with a decorator who demanded full payment when he turned up for the first day's work ... only to find he'd stolen most of it when he disappeared at lunchtime

Df has own business. Sole trader

He asks for 50% deposit which goes towards materials

He got his fingers burnt a few years ago. And ordered materialas after customer accepted quote

Then They changed their mind as found someone cheaper

So now - no deposit. No job

no court in the land is going to agree that the £1000 was a gift

You're right they wouldn't, but a lot depends on how the payment was made. If someone was unwise enough to pay in the often-requested cash, there'd be no way of proving the worker had ever had it

Probably my fault for putting it badly, but in using the word "gift" I was also thinking more of how a scammer would regard it and less of what it actually was

No. I’d be very wary indeed of any builder who can’t manage materials on a £2,000 job up front. Most recently spent £60,000 on single storey extension and loft conversion. The builder, not large, just him and 6 employees, took 3 stage payments, each one third of the way through and didn’t take the last 10% until 6 months after the job was done. Over the years we’ve spent considerably more on house renovations and it’s always been more or less the same arrangement.
Did you get several quotes?

“No deposit, no job”.

No job then, find another builder or it may be you getting your fingers burnt.