How to protect deposit?

[pinkpedi]

I'm having some work done in my house, booked in for mid Jan.
the builder has requested £1k deposit bank transfer and then 3k in cash first week and second week and then rest on completion. The job will take 3 wks.
mostly sounds reasonable apart from ...
how do I know he won't run off with my deposit? I don't want to annoy him but so many builders just ghost nowadays... he is the 7th one I've contacted. He was a recommendation but person who recommended him initially hired him through a design company.
Also cash payments, that sounds annoying and will be difficult to arrange. Not to mention probably tax dodging!

Woah are you being serious

he only accepts cash payments?

This is just what he has said to me today after I messaged to confirm he is definitely going to start.

Well then back away
fast

I'm more concerned about safety of my deposit.
I can address the cash payments another time

Yes op that is my point

anyone demanding cash only is going to be sketchy

I can address the cash payments another time

huh?

If he wants to be paid in cash then he's dodgy. Don't employ him

1. A cash deposit to him is NOT protected or traceable. He could very well be a conman.
2. If he’s not a conman, he’s not paying taxes, and is one of the people responsible for the budget shortfall. Labour have gone after people earning £45k to fill this shortfall. Busy builders earn way more than £45k. Do you think it’s fair that he doesn’t pay any tax, and that people earning less than him are covering his share?

Avoid. No way would I be handing over cash for a job that hasn’t even started yet. Your gut is telling you something; you should listen to it.

I understand your comments, I'm not happy about it either tbh. His quote was reasonable and through a website rather than him just typing out, no mention of vat or vat number. I know his work is good
i won't pay him cash as it's too inconvenient and I want an invoice/reciept.
How do I respond to him, it is honestly exhausting trying to find anyone, and now I've started buying everything (bathroom fittings). I think I messed up because I was so eager to confirm he won't let me down I asked if he needed a deposit. Nothing about cash payments were ever mentioned before

“That doesn’t work for me”

Nothing about cash payments were ever mentioned before

which adds to the sketchiness

Sunk cost fallacy. Just because you’ve already bought some fittings, doesn’t mean you should start handing over thousands (in cash) before any work has started.

They aren’t sunk cost anyway because op will presumably use

Can you draw up a contract listing out the payment terms and have him sign his agreement? And if all does go wrong you take him to small claims court?

Say to him that you previously had a bad experience with a tradesman who took the deposit. Ask if instead you could purchase the paint / fittings / whatever yourself so that he isn't out of pocket.

We always do this, and it's never been taken badly.

Exactly. Don’t let the fixtures be a reason to start handing out cash. Hold out for a professional.

If you don’t pay him cash ( your choice ) he won’t do the job.
Or if you want an invoice and receipts he’ll add money on.
I agree btw.

I get that and that's exactly what he has done as I just messaged him.
His original quote had no mention of vat or vat number. Shall I mention this and query 20% more?
he's also asking if I want an invoice for deposit.
Does this mean quotes/invoices he is sending me is meaningless anyway?

Not necessarily sketchy or tax dodging, ask him for an invoice for each payment and pay by bank transfer.

Check his invoice has his VAT registration number on it, there’s a site you can use to check the number is genuine and yes, he’ll charge you the VAT to put it through his books which will be the 20%.

I had a big loft conversion done and paid my builder in cash. I just got receipts off him. I paid him every week and he did a brilliant job.

i live in Spain now and pretty much everyone works cash in hand (they hate paying tax and the self employed especially get taxed a lot). Even the lawyer doing my will wanted cash. If you don’t pay cash here you won’t get the work done.

He may not be vat registered because may not reach the minimum threshold before it’s a requirement

however even if he isn’t, his request for cash only is sketchy.

op… avoid.

I’m presuming the op would have clarified not in the Uk!

Not everyone is VAT registered. If you supply all the materials their turnover is kept to labour only so the amount of work they can do before hitting the threshold to be VAT registered goes much further.

If you are supplying materials I would question what the deposit is for. When you start at a new job you don’t get paid in advance so why should you be expected to pay a tradesperson up front for their time.

Cash, absolutely not but doesn’t automatically mean no receipt. At the end of the day it’s not for you to verify if a receipt is legal. You would have a paper trail which you can always pass on to HMRC later if the need arises.

You can’t address the cash later if you’re not going to pay him in cash. You need to get everything agreed upfront, including methods of payment so neither of you break your agreement.