FOUR men have been arrested on suspicion of rogue trading offences.

On Tuesday 15 July a man from Bishop’s Stortford in his 70s attended his bank and tried to withdraw £30,000 from his account. Bank staff checked the account and saw that £30,000 had already been withdrawn the previous week. Due to the large amounts the bank invoked the banking protocol and informed the police.

Officers attended the bank and upon investigation found that the man had agreed to having some minor roofing work done for a nominal fee, for which the price soon soared to £71,000. Officers judged that the amount quoted for the work was excessive, and arrested the tradesmen on suspicion of fraud by false representation.

They were:
A 36-year-old man from Bishop’s Stortford
A 33-year-old man from Roydon
A 33-year-old man from Roydon
A 53-year-old man from Roydon

All four were bailed whilst the investigation continues.

Detective Sergeant Anna Luxon, from the constabulary’s Serious Fraud and Cyber Unit, said: “I would urge people not to engage with services from traders calling at your home uninvited. If you feel you need work done to your home, it’s much safer to do some research and use a reputable tradesman, recommended by friends or family, or using the Trusted Traders site. It’s good practice to always get more than one quote as well to ensure you are getting value for money.

“If you suspect rogue trading may be taking place or that you may have been a victim, please report it to police straight away.”

Typically, rogue trading sees an individual or a group of people call at your door unannounced and offer to do work on your home or garden that will be either unnecessary or vastly over-priced, such as repairing tiles on your roof or removing a ‘dangerous’ tree from your front garden.
The constabulary offers the following advice:

Do not accept any services that are offered by people knocking on your door. Instead, find a reliable trader by using the Which? Trusted Traders website at https://trustedtraders.which.co.uk/ Which? works jointly with Hertfordshire Trading Standards to help find trustworthy, reputable traders who offer good customer service.

Be wary if a trader tries to increase the size or cost of the job once they have started work.

Don’t be rushed into a decision about having work done, take your time to speak to friends and family, get their opinion and get other traders to quote and give their opinions before going ahead with work.

Ensure you have a detailed written contract outlining the work to take place, how long it will take and the materials to be used.
Make sure that you know where the trader is based – traders are legally obliged to include their company’s address on contracts.
Know your rights in relation to cooling off periods and cancellation of contracts.