Debt management may be needed as Britons count cost of cowboy traders

Many Britons could find they need debt management after having to find the money suddenly to deal with problems arising from rogue builders and other tradespersons.

A study by Sainsbury's Finance has revealed Britons had to find £737 million to sort out such botched jobs in the last five years.

Such poor workmanship has caused problems for 6.2 million people over that time.

An average of £2,077 was paid to unregulated tradespersons per job in this time, with the typical cost of rectifying the shortcomings in the work done being £600.

Poor workmanship could lead to some people getting into debt as they have to find cash suddenly to deal with leaks or structural collapses.

Head of Sainsbury's Home Insurance Ben Tyte said many people let such unregulated traders loose on their homes in a bid to save money compared with properly registered and trained tradesmen who would cost more, but end up with a bigger overall bill in the end due to the need to put right things that have gone wrong.

"In these challenging economic times, it's understandable that people want to cut back on costs but where work to the home is concerned it's just not worth the risk," he stated.

Research by Sainsbury's found that around a third of householders checked and compared quotes, while just five per cent asked for evidence that the traders were accredited with the government's TrustMark standards agency.

In March this year, a study by Santander found that the average botched job cost the unfortunate householder £1,592 to put right, with 37 per cent having to foot the bill themselves.

By Joe White