BBCA 91-year-old man says he lost his life savings to rogue traders who came to repair a few loose tiles but ended up replacing the whole roof.
Allan, from Hornsea, East Yorkshire, said he was visited by builders after Storm Darragh last December, believing they would fix some minor damage.
Instead, he claims they put up scaffolding, replaced all of his tiles and gave him a bill for £31,680.
Humberside Police is investigating.
Allan said a passing window cleaner told him he had a loose slate in the days after Storm Darragh swept across East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
On Sunday 15 December, builders arrived and started putting up scaffolding.
Allan said he cannot remember whether he asked them to come, or whether it was a cold call.
“A ladder appeared, three people appeared and started stripping the roof, so I thought well they know what they are doing, and bit by bit all the slates disappeared,” he said.
“They were put on the back of a wagon, and then they drove away with them and came back and started putting new slabs on the roof, just like that.”
Allan said he was confused by the size of the job the roofers were doing, and that he had not asked for it.
“It was so overwhelming,” he explained. “Once it started there wasn’t anything I could do about it.”
Allan claimed no price for the work was mentioned, but once it was finished he was presented with a bill for £31,680.
“I think he knew how much money I had because I had a bank statement in there [the next room],” Allan said.
“It was all the money I had.”
Allan said the roofers told him that if he paid them upfront, he would be able to claim the work on insurance, but when he contacted his insurers NatWest Home Insurance, they said they could not cover the cost for remedial work that they had not signed off in advance.
A spokesperson for NatWest encouraged customers to contact them before agreeing for any repair work to be done, “so we can advise on their claim and validate any work that needs to be carried out”.
They added that they would be providing Allan with “ongoing additional support” after the scam.
‘It’s killing people’
The BBC has seen the quote and invoice, both dated 18 December, which Allan paid in full by cheque.
Dr Tim Day, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) lead officer for doorstep crime, scams and consumer vulnerability, said this type of scam represents 95% of his caseload – and often the mental toll on victims is far greater than the financial one.
He said that research by the Home Office in 2003 suggested older victims of rogue trader crime were two-and-a-half times more likely to have died or gone into residential care in the two years following an incident than those who had not been victimised.
“It is, unfortunately, robbing people of their independence and it’s no exaggeration to say, quite literally, it’s killing people,” he said.
He added that the market was “flooded” with rogue traders like the ones who targeted Allan.
Fraud is the most common crime type in the UK, amounting to around 40% of all crime in England and Wales, according to the government.
Dr Day said the government should bring in a compulsory national licensing scheme to make traders more accountable.
“Currently, you’ve got a situation where anyone can set themselves up, you don’t need any experience, or knowledge, or training, and they don’t need to be legitimate in any way.
“The trade that they represent, as is often the case at the moment, can purely be a means by which they perpetrate fraud.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said there was “no clear evidence that a licensing scheme would improve standards”.
They said the department supports the TrustMark scheme for helping people to find competent traders, and that local authorities would have new powers from April to allow for tougher fines against businesses that rip off customers.
Allan said he had accepted that he had lost his money, but when his family tried to call the roofers to try to get the scaffolding down, they did not respond.
The scaffolding was left on his property for more than two months before another builder offered to take it away for him.
Allan’s close friend, Fred Bree, said the extent to which he had been taken advantage of “beggars belief”.
“Allan is a very proud and independent man, he doesn’t seek help – but he’s vulnerable,” Mr Bree added.
Seeing similar scams
The local Trading Standards team at East Riding of Yorkshire Council said it saw similar scams “day in day out”.
The details for the firm on Allan’s invoice appear to match up with a company that was dissolved in 2022, according to Companies House.
The BBC has decided not to name the company for Allan’s safety.
Humberside Police said it was investigating a number of lines of inquiry.
Det Insp Mark Hawley added: “Those who choose to defraud and carry out such unscrupulous crimes against elderly and vulnerable people are a disgrace to our society.
“I would always encourage anyone who is suspicious that they, or someone they know, may be a victim of fraud to talk to someone about it. If it seems too good to be true, or you feel under pressure to make a quick decision, then that is a potential red flag that something isn’t right.”
Details of support with fraud are available at BBC Action Line.
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