paying tradesman cash,should i be worried
 

so im 2 & 1/2 years into owning my 1st house and i need to get the rear garden done so ive started to get a few landscapers around to give quotes.

i asked 1 company to give a cash price aswell as a normal price which he had no issues in doing but thinking about it will i be at risk if something were to go wrong either during or after the work.

im having alot done.....

shed base
oak sleeper wall
concrete base for hot tub (electrics being sorted through my dads electrician)
80 sq meter patio with aco drainage
bbq base etc etc

also should i be concerned if whoever i choose to do the work asks for cash up front (something im not keen on)

this is all new to me so any advice would be great. al;l of the compaines i have contacted have very good facebook/google reviews and have their own websites.

ive paid for small cash jobs but this lot will be around £10k so a little wary.
why dont you **** off and die somewhere,every reply you post is negative and usually hard to read. how many times must you be banned fawor before you get bored of being a useless waste of space.

100 million sperm and your the **** that makes it through.............

I pay cash whenever I can mate, I was being quoted 10k for my windows and doors to be replaced and I payed 6k cash and all registered with fensa last October.
Also just had a new boiler fitted and moved to another location in my house last month all registered properly and payed cash for that aswell.
I know what you are saying about handing over cash up front, I handed the window guy 3k up front.

i think im more concerned about any future issues i may have, i can imagine if i pay cash and there is no paper trail then he could just dent doing the work. i dont get the feeling that any of them are in any way untrustworthy and ive been following their work on facebook for quite some time.

As a sole trader I would take a cash deposit towards materials, more so for new customers.

Why don't you buy the materials, pay them weekly in cash. I wouldn't hand over £10k upfront to do the job unless you know the tradesman very very well.

I’m a landscaper myself. I always ask for half on start and the rest on completion, maybe three payments on a larger job like yours. Really that’s to cover me as much as the client. The first payment really only covers materials and a few days labour. Get a written quote and a receipt for anything paid, and make sure you get a good feel for whoever you choose. For most small businesses word of mouth is your main advert so knocking people doesn’t get you very far.

I would say exactly the same! Cash is fine as long as you have a receipt! Agree payment plan upfront and final payment on satisfactory completion!

Cash does suggest missing out the taxman whatever way you cut , i paid cash for roof never did get reciept

but they were highly recommended by next door ( who had theirs done at same time and ave lived here for ever )


id prefer people to use sum - up , cash is a pain

everybody gets an invoice

What BM said. However, 'cash' jobs that I have come across generally involve a small discount but no paperwork.

I've used a very good Landscaper to do loads of work for me in Rugby, he may travel to you in Hinckley? I've had him do fence/gate and fully landscape our rear garden with patio tiles, sleeper planter boarder, astro-turf etc. About £5k's worth, but paid via bank transfer not cash. He invoiced post work completion, no up front payment although i did supply the tiles.

Chaps name is Hugh. No website, he uses Facebook...
https://www.facebook.com/soundgroundsolutions/

If you pay cash it's an agreement you have no come backs.
what if you paid the £10k and they are gone. You're screwed

we paid £13k for our garden - recommended by a friend and wish I had used someone I had used in the past.

The payment side was great but the patio didn't even last 6 months. They had to redo all of the feathers on the fencing as it was done wrong and the grass is worse a year after then before they started.

We paid 10% upfront and then the rest after. Pay by credit card and then pay the credit card off if you can.

I wouldn't pay cash (legal or illegal) for any large amount.

Who is this guy? you need to chill out man.

He is a nobody mate, fawor's long lost half-brother me thinks

You may have trouble actually obtaining 10k in Cold Hard Cash - if you just march up the Counter in Barclays and ask for £10k in pound notes you're gonna get the 3rd degree on whats its for, where it came from, who's it going to etc etc.
Start taking it out now in smaller batches ;)

Never had a problem before, took out 12.5k without notice to buy my impreza a couple of years ago with no issues.
Will ring the bank and see what they say

Thanks for all the advice guys, some of the guys I've contacted have offered various different options like getting my own materials or getting the materials on their accounts and paying it off so I get their discount via my credit card.
another guy has said that as it's a 2 week job pay full whack for the 1st week so I can see the quality of his work then cash upon completion for the 2nd week.
still awaiting a couple of quotes and need to choose my hot tub aswell.

I would give them a schedule of works and pay them on completion of each task /stage and agree a penalty clause if its not done in good time to your satisfaction.
Do every communication by email.
Don't bother with cash, it's better by the book.
In my opinion.

Just got off the phone to my builder and then thought about this thread about cash upfront etc.

Well I owe him a bit of money as this coronavirus meant work stopped part way and I had been paying him every month as and when required (no cash upfront) and of course payments stopped mid-way...

....He doesn’t want the money! Happy to leave it owed for when he comes back (looks after his has elderly frail parents so is isolating). So I guess trust is a two way thing. I don’t like owing money but he’s insisting on refusing it.

So the upshot is I’d only pay upfront on materials on delivery preferably direct to the supplier, the rest is agreed as per a schedule. In my case it’s verbal (which of course carries a risk, but also means it’s more flexible).

Would only pay cash to someone I know or is well known in the local area as trusted. Anyone else, for such a large amount of money, no, simply down to having no real recourse. Have had two things done for cash in the last 5 years, a boiler costing £3k and the labour for fitting a kitchen costing something like £4k. I'm not happy with either of them. Going to have my roof redone next and that will be done the right way with all the paperwork!

If you are doing it, definitely don't pay the full amount up front. Labour will be a large portion of the price of the job, so why pay in advance?