Offer Accepted is a directory — we introduce buyers and tradespeople, we don't take payments between them. That keeps things simple, but it means a few habits worth knowing about.
Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, your credit-card provider is jointly liable with the trader for purchases between £100 and £30,000. If the work isn't done, is botched, or the company disappears, you can claim against the card.
Use a debit card or bank transfer and you give up that protection. For anything over £100, a credit card is materially safer.
A bank transfer is essentially cash — once it's gone, it's gone. Faster Payments are not reversible. Push-payment fraud is the biggest scam category in UK banking and it's exactly this scenario: trader gives you account details, you pay, they vanish.
If a tradesperson only takes bank transfer for a first job, that's a red flag. Most established firms accept card payments, BACS, or invoice + cheque for larger jobs.
For materials-heavy jobs (boilers, kitchens, full rewires) a deposit of 25-30% is normal — covers the trader's materials cost up front. Anyone asking for more than 50% upfront is either cash-flow stretched or running a scam. Walk away.
The balance is paid on completion, or in milestones agreed in writing before work starts. Never pay the full amount before the work is done.
Before work starts: written quote with scope, materials, labour, and total. After the work: itemised invoice with the same. This is your evidence if anything goes wrong — for a Section 75 claim, for trading standards, for a small-claims court if it really goes south.
A trader who won't put it in writing is one you don't want.
Don't take a tradesperson's word for it. Use the official register:
Ask for their public liability insurance certificate too. £2m minimum is standard.
First step is always the trader — give them a fair chance to put it right in writing. If that fails:
And email us at team@offeraccepted.co.uk — we don't take money but we keep records of every introduction we make, and that paperwork can support your case.
We're not a party to any contract between you and a tradesperson, nor to any payment. We don't see your invoices. We never ask for card details for work between you and a trader.
Tradespeople pay us a commission of 10% on completed work introduced through our platform — that comes out of their fee, not yours. The buyer-confirmed value lets us invoice them properly without taking a cut from your payment.
