How to spot a dodgy roofer

Knowing how to spot a dodgy roofer comes up again and again in searches across Wisbech, Norwich and King's Lynn, and for good reason. Roofing is one of the trades where it's genuinely hard for a homeowner to check the work, because most of it happens above your head and out of sight. That makes it the trade cold callers and one-off cowboys target hardest. This guide covers the real warning signs, in the order they usually show up, so you can spot a problem before you've handed over any money.

The cold call or the knock at the door

"We were working on a roof nearby and noticed yours has a problem" is one of the oldest lines in the trade. Sometimes it's a coincidence. Far more often, nobody was working nearby at all, and the "problem" they've spotted from the pavement doesn't exist once you get someone qualified to actually look. A genuine local roofer builds a reputation through reviews and repeat work, not by driving around looking for roofs to knock on doors about.

Pressure to decide today

"This price is only good if you sign now" is a pressure tactic, not a genuine time-limited offer. Roofing materials don't change price by the hour, and a legitimate roofer wants you to be happy with the decision, not rushed into it. If someone won't let you sleep on a quote, or won't leave anything in writing for you to think over, that's a decision being made for you, not by you.

A firm price given without a proper look

A price for a full re-roof, or even a repair, quoted over the phone or from a glance at the roof from the ground, is a guess dressed up as a quote. Nobody can see the state of the timbers, the extent of a leak, or the exact area affected without getting up there. See our new roof cost guide for why access, pitch and what's underneath the covering all change the price. A dodgy roofer quotes fast because a low headline number gets the sale, and the real cost appears later as "extra work found."

Cash up front, no written quote

Asking for a deposit is normal in the trade. Asking for the whole job in cash, before any work starts, with no invoice, no company details and nothing written down, is not. A written quote should show the company's name, its Companies House number, an address, and exactly what work is included for the price. If none of that exists, there's nothing to hold anyone to if the work is poor or never finished.

No company you can actually check

Anyone can print a van sign or a business card. A limited company can be checked in seconds, free, on Companies House. If a "company" has no registration number, or the number given doesn't match the name on the van, that's a trading name with nothing legally behind it, which means nothing to chase if things go wrong.

No proof of insurance

Roofing work at height on someone's home carries real risk, to the roofer and to your property. Public liability insurance covers damage caused during the work. A genuine roofer will show you proof without being pushed on it. If someone brushes off the question or claims they "don't need it," walk away.

Scare tactics about dangerous tiles or ridges

"That ridge tile is about to come off and could kill someone" said from the pavement, before anyone has been up a ladder, is designed to frighten you into an instant yes. Genuine safety concerns are real and roofers do sometimes spot them, but a proper roofer explains what they've seen, shows you photographs, and gives you time to decide, rather than manufacturing urgency to close a sale on the spot.

No address, or an address that doesn't check out

A legitimate business has a registered address you can look up. If the only contact is a mobile number and no fixed address appears anywhere, on the van, the quote, or a search of the company name, there's no way to find them again once the van has driven off.

Refusing to let you keep photographs

A roofer who's genuinely found a problem is usually happy to show you, and to leave you with photographs as proof of what was found and what was done. Reluctance to document the work, or "you don't need to see up there," is a sign there might be nothing to see, or nothing that justifies the price being asked.

Vanishing after a deposit

This is the worst-case version of everything above. A deposit is taken, a start date is set, and the van never turns up again. It happens most often to people who paid cash to someone with no company number, no address and no written contract, because there was never anything to enforce.

What a good roofer does instead

• Gives a written quote with a fixed price, on company letterhead, with an address and a company number
• Inspects the roof properly, usually with photographs, before pricing anything
• Offers to show proof of public liability insurance without being asked twice
• Is happy for you to take time, get a second opinion, or get another quote
• Has reviews you can check independently, on Google or a trade body such as Checkatrade, not just on their own website
• Puts a workmanship guarantee in writing

A practical checklist before you agree anything

1. Check the company on Companies House by name and number
2. Ask to see public liability insurance
3. Get the quote in writing with a fixed price, not an estimate
4. Check independent reviews, not just testimonials on the company's own site
5. Ask what the workmanship guarantee covers and get it in writing
6. Take your time. A genuine quote doesn't expire at midnight

If you've already paid a dodgy roofer

If you've paid a deposit and the roofer has stopped answering, or you suspect you've been overcharged for work that wasn't needed, keep every text, email and receipt you have. Report it to your local Trading Standards service through Citizens Advice, and if the payment was by card, contact your bank about a chargeback. If work has already been carried out and you're unsure of its quality, get a second, independent roofer to inspect it, ideally with photographs, before any further work goes ahead. Don't pay a second tradesperson for a repeat of the same job until you understand what actually went wrong the first time.

Why roofing attracts this behaviour

Roofing sits above eye level and out of easy reach, which makes it one of the hardest trades for a homeowner to check for themselves. Most people can tell if a kitchen fitter has done a poor job by looking at the cupboards. Almost nobody can tell if a roofer has actually replaced a batten or just nailed a tile back over rotten wood, without climbing up there themselves. That gap between what's promised and what can easily be checked is exactly what a dishonest trader relies on, and it's why the trade gets more than its share of cold callers and one-visit cowboys compared with work that's easier for a customer to inspect directly.

How Swift Roofing does it differently

Swift Roofing is company number 14306056, based at 15 Regal Road, Wisbech, and every quote is written, fixed and backed by a 10 year workmanship guarantee. We carry £1,000,000 public liability insurance and we're a Checkatrade member, rated 10/10 from 79 reviews, alongside 4.9 on Google from 53 reviews and 132 verified reviews in total. Our free roof inspection, worth £199, always comes with photographs before we put a price on paper. If you're weighing up a quote from anyone, ours included, run it against the checklist above first.