Elderly dad and possible rogue traders
Discussion
I live a couple of hours away from my elderly dad, who lives on his own. Despite me repeatedly warning him about not getting work done by tradesmen who knock on the door unsolicited (following an unfortunate tree pruning incident when he was royally ripped off), I’ve just heard from his neighbour that he’s now having work done on his guttering, fascias, soffits etc by some characters who came knocking. Anyway, he’s paid them some money - a few hundred, I believe - and some work has been done, although I can't vouch for the quality as I've not seen it. They’re apparently coming back on Wednesday to finish the job and get paid the balance.
He went up to his local Building Society yesterday to get the cash out and I understand that they wouldn’t let him take the money out without a VAT invoice, which from the descriptions of the workmen I’ve had from the neighbour, may not exactly be forthcoming. Not sure how the conversation went at the Building Society but I’ll give them a call to see what’s likely to have happened - I work in banking myself so appreciate they won’t go into specifics, but if they are looking out for their elderly customers on this way then I think that’s admirable. The neighbour, who’s a good guy who looks out for Dad for us when we're not there, spoke to the blokes as work was being done and is highly suspicious.
Anyway, I may be over-thinking things and jumping to the wrong conclusions about the situation here, and it may all be perfectly legit (ever the optimist, eh?). I’ve managed to arrange a day off to be there when they come back but any ideas as to how I should approach this? Obviously, if it’s all above board then they’ll be happy to provide an invoice and take a cheque as payment but if they are dodgy and things get nasty, then TBH I’ll be way out of my depth. I've got no experience in this sort of thing and normally go out of my way to avoid confrontation. I might be able to drag a friend along for a bit of moral support, although that’s far from likely, but does anyone think there’s any mileage in speaking to the non-emergency police number beforehand for some advice? My neighbour’s of the opinion that we should just ask them what he owes for the work done so far, pay them that and tell them to leave the rest for us to get sorted out by local, established tradesmen. Oh, and if any burly, respectable, helpful chaps in Coventry have a few hours free on Wednesday morning for a bit of support, then there’s a pint or 10 in it for you.
He went up to his local Building Society yesterday to get the cash out and I understand that they wouldn’t let him take the money out without a VAT invoice, which from the descriptions of the workmen I’ve had from the neighbour, may not exactly be forthcoming. Not sure how the conversation went at the Building Society but I’ll give them a call to see what’s likely to have happened - I work in banking myself so appreciate they won’t go into specifics, but if they are looking out for their elderly customers on this way then I think that’s admirable. The neighbour, who’s a good guy who looks out for Dad for us when we're not there, spoke to the blokes as work was being done and is highly suspicious.
Anyway, I may be over-thinking things and jumping to the wrong conclusions about the situation here, and it may all be perfectly legit (ever the optimist, eh?). I’ve managed to arrange a day off to be there when they come back but any ideas as to how I should approach this? Obviously, if it’s all above board then they’ll be happy to provide an invoice and take a cheque as payment but if they are dodgy and things get nasty, then TBH I’ll be way out of my depth. I've got no experience in this sort of thing and normally go out of my way to avoid confrontation. I might be able to drag a friend along for a bit of moral support, although that’s far from likely, but does anyone think there’s any mileage in speaking to the non-emergency police number beforehand for some advice? My neighbour’s of the opinion that we should just ask them what he owes for the work done so far, pay them that and tell them to leave the rest for us to get sorted out by local, established tradesmen. Oh, and if any burly, respectable, helpful chaps in Coventry have a few hours free on Wednesday morning for a bit of support, then there’s a pint or 10 in it for you.
Edited by Evil Monkey on Sunday 28th February 21:21
To stay within the law, I would call the local police (on the non emergency number as you said) to express your concerns. If you explain to them you have a genuine cause for concern regarding possible confrontation, I'm sure they'd be happy to attend the meeting to avoid any possible escalation... 
I'd drive round there and make sure i was there on wed and tell them to sling their hook. They will be in transit vans with a very important looking orange beacon on the roof; and rest their weary heads in caravans.
Is it time to seek power of attorney to stop him withdrawing money in future for people like this? (They will be back) (note I know nothing about that sort of thing but just wondering how you can stop him becoming a target)
Is it time to seek power of attorney to stop him withdrawing money in future for people like this? (They will be back) (note I know nothing about that sort of thing but just wondering how you can stop him becoming a target)
If they are travellers pay them and get rid , don't cause trouble and put it down to experience . You'll never win .
If you have no previous dealings with travellers you have no idea how much trouble they can cause , the cops won't be interested .
If they are just local cowboys acting like gypsys tell them to do one ,
If you have no previous dealings with travellers you have no idea how much trouble they can cause , the cops won't be interested .
If they are just local cowboys acting like gypsys tell them to do one ,
paulwirral said:
If they are travellers pay them and get rid , don't cause trouble and put it down to experience . You'll never win .
If you have no previous dealings with travellers you have no idea how much trouble they can cause , the cops won't be interested .
If they are just local cowboys acting like gypsys tell them to do one ,
this is good adviceIf you have no previous dealings with travellers you have no idea how much trouble they can cause , the cops won't be interested .
If they are just local cowboys acting like gypsys tell them to do one ,
paulwirral said:
If they are travellers pay them and get rid , don't cause trouble and put it down to experience . You'll never win .
If you have no previous dealings with travellers you have no idea how much trouble they can cause , the cops won't be interested .
If they are just local cowboys acting like gypsys tell them to do one ,
Best advice I've read on here for a long time.If you have no previous dealings with travellers you have no idea how much trouble they can cause , the cops won't be interested .
If they are just local cowboys acting like gypsys tell them to do one ,
Buster73 said:
paulwirral said:
If they are travellers pay them and get rid , don't cause trouble and put it down to experience . You'll never win .
If you have no previous dealings with travellers you have no idea how much trouble they can cause , the cops won't be interested .
If they are just local cowboys acting like gypsys tell them to do one ,
Best advice I've read on here for a long time.If you have no previous dealings with travellers you have no idea how much trouble they can cause , the cops won't be interested .
If they are just local cowboys acting like gypsys tell them to do one ,
Buster73 said:
paulwirral said:
If they are travellers pay them and get rid , don't cause trouble and put it down to experience . You'll never win .
If you have no previous dealings with travellers you have no idea how much trouble they can cause , the cops won't be interested .
If they are just local cowboys acting like gypsys tell them to do one ,
Best advice I've read on here for a long time.If you have no previous dealings with travellers you have no idea how much trouble they can cause , the cops won't be interested .
If they are just local cowboys acting like gypsys tell them to do one ,
If you're around Coventry it may well be the ones trading as A1 Plastics and A5 Roofing (same people I think), based in a traveller's site on the A5 (!) at Hinckley. They specialise in roofing, guttering, soffits etc. To be fair to them I know they've been around for some years and have done some reasonable work, at 'sensible' prices for a few friends - but they might struggle with any 'paperwork'.
CoolHands said:
Is it time to seek power of attorney to stop him withdrawing money in future for people like this? (They will be back) (note I know nothing about that sort of thing but just wondering how you can stop him becoming a target)
Power of attorney doesn't stop him doing stuff, it's his money, to do with as he wishes. All power of attorney does is allow you to deal with things on his behalf. Edited by PositronicRay on Monday 29th February 14:47
PositronicRay said:
Power of attorney does not stop him doing stuff, it's his money to as with as he wishes. All power of attorney does is allow you to deal with things on his behalf.
Very true, not much real use in this situation.If your father is getting a bit forgetful/careless with money, but generally uses just one bank account, it might be worth seeing if he would make it into a joint account requiring *both* signatures (I'm assuming that we're not talking about large value capital).
Robertj21a said:
PositronicRay said:
Power of attorney does not stop him doing stuff, it's his money to as with as he wishes. All power of attorney does is allow you to deal with things on his behalf.
Very true, not much real use in this situation.If your father is getting a bit forgetful/careless with money, but generally uses just one bank account, it might be worth seeing if he would make it into a joinrt account requiring *both* signatures (I'm assuming that we're not talking about large value capital).
I broadly agree with what has been said but for balance will give the other argument.
Often children of parents leave home and move miles away and eventually when seeing inheritance in sight start watching how parents spend their money. It's your dads money and he can spend it as he sees fit and doesn't probably want to ask you for permission to spend his money.
If he is retired and at home all day then seeing some workmen and having his house done up will probably give him some joy and he may not care about price (to a degree) and just wants the job doing.
It is also tough for tradesmen, they may (shock horror) have been knocking on doors trying to build up their business and be genuine and you turning up with some 'burly men' to challenge them may get their backs up.
If your dad is genuinely mentally ill and very frail then consider applying to get a power of attorney for his financial affairs so that you have control of his finances - suggest that to him but he may well tell you to do one and stop interfering.
Again, not my view, but playing devils advocate, how would you like it if he told you to stop spending your money on cars, beer etc....
Often children of parents leave home and move miles away and eventually when seeing inheritance in sight start watching how parents spend their money. It's your dads money and he can spend it as he sees fit and doesn't probably want to ask you for permission to spend his money.
If he is retired and at home all day then seeing some workmen and having his house done up will probably give him some joy and he may not care about price (to a degree) and just wants the job doing.
It is also tough for tradesmen, they may (shock horror) have been knocking on doors trying to build up their business and be genuine and you turning up with some 'burly men' to challenge them may get their backs up.
If your dad is genuinely mentally ill and very frail then consider applying to get a power of attorney for his financial affairs so that you have control of his finances - suggest that to him but he may well tell you to do one and stop interfering.
Again, not my view, but playing devils advocate, how would you like it if he told you to stop spending your money on cars, beer etc....
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