Checking out companies you work with

[Imran-vx]

Business/personal overlap


I routinely check out companies I intend to spend any real money with by getting accounts etc with a webcheck from companies house. Usually I just want to know that they have been trading successfully for a while, and that the picture they are representing to me as a sizeable business or smaller trader are accurate and that they are VAT registered (and not just charging VAT!). The web check just tells me that they have been about for a bit and gives me an idea of their size and that they probably won't go bust with my money ( probaly bing cautiously used!). I also usually google earth their business address to see if it is commercial or domestic.

I am about to spend £3k with a flooring contractor but can't find a companies house entry for them. I will ask him for VAT and companies house numbers once qwe get an agreed price but there is an 0800 telephone number, his email is a [e-mail] and the addresss seems to be domestic.

Any ideas on what other checks I can make?

[wattsm666]

Do you know the principals name, you can carry out a search by Director name, which may throw the Company up. Alternatively he may be a sole trader/partnership in which case you won't get anything. Places like Experian may be able to help for a credit check.

If you pay by credit card you should be okay though!

[JustinP1]

Imran-vx said:

Business/personal overlap


I routinely check out companies I intend to spend any real money with by getting accounts etc with a webcheck from companies house. Usually I just want to know that they have been trading successfully for a while, and that the picture they are representing to me as a sizeable business or smaller trader are accurate and that they are VAT registered (and not just charging VAT!). The web check just tells me that they have been about for a bit and gives me an idea of their size and that they probably won't go bust with my money ( probaly bing cautiously used!). I also usually google earth their business address to see if it is commercial or domestic.

I am about to spend £3k with a flooring contractor but can't find a companies house entry for them. I will ask him for VAT and companies house numbers once qwe get an agreed price but there is an 0800 telephone number, his email is a [e-mail] and the addresss seems to be domestic.

Any ideas on what other checks I can make?

Are they definately a Limited company? If not, of course they wont be on the companies house webiste. If they say they are and they are not there though, then something fishy is going on - I am pretty certain it is an offence to say you are a Ltd company when you are not.

Your other option is the traditional one. Don't pay for the work until it is completed. If you state this from the outset, no legitimate company will refuse this. Whether you pay a nominal or not so nominal sum for the raw materials or work in progess this is debatable, as this can be disappeared with.

As others have said though, pay with your credit card, and if they don't accept them your CC company can issue you a 'convenience' chequebook. It may cost you 2% to issue the cheque but it gives you some important rights. That is under the Consumer Credit Act, the service provider and the credit company have an equal responsibility for the work. Thus if you needed to take action against the fitter and they went bust or didn't pay you could chase the credit card company, who legally would have to refund you if the work was defective in the eyes of the Sale of Goods Act.

[Imran-vx]

JustinP1 said:

Imran-vx said:

Business/personal overlap


I routinely check out companies I intend to spend any real money with by getting accounts etc with a webcheck from companies house. Usually I just want to know that they have been trading successfully for a while, and that the picture they are representing to me as a sizeable business or smaller trader are accurate and that they are VAT registered (and not just charging VAT!). The web check just tells me that they have been about for a bit and gives me an idea of their size and that they probably won't go bust with my money ( probaly bing cautiously used!). I also usually google earth their business address to see if it is commercial or domestic.

I am about to spend £3k with a flooring contractor but can't find a companies house entry for them. I will ask him for VAT and companies house numbers once qwe get an agreed price but there is an 0800 telephone number, his email is a [e-mail] and the addresss seems to be domestic.

Any ideas on what other checks I can make?

Are they definately a Limited company? If not, of course they wont be on the companies house webiste. If they say they are and they are not there though, then something fishy is going on - I am pretty certain it is an offence to say you are a Ltd company when you are not.

Your other option is the traditional one. Don't pay for the work until it is completed. If you state this from the outset, no legitimate company will refuse this. Whether you pay a nominal or not so nominal sum for the raw materials or work in progess this is debatable, as this can be disappeared with.

As others have said though, pay with your credit card, and if they don't accept them your CC company can issue you a 'convenience' chequebook. It may cost you 2% to issue the cheque but it gives you some important rights. That is under the Consumer Credit Act, the service provider and the credit company have an equal responsibility for the work. Thus if you needed to take action against the fitter and they went bust or didn't pay you could chase the credit card company, who legally would have to refund you if the work was defective in the eyes of the Sale of Goods Act.

Some of it is just about confidence. I have no problem with sole traders, especialy niche trades, I just don't want to splash £3k to find he does a crap job and then disappears or we get a problem, by which time he has moved house and splashed by cash on Aston Villa season tickets. I am guessing that most small trade companies such as joiners, plumbers etc don't take credit cards. His answer phone gives a slightly different company name from the one on the net (XXXXX construction rather than xxxxx flooring). I think I may just ask him about his status, VAT situation, number of staff, business location, length of trading etc.

The problm (advantage?) with t'internet is that my back bedroom business can be made to look like ICI when in fact it is just my weekend jobbie!

[JustinP1]

Imran-vx said:

JustinP1 said:

Imran-vx said:

Business/personal overlap


I routinely check out companies I intend to spend any real money with by getting accounts etc with a webcheck from companies house. Usually I just want to know that they have been trading successfully for a while, and that the picture they are representing to me as a sizeable business or smaller trader are accurate and that they are VAT registered (and not just charging VAT!). The web check just tells me that they have been about for a bit and gives me an idea of their size and that they probably won't go bust with my money ( probaly bing cautiously used!). I also usually google earth their business address to see if it is commercial or domestic.

I am about to spend £3k with a flooring contractor but can't find a companies house entry for them. I will ask him for VAT and companies house numbers once qwe get an agreed price but there is an 0800 telephone number, his email is a [e-mail] and the addresss seems to be domestic.

Any ideas on what other checks I can make?

Are they definately a Limited company? If not, of course they wont be on the companies house webiste. If they say they are and they are not there though, then something fishy is going on - I am pretty certain it is an offence to say you are a Ltd company when you are not.

Your other option is the traditional one. Don't pay for the work until it is completed. If you state this from the outset, no legitimate company will refuse this. Whether you pay a nominal or not so nominal sum for the raw materials or work in progess this is debatable, as this can be disappeared with.

As others have said though, pay with your credit card, and if they don't accept them your CC company can issue you a 'convenience' chequebook. It may cost you 2% to issue the cheque but it gives you some important rights. That is under the Consumer Credit Act, the service provider and the credit company have an equal responsibility for the work. Thus if you needed to take action against the fitter and they went bust or didn't pay you could chase the credit card company, who legally would have to refund you if the work was defective in the eyes of the Sale of Goods Act.

Some of it is just about confidence. I have no problem with sole traders, especialy niche trades, I just don't want to splash £3k to find he does a crap job and then disappears or we get a problem, by which time he has moved house and splashed by cash on Aston Villa season tickets. I am guessing that most small trade companies such as joiners, plumbers etc don't take credit cards. His answer phone gives a slightly different company name from the one on the net (XXXXX construction rather than xxxxx flooring). I think I may just ask him about his status, VAT situation, number of staff, business location, length of trading etc.

The problm (advantage?) with t'internet is that my back bedroom business can be made to look like ICI when in fact it is just my weekend jobbie!

Thats a good plan. There is nothing wrong with a small or even one-man business. There is everything wrong with that if that status us used to basically con people and becoming 'unreachable'.

Although they wouldnt take a credit card, a credit card 'convenience cheque' works in exactly the same way and looks exactly like a cheque apart from the fact it of course comes into your credit card account. It is just that added bit of protection for you.

I think there are 3 categories of 'tradesman' like this.

1) Dodgy - If you give them a £200 deposit, that will be the last you will see of it and disappear!

2) Excellent - Take pride in their reputation and even if you paid in full up front they would ensure you would be happy with the final product.

3) All the rest that are somewhere in between - Sometimes good, sometimes lazy. To get the best out of them you need to continually make it worth their while to complete the job. For example, if you have already paid 90% and you have a large list of snags, this group may choose just to ignore you or put you off in favour of more lucrative work.

Of course the dodgy guys you should leave well alone, and the 'Excellent' guys are hard to find. As a general rule with the rest though, as long as you hold the cards - in this case the money - then this should be adequate motivation to do a good job and get paid what they deserve. I personally have no problem with interim payments as a show of good faith on my part, but always so it will still cost them a lot more to 'leave' the job than complete it!