Guaranteed Terms and Conditions

A Claim where Sub-Standard Work which has been undertaken by a Tradesperson so long as the Required Evidence is produced, the Eligibility Criteria is met and no Exclusions apply.

The Maximum Amount guaranteed per Claim under the Checkatrade Guarantee is £1,000.

For the purposes of the Checkatrade Guarantee the following terms shall have the following meanings:

“Claim” a claim made under the Checkatrade Guarantee having followed the Claim Procedure up to the Maximum Amount;

“Claim Procedure” as described in Section 4 below (How do I make a Claim?);

“Eligibility Criteria” as described in Section 3 below (Eligibility for the Checkatrade Guarantee);

“Exclusions" as described in Section 6 below (Exclusions & General Terms);

“Household” one person living alone; or a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same postal address who share cooking facilities and share a living room or sitting room or dining area;

“Maximum Amount” the maximum amount guaranteed per Claim is £1,000;

“Required Evidence” means as described in Section 4 below (How do I make a Claim?);

“Sub-Standard Work” the work that has either commenced or undertaken by the Tradesperson which is found to be sub-standard according to relevant standard industry practice determined by using an independent third party, where required;

“Tradesperson” means any trader who, at the time of first contact by the consumer, is a member of Checkatrade.

To make a Claim under the Checkatrade Guarantee, the following criteria must be met: • The Claim must be directly relating to Sub-Standard Work carried out by a Tradesperson. As set out below at Section 6 (Exclusions & General Terms), please note that a Claim cannot be made for lost deposits or where a Tradesperson absconds or goes out of business before commencing work, even where a deposit has been paid for such work in advance;

• The initial contact for the work with the Tradesperson must have been through the Checkatrade website or directory using either our "message" option; or “request a quote” option or by using the Checkatrade provided direct phone numbers for the Tradesperson in the directory or via our "call" option.

• The Sub-Standard Work must have commenced by the Tradesperson on or after 30 September 2021.

• You must have left a review of the Tradesperson on the Checkatrade website within 30 days of the Sub-Standard Work either being undertaken or completed (as applicable).

• The Claim must be made within 12 months of the Sub-Standard Work being undertaken.

• You must provide Checkatrade with the Required Evidence set out in Section 4 below (How do I make a Claim?) which adequately demonstrates the Sub-Standard Work, alongside details of your Claim.

• You must have followed the Checkatrade complaints process as set out below in Section 4 (How do I make a Claim?), including making the Tradesperson aware of your complaint and allowing the Tradesperson 7 days to resolve it.

• A maximum of one Claim per Household per 12 months can be made under the Checkatrade Guarantee. A full 12 months must have passed since any previous Claim has either been paid out to your Household or has been rejected by Checkatrade.

Step 1 - Contact the Tradesperson who carried out the Sub-Standard Work to raise your concerns.

• Explain your concerns and the reasons why you are not happy.

• Discuss what actions can be undertaken by the Tradesperson to rectify the situation.

• Allow the Tradesperson 7 days from the date of raising your concerns or agreeing what actions are to be undertaken (as applicable) to rectify the Sub-Standard Work or reimburse you for any costs incurred.

• Provide the Tradesperson with a final deadline date for the Tradesperson to resolve your concerns, notifying them that you will submit a Claim under the Checkatrade Guarantee after such date if a satisfactory conclusion has not been reached.

Step 2 - Leave a review on our website within 30 days of the Sub-Standard Work either being undertaken or completed - If you are unable to resolve your claim directly with the Tradesperson, please leave a review of the Tradesperson on Checkatrade here.

Please allow 7 days from submitting your review before proceeding with a Claim.

Step 3 – Submit your Claim by completing the claim form here. If you are unable to resolve your complaint directly with the Tradesperson or you are not satisfied with their rectification, please submit a Claim. Before starting your Claim:

1. Please check the Claim does not fall under one of the exclusions set out below in Section 6 (Exclusions & General Terms).

2. Please make sure you have the below information to hand to support your Claim:

• Estimates/invoices that clearly show the Tradesperson’s details, for example, the company they are trading under.

• Proof of when the Sub-Standard Work commenced.

• Proof of any payments made to date.

• Proof of address for where the Sub-Standard Work was carried out.

• Date stamped photographs clearly showing the Sub-Standard Work.

• Any records of correspondence with the Tradesperson, emails, texts, phone logs and letters, or logs of any phone calls or face-to-face conversations you have had with the Tradesperson, in particular, that show that you have raised your concerns with the Tradesperson and that you have followed Step 1 above.

Once you have checked the above, complete the Claim online and provide all information that you have available. The team at Checkatrade will:

• use our phone logs and website data to ensure that the job originated through a contact with the Tradesperson via Checkatrade;

• may contact you directly to request further information, if required; and

• use your Required Evidence to investigate your Claim potentially using an independent third party surveyor where we feel necessary to visit your property and review the workmanship of the Tradesperson.

Please note it is not possible to make a claim anonymously. We need to be able to talk to the Tradesperson about your Claim. All personal details and/or information given in relation to the Claim, or otherwise, must be truthful, accurate and in no way misleading.

A Claim under the Checkatrade Guarantee is not a substitute for any legal or insurance action that you may wish to take. Please check with your insurers and under any manufacturer or product warranties before claiming to ensure a pay out under this Guarantee does not prejudice your ability to bring a claim under your insurance.

Once the Claim has been fully assessed, we shall notify you of our decision within 2 working days from the date we have completed our assessment.

Checkatrade’s decision relating to payment shall be final.

The amount to be paid for any Claim to you shall be calculated having taken into account:

• the cost to rectify the work;

• the amount already paid to the Tradesperson and any outstanding balances still due or payments withheld;

• the Required Evidence provided; and

• where applicable, any recommendation made by our independent third party surveyors up to the Maximum Amount of £1000.

Payment will be made to the individual who made the Claim. You will be paid by BACS to an account nominated by you and in your name, within 14 days following confirmation by Checkatrade that the Claim has been approved.

Please note the following sorts of Claims shall not be covered under the Checkatrade Guarantee:

• where the Tradesperson fails to complete the work due to the Tradesperson going into liquidation, insolvent, or becoming bankrupt;

• where there is damage done to property at a different place from the location of the agreed works. For example, the Tradesperson scrapes an external wall with their vehicle or damages a carpet on the way down from carrying out the agreed works upstairs;

• where the Sub-Standard Work has been sufficiently rectified by the Tradesperson, or where costs have been sufficiently reimbursed by the Tradesperson or the Tradesperson’s guarantee or insurance;

• where the Sub-Standard Work has been sufficiently rectified by you or another tradesperson and we are, therefore, no longer able to assess the Sub-Standard Work at the time of your Claim assessment;

• where the Tradesperson absconds or goes out of business before the work commences, even where a deposit has been paid in advance;

• any amount paid for VAT on the work;

• Any losses or damages arising out of:

       o interruption of business, loss of market, loss of income, earnings and/or loss of use (i.e. losses that occur as a consequence of the Sub-Standard Work);

       o theft by the Tradesperson or occurring subsequently as a result of the Sub-Standard Work;

       o damage suffered by any third party;

       o the acts or omissions of you or any third party;

       o the negligence or misconduct of any third party;

       o any losses already covered under a manufacturer or a product warranty;

       o pre-existing damages or conditions of the item or property subject to the Sub-Standard Work, or otherwise;

       o trip/travel charges of any tradesperson;

       o diagnostic fees to assess the damage;

       o responsiveness of the business, or cancellations;

       o items supplied by you or due to your recommendations (e.g. you want to use a certain type of paint, fixture or fitting, and the Tradesperson recommends against it but you require them to proceed anyway);

       o ordinary wear and tear; and

       o sentimental and/or undocumented intangible value.

If you have breached these terms and conditions of the Checkatrade Guarantee, Checkatrade may exclude you from participating in the Checkatrade Guarantee if the breach is material in Checkatrade's reasonable opinion.

Checkatrade may amend, change or alter these Terms and Conditions at any time Any new amended version of the Terms and Conditions shall be applied to all Claims made on or after the date of the new version. Where the Claim is made before the date of the new version, the previous Term and Conditions will apply. Please click here to see the previous versions. Checkatrade may terminate or withdraw the Checkatrade Guarantee at any time for any reason. If reasonably possible to do so, Checkatrade will progress with any Claims already submitted to Checkatrade.

These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by English law, and the parties submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

To submit a Claim through the Checkatrade Guarantee, personal data will be collected for the purpose of assessing and investigating the Claim. The following personal data might be collected, retained and processed for the purpose of establishing the eligibility of a Claim:

• Full name,

• contact information,

• proof of address,

• estimates or invoices relating to the work,

• proof of payment,

• photographs and video recordings, and

• records of correspondence or communications with the Tradesperson.

In some instances, Checkatrade will share personal data provided for the purpose of instructing third party surveyors to carry out an assessment. The data will be shared via a secure transfer method and will only be retained by the service providers for the purpose of providing this service.

Checkatrade will retain the provided personal data in line with our customer retention policy along with other personal data provided such as reviews. Detailed information on the processing of personal data can be found in the Privacy Notice on the Checkatrade website. By submitting a Claim, customers acknowledge that their information may be used by Checkatrade and applicable third parties to investigate and administer the Checkatrade Guarantee. Checkatrade may contact customers who enter a Claim by email, post, phone, SMS or other means in relation to the Checkatrade Guarantee, but will not send customers any marketing communication unless customers have agreed to this or Checkatrade has another lawful basis for the communication.