Guaranteed Terms and Conditions

A Claim for an amount up to the Maximum Value for Sub-Standard Work completed by a Tradesperson so long as the Required Evidence is produced, the Eligibility Criteria is met and no Exclusions apply.

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 Value;

“Claim Procedure” as described in paragraph below 4;

“Eligibility Criteria” as described in paragraph 3 below;

“Exclusions" as described in paragraph 6 below;

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

“Required Evidence” means as described in paragraph 4;

“Sub-Standard Work” the work provided by the Tradesperson is found to be sub-standard according to relevant standard industry practice as determined by Checkatrade using an independent third party where required;

“Tradesperson” any trader who at the time of first contact by the consumer is a full member of Checkatrade and who is displaying the Checkatrade Guaranteed badge next to their name.

To make a Claim under the Checkatrade guarantee relating to Sub-Standard Work the following criteria must be complied with:

• The Claim must be directly relating to Sub-Standard Work carried out by a Tradesperson.
• The initial contact for the work with the Tradesperson must have been booked through the Checkatrade website or by using the Checkatrade provided direct phone numbers for the Tradesperson.
• The Sub-Standard Work must have been undertaken by the Tradesperson on or after 30th September 2021.
• You must have left a review (positive or negative) of the Tradesperson on the Checkatrade website within 30 days of the Sub-Standard work either being undertaken or the works having been completed.
• The Claim must be made within 12 months of the Sub-Standard Work being undertaken.
• You must provide the Required Evidence which adequately demonstrates the Sub-Standard Work.
• You must have followed the Checkatrade complaints process, including making the Tradesperson aware of the complaint and allowing time for a resolution.
• 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.
• All decisions regarding your eligibility and any payments made to you by Checkatrade under the Checkatrade guarantee are made in Checkatrade’s absolute and sole discretion, having undertaken reasonable investigation.

Step 1 - Contact the Tradesperson who carried out the Sub-Standard Work to go through any concerns.

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

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

• Allow the Tradesperson the opportunity to rectify the Sub-Standard Work or reimburse you for any costs incurred.

• Set a final deadline date for the Tradesperson to resolve (usually 7 days) notifying them that you will submit a Claim on the Checkatrade guarantee after that date if a satisfactory conclusion has not been reached.

Step 2 - Leave a negative review on our website - If you are unable to resolve your claim directly with the Tradesperson, please submit a complaint by leaving a negative review at https://www.checkatrade.com/give-feedback

**Step 3 – Submit your claim by Completing the claim form. **

Before starting your claim:

1. Please check the claim does not fall under one of the exclusions in section 6 of our terms and conditions.
2. Please make sure you have the below information (where possible) to hand to support your claim.

• Estimates/invoices that clearly show the Tradesperson’s details

• Proof of when the sub-standard work was undertaken.

• Proof of any payments made to date.

• Proof of address where the work was carried out.

• Date stamped photographs clearly showing the sub-standard work.

• Record of any correspondence with the Tradesperson, emails, texts, phone logs and letters.

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 Tradesperson review and Required Evidence to investigate your claim potentially using a 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.

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 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.

Checkatrade’s decision relating to payment shall be final and shall not be subject to appeal.

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 Value.

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.

Payment shall exclude VAT.

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

• where the Sub-Standard Work has been sufficiently rectified or costs have been sufficiently reimbursed by the Tradesperson;

• where the Tradesperson absconds or goes out of business before the work commences;

• 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. Just for example, the Tradesperson scrapes an external wall with their vehicle or they damage a carpet on the way down from carrying out the agreed works upstairs;

• any amount paid for VAT on the work;

• Any losses or damages arising out of:

  • any temporary fix, which is where the Tradesperson has only provided a temporary solution to an issue and further services are required to provide permanent or long-lasting effects;
  • interruption of business, loss of market, loss of income and/or loss of use;
  • theft;
  • damage suffered by any third party;
  • the acts or omissions of you or any third party;
  • the negligence or misconduct of any third party;
  • any losses already covered under a manufacturer or a product warranty;
  • pre-existing damages or conditions of the item or property;
  • add-on or future services;
  • trip charges;
  • diagnostic fees;
  • dissatisfaction with price; responsiveness of the business, or cancellations;
  • 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);
  • ordinary wear and tear; and
  • sentimental and/or undocumented intangible value.

If there is any reason to believe that there has been a breach of the terms and conditions of the Checkatrade Guarantee, Checkatrade may, at its sole discretion, exclude you from participating in the Checkatrade Guarantee.

Checkatrade reserves the right to hold void, suspend, cancel, or amend any Claim under the Checkatrade Guarantee where it becomes necessary to do so at it’s sole discretion.

Checkatrade may without notice amend, change or alter these terms at any time including terminate or withdraw the Checkatrade Guarantee at any time for any reason.

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 to 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.