Feeling frustrated and powerless after being let down by an unreliable tradesperson is something too many of us are used to.
Indeed, we hear constantly from our customers about how important it is that they trust those entering their homes and working around loved ones.
The financial scale of the problem is immense too. UK consumers lose around £1.4 billion each year to rogue tradespeople, with Checkatrade research revealing Londoners are most at risk.
As more people go online to find services, whether in an emergency or for home improvements, the potential for exploitation grows. That’s where solutions like ours come in.
Ensuring trust in digital platforms has never been more important, so I welcome theCompetition and Markets Authority (CMA) consultation on guidelines for traderrecommendation platforms as a clear and meaningful step in the right direction.
This proposes sensible requirements – for example, around vetting tradespeople and verifying reviews, which Checkatrade has been doing for years – but my concern is that the guidance does not extend to some of the main places consumers go to find help.
By excluding from scope major actors like Google and other search engines, as well as online marketplaces and review sites such as Trustpilot, which features feedback about tradespeople, the CMA risks undermining its efforts.
Checkatrade was created to protect consumers from unscrupulous opportunists. We have spent over 25 years ensuring only reputable professionals make it onto our platform.
Our vetting process, with tradespeople having to pass up to 12 checks, means we areturning away record numbers of potential members who try and fail to meet ourstandards. In the rare instances where something goes wrong, we offer aguarantee of up to £1,000 and help customers to resolve disputes.
This level of protection and transparency should be industry standard. The CMA’sproposed new guidance would raise the game for other platforms, saving Britishhouseholds money, stress and shoddy work. However, the plans don’t address thereality of how time-poor consumers search for tradespeople.
People often don’t start their hunt on dedicated platforms like Checkatrade. They turn to search engines where dishonest characters can easily slip through thecracks. These gateways to the internet can play a pivotal role in connectinghomeowners with services, yet appear conspicuously absent from the CMA’sframework.
By not holding Big Tech and generic review sites to the same standards as platforms like Checkatrade, the CMA risks creating a two-tiersystem - one where rogues can exploit loopholes to prey on unsuspectinghomeowners.
Imagine a scenario where a homeowner in urgent need types “plumber near me” into a research engine. They may be presented with a list of trades, many of whom havenot been vetted or had reviews verified like those on Checkatrade. Without thesame safeguards, such as a formal complaints process, the unsuspecting consumercould fall victim to a scam.
Furthermore, ambiguities in the CMA’s proposals could allow someplatforms to do just enough to avoid oversight, without truly safeguardingconsumers.
If the largest search engines and review sites can elude scrutiny, itsets a dangerous precedent, placing a heavier burden on homegrown platformslike Checkatrade that go above and beyond to protect their users, while leavinghomeowners vulnerable.
Consumers often cannot distinguish between platforms that offer full protection and those that don’t - and they shouldn’t have to. A comprehensive approach that captures all those we compete with would eliminate this confusion and ensure roguetraders have nowhere to hide.
The CMA has a unique opportunity to raise the bar across the entire industry.
By enforcing clear and consistent standards across all digital platforms- search engines, marketplaces, review sites and tradesperson recommendationplatforms alike - the CMA can ensure homeowners have access to skilled,reliable, trustworthy workers.
If the current proposals stand as they are, they could pose the unintended consequence of creating opportunities to exploit unsuspectingconsumers. In doing so, the CMA would fall short in its noble effort to fostertrust and safety in the digital marketplace.
At Checkatrade, we are proud to be a British success story that has built itsreputation on trust and transparency. In the week that the Government isbringing investors to our shores, a local brand that represents over 50,000trade businesses and facilitates billions of pounds of work for SMEs annuallyfaces oversight that would give a global behemoth an unfair advantage.
We believe in a level playing field, where all platforms are held to thesame high standards. Only then can we truly protect homeowners from the scourgeof rogue tradespeople and ensure that the internet remains a safe space forfinding trusted services.
I’m urging the CMA to reconsider its approach and ensure all onlineplatforms face the same rigorous standards.
Failure to do so will embolden rogue tradespeople and leave homeownersmore vulnerable than ever.
Jambu Palaniappan is CEO Checkatrade
