For most of us, the first few weeks in any new job are busy with things like working out where the toilets are, trying to remember a hundred new log-in passwords, or trying to suss out if it’s the sort of workplace where everyone goes to the pub on a Friday lunchtime or if that’s generally frowned upon. 

Which is why it was a huge surprise when, just over a month into his new role as Prime Minister, Andy Burnham turned his attention to the problem of consumer payment protection from so-called “cowboy tradespeople”, of all things. 

On August 28, the PM and his Government said it was planning to introduce a two-pronged crackdown on fraudsters in the renovation sector. One arm of this would be the introduction of a new Government-sanctioned deposit protection scheme called Trusted Payments, designed to allow consumers to hold funds for renovation work in a dedicated account. This money would then be securely released in increments as project milestones were met. 

The other half of this grand plan was the launch of a new government-backed Approved Code scheme to help people identify and hire trusted traders with confidence.

The Government clarified that despite it being a major change, the scheme should reinforce the work of the majority of tradespeople across the UK who work professionally, and help to “prevent them being undercut by rogue operators”.

On paper, most people would agree that the Government taking more of an interest in stopping fraud of this kind could only ever be a good thing. But some have questioned if the new measures will end up making life harder for the majority of legitimate tradespeople out there, doing nothing to “solve” the issue. Or worse, perhaps even tip the balance of trust in favour of crafty clients who could potentially abuse the system to withhold payments for completed work.

One-sided worries

That was just one potential pitfall identified last month by the British Institute of Fitted Interiors Specialists (BIFIS), who welcomed the Government’s vision, but also warned that the new system risked being “one-sided” unless they protected tradespeople from “delayed cashflow, unfair withholding of funds and additional administrative burden”.

Responding to the new plans, BIFIS CEO Damian Walters said: “Rogue traders cause real harm, and they also undermine the many skilled professionals who work hard, invest in their businesses and deliver quality outcomes for customers every day.

 “However, the current proposals appear heavily weighted towards the consumer payment journey, without enough recognition of how construction and refurbishment projects are actually delivered. Payments are not simply profit; they fund materials, labour, subcontractors, insurance, compliance costs and the day-to-day cashflow that keeps small businesses alive. If money can be held back without clear safeguards, tradespeople could be left carrying all the risk while still being expected to deliver the work.”

Furthermore, Walters went so far as to express his personal disappointment that the industry organisations representing these tradespeople (one of which is, of course, BIFIS itself) weren’t consulted at all on the new measures before the Government surprise-announced its new plans. 

“If the Government is serious about driving out cowboy builders while supporting professional standards, it must work with organisations that understand the realities of running a legitimate trade business,” Walters warned.

BIFIS also said it would like to see clear safeguards in place to actually protect tradespeople, suggesting ideas such as a clear definition on what project milestones actually are, some kind of protection against “unreasonable non-payment”, and pointing out that a system for prompt dispute resolution should probably be included somewhere, too.

Project managed

Despite the initial Government announcement being fairly light on specifics, it does thankfully sound like that playing field between tradesperson and client is actually a bit more level than the original press release made things sound.

“We have an agreement that’s created by both parties – the consumer and the trade contractor – when they sign up to use the service,” explains James Walker, founder of the new Government-sanctioned Trusted Payments service. 

“A set of milestones are then created through the app. We have standard ones for about 140 project types, but tradespeople can set up their own and send them through to the consumer. Basically, what it’s saying is: ‘If I do this, this is what I get paid’. So you don’t get the consumer feeling that they’re being asked too much, too soon, and then not wanting to pay their money at the end.”

Although the Government was slightly opaque in the way that it would meaningfully work, Walker says the system is actually quite straightforward. “Both parties can communicate through the app and record information. Then there’s a snagging process for handover where the consumer makes one list and they can’t go back and amend it. And then a completion where all the documents that are required are handed over and at that point final payment occurs. 

“During this whole process, we have a warranty that’s also underwritten by a AAA-rated UK insurer. And what that says is that if it turns out the tradesperson is a scammer, ceases trading and walks off, the consumer is covered for two years afterwards.”

For KBB retailers or installers, that means they can effectively set up their own project milestones that can then be agreed with the consumer before any work has even taken place. Once agreed, the homeowner can effectively view the service like a kind of custom project manager, with updates on the progress beamed directly to their phone, complete with advice and guidance.

Walker says this should remove the “he said, she said” back-and-forth that can arise when a dispute takes place.

“If you’ve got a vexatious consumer and they’re being unreasonable, it’s now being recorded, rather than being unable to prove. The important part is that those stages are set up and if the consumer stops paying, the tradesperson can raise the issue to the ombudsman to help them.”

And, as a handy bonus, Walker says it won’t cost retailers or tradespeople anything to actually use, which has been a criticism of previous schemes. 

Credible concerns

With an oven-ready service that essentially guarantees fairness and trust for both sides now ready to go, what do retailers really think of it all?

Graham Parnell, director at The Kitchen & Bedroom Installers, says he’s behind any scheme that aims to stop the cowboys that plague the market, but warns that unless schemes like this ever become compulsory, they’ll forever remain “just a very small ripple in a large body of water”.

“I tried to implement an escrow payment system into my business but was met with obstacles from providers due to the size of my business,” he explains. “It was very complicated if I wanted to add my own payment terms. They suggested 100% on sign off which wasn’t something I wanted to entertain. BIFIS used to use a similar system through a scheme aimed at retailers called Protect My Install. I enquired about using it for my own customers and was told it was £600 per client.”

Offering his assessment of the new scheme, Parnell says: “Would I use it? Most definitely. It looks more professional and sends out stronger trust vibes to customers. But will it stop cowboys? Not at all. The rogues target a certain type of customer and they’re not my target market. I sell on quality and trust, not on cheap and cheerful.”

Meanwhile, Phil Beechinor, MD at Alexander, agrees that “unless something that is mandatory is created”, it still won’t be possible to target businesses giving the industry a bad reputation.

“This payment/warranty scheme may help the smaller or newer businesses gain credibility but don’t really see the benefit for the well-established companies,” Beechinor observes. “As a 50-year business with a very good reputation, we don’t struggle to give confidence to our clients.”

However, even though he is broadly on board with the idea, Beechinor also admits to still having a few doubts. “I’m definitely not keen on having a third party deciding when we get our final payment. As it stands we have very good cashflow with almost zero outstanding payments because we don’t allow retentions.

“I guess it will come down to the marketing to see if consumers will actually even be aware of it,” Beechinor added. “That said, it may have its place for some but not for me at this moment in time.”

Mark Conacher, CEO at KBB Momentum (and a former installer himself), also believes the scheme sounds like a good idea on paper, but it is likely to fall down in practice because the very people it was created to stop will almost certainly ignore it.

“The Government’s press release repeatedly talks about ‘cowboy builders’ and ‘rogue operators’. Andy Burnham even said the measures would ‘put cowboy builders out of business’, but I don’t believe they will,” Connacher predicts. “These schemes are voluntary. Professional businesses that already carry the correct public liability insurance, collect reviews, and work to proper standards are exactly the businesses that are most likely to join. The true ‘rogue trader’ simply won’t join.”

He continues: “I’m not saying voluntary schemes are pointless. Far from it! But the Government needs to be realistic with its language about what they can and are likely to achieve.”

Last chance saloon?

Of course, these are just a handful of views from just a small snapshot of the industry. But it’s obvious that even amongst those that do back the scheme, there are still a few teething problems that the government will need to resolve before they’ll be ready to run the cowboy traders out of town entirely.

Chiefly among them: if the cowboy traders aren’t going to sign up to a platform that was created to stop them, how do you raise enough consumer awareness so that the idea of using a tradesperson not affiliated with it becomes a massive red flag for homeowners?

Still, it’s only early days for the scheme. The Trusted Payments platform was only launched last month, and the government says it’s working with the Home Improvement Ombudsman to have the Approved Code ready to launch later this Autumn. As voluntary schemes (at least for the moment), it’s still too early to tell how widely adopted both will be.

But in the meantime, the fact that the government is clearly so visibly interested in having a shootout with the UK’s cowboy tradespeople can surely only be a good thing in the long run. But with many in the industry still doubtful about the logistics and practicalities of the scheme, only time will tell if this shot truly is a bullseye, or if the government are still just firing in the dark…

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Note: This article first appeared in the October 2026 issue of kbbreview Magazine. Since this issue went to press, BIFIS has announced it will be working with The Chartered Institute of Trading Standards to help run the Approved Code scheme for the fitted interiors installation sector.