Roofer Did Shoddy or Unnecessary Work? Your Rights (UK)

Roofing is a classic target for cowboy traders: hard to inspect, easy to exaggerate, and often sold under pressure ("your roof's dangerous — we can start today"). If a roofer did shoddy or unnecessary work, here is how to fight back.

Your rights

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, roofing work must be done with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonable time, and for a reasonable price where none was fixed. Materials must be of satisfactory quality. If the work is defective — or you were charged for work that was unnecessary or never done — the trader is in breach.

Cowboy roofer warning signs

• Doorstep cold-calls claiming your roof is unsafe and pushing you to decide on the spot.
• Demands for cash up front or large deposits.
• "Extra problems" discovered mid-job to inflate the bill.
• No written quote, no address, no proper paperwork.

If you were cold-called at home, you also usually have a 14-day cancellation right under the Consumer Contracts Regulations — and up to a year if they did not tell you about it.

How to claim

1. Get an independent roofer's report on what is actually wrong and what was done.
2. Photograph everything and gather quotes, invoices, and any sales claims.
3. Write to the trader requiring them to put it right or refund the unnecessary/defective work.
4. If you paid a deposit over £100 by credit card, remember Section 75.

A complaint letter template

Dear [Roofer/Company],

Re: Roofing work at [address] on [date]

The work was [defective / unnecessary / not as agreed]: [describe, with an
independent report]. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 it should have been
carried out with reasonable care and skill at a reasonable price. I require you to
[rectify the work / refund £[amount]] within 14 days.

[If cold-called: I also cancel under my Consumer Contracts Regulations rights.]

Yours faithfully,
[Your name and contact details]

Never agree to urgent roof work on the doorstep. Get an independent opinion, put your complaint in writing, and use Section 75 and the small claims court — cowboy roofers rely on people not pushing back.