<div>"Cowboy builders have been responsible for some of the most shocking home‑improvement scams in recent years, with elderly homeowners often the most vulnerable targets."
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><a href="https://tell-me-more.uk/2026/01/15/elderly-couple-have-lives-ruined-by-cowboy-builders/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read the full story here</a>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Tony</strong> (82) and wife <strong>Sue</strong> (77), decided to use their life savings to try to improve their forever home by converting the garage into an extra usable space, removing the wall between this and the existing room to provide an open plan kitchen / dining room. This would include a new utility area and shower room and the renovation of their existing conservatory.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>They got an approved architect to compete drawings and obtain all relevant permissions.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>They appointed a builder via Check-a-Trade, to carry out improvements to their small cul-de-sac bungalow.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Whilst the original quote was £37,000 and over <strong>£45,500</strong> was paid directly to the builders, the homeowners have incurred costs of over £65,000 so far.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The builder informed them in October 2022, that this was an 8 week project and that it could be complete by Christmas 2022.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Christmas 2025 has just passed, and it has been <strong>over 3 years</strong> since the builders agreed to start work, but they have still to complete the agreed works.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>There are several reasons as to why this will be the case:
</div>
<ul>
<li>Fraudulent Trading
</li>
<li>Abusive Phoenixism
</li>
<li>Conspiracy to Defraud
</li>
<li>Threatening Behaviour
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>An elderly passing neighbour was threated by one of the onsite contractors, to be taken off in a vehicle and buried if they did not leave the area.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>To date, neither Check-a-trade, Tony and Sue's bank fraud team, nor the individuals responsible have made any substantial attempt to assist or to rectify the problems caused.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Tony and Sue have been left to live in a sub-standard property and even their neighbours have had damage caused by the builders that has not been rectified.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<ul>
<li>The outer wall is just a wooden panel
</li>
<li>The roof in the new kitchen and shower room leak when it rains
</li>
<li>There are missing doors
</li>
<li>The heating in the kitchen and dining room is still missing
</li>
<li>The agreed skylights never arrived
</li>
<li>The new shower room and utility room are unusable due to water issues.
</li>
<li>The new Sunroom / Conservatory is non existent
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>All these are facilities that the builders were contacted to carry out.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>A subsequent survey has been carried out, and it has been confirmed that the cost to complete the works and resolve the issues caused will be<strong> in excess of £30,000.</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Any good builder in his right mind would have to start over.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The work that would need to be carried out would cover the following areas:
</div>
<ul>
<li>Front Hallway,
</li>
<li>Kitchen,
</li>
<li>Dining Room,
</li>
<li>Main Bedroom,
</li>
<li>Second Bedroom,
</li>
<li>Back Passageway,
</li>
<li>Shower room and Toilet,
</li>
<li>Utility Room,
</li>
<li>Conservatory,
</li>
<li>Rear Garden,
</li>
<li>Garage Conversion.
</li>
</ul>

Anonymous

Amanda Eyre

Elderly Couple have lives ruined by Cowboy Builders

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

Support Comments Allowlist

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

checkout headers audience

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Elderly Couple have lives ruined by Cowboy Builders

Still £2,510 to go. Help us build momentum.