NHIC Launches Second COVID-19 Impact Survey

NHIC CEO Anna Scothern.

Focussing on consumer detriment and the risk of rogue traders, the National Home Improvement Council has launched its second nationwide industry survey to understand the impact coronavirus is having on householders.

The first survey, launched on 9 April and saw 85% respondents comment that they were seeing an increase in consumer detriment as a result of the pandemic and that 50% believe opportunism by rogue traders neglecting Public Health England (PHE) safe working guidance and social distancing rules was a significant risk especially in vulnerable households.

 

 “Current PHE and Government safe working guidance for construction makes no differentiation between occupied and unoccupied buildings or sites and states that work can continue, but that safe working guidance and social distancing rules must be followed.”

– Anna Scothern 

Chief Executive, National Home Improvement Council

 

In residence

“This can be extremely challenging for professionals in the home improvement and RMI (Housing Repair Maintenance) sector who primarily work in customer homes while householders are in residence and as a result many of our member companies have made the decision that work cannot continue safely and have closed their doors for the duration of the lockdown," continues Scothern. "This leaves the door open if you like for rogue traders to target households with the promise of works completed (often for cash) with no warrantee or insurance backed guarantee and not delivered by a member of a competent person scheme. We believe this puts householders at significant risk of consumer detriment.”

 

Consumer protection solutions

Summing up Scothern adds: “This is our second in a series of surveys to help understand the scale of the problem so we can work across our membership with government and partners to provide an evidence base with which to develop cross industry and consumer protection solutions.”

 

National Home Improvement Council

The NHIC is an ambassador for collaborative action working to improvement the home improvement and RMI sector. Representing 100,000 home improvement and RMI professionals while working across the sector, wider industry and consumer groups to raise all homes up to modern living standards while inspiring and supporting householders to renovate, refurbish and improve their homes with confidence.

 

The consumer detriment survey can be found at

https://nhic.org.uk/home-improvement-covid-19-consumer-detriment-survey/ and will be live until 30th April 2020

 

The findings of the first Covid-19 impact survey can be viewed here

https://nhic.org.uk/covid19impactsurvey

 

 Picture: NHIC CEO Anna Scothern.

Article written by Cathryn Ellis
01st May 2020

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