How should I pay tradesmen over £5000?

System

Bank transfers are absolutely standard method of payment for large sums of money to tradesmen, if the work has been done and you are paying following completion of the work there's no risk in paying by bacs (just make sure you get their details correct. And ask for a receipt to confirm payment.) What is it you are worried about with paying like this for a completed job?
Online banking and phone apps etc make it the norm now, you will find a lot of trades don't like cheques anymore as it means standing in bank queues to pay in etc, then a few days to see if it bounces! Bank transfers can be confirmed within hours - usually making everything easier to deal with

glasgowdan

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Its very odd to have a workman demanding bank transfer as payment.

No workman has ever asked me for that. They've usually, quite obviously, expected a cheque from me. There are areas of the country where a substantial proportion of workmen want cash.....

But - bank transfer - nah! That's not something the ordinary person does imo and I've never paid anyone by bank transfer in my life - or heard of anyone else doing so. It's only cropped up, as far as I can recall, when it came to the legal executive doing the paperwork on buying current house using that. I've had a couple of firms over the years do a bank transfer to me.

Householders dont do bank transfers in my experience.

Ok.. I'm not even sure how to respond to this, but you're absolutely showing your age here! The vast majority of householders use bank transfers, whether online or in branch.

I've not used a cheque for years and as a tradespersons if a client offered to pay by cheque, I'd try hard to control my laughter then offer the work at a nice £50 premium.

OP, keep records of things and do a good bit of background research on the company . Get a written invoice and pay by bank transfer. Find the company's presence on Facebook and other social media as they always want to preserve their reputation in these places. A cheque is no safer than cash in hand. Bank transfer leaves a trail of evidence.

Apodemus

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Householders dont do bank transfers in my experience.

What?! I've not used a cheque in years! Since internet banking came in I pay nearly everything by bank transfer. I can't believe I am alone in that?

gt568

You aren't......

Any

Apodemus wrote: »

What?! I've not used a cheque in years! Since internet banking came in I pay nearly everything by bank transfer. I can't believe I am alone in that?

No, only old people use cheques.
My in laws (84&76) and their friends still use cheques. They don't trust bank transfers, and they will not give anyone their bank details for fear of being hacked (which is ridiculous as most chequest have bank details on bottom!), but I don't know anyone else who even know where their cheque book is/tick "no" when bank asks if they want one.

ThinkingOutLoud_2

What is a cheque?

And as has been said it offer NO advantage. In fact at least with a bank transfer you can prove you paid them not someone called J Smith.

And the bank can if need be confirm the money was delivered to the target account.

The thing with all trades is to pay any and especially the final amount when you are totally happy with the work.

It is quite common to retain a small % : amount until that quality finish is assured even after they finish.

Have you got any friends who could look the work over?

cbrown372

heck I even pay the tax man by bank transfer

Apodemus

cbrown372 wrote: »

heck I even pay the tax man by bank transfer

... bad luck, this January he paid me the same way!

david1951

phoebe1989seb wrote: »

when the roofer announced his account had been hacked and the payment had been intercepted by a third party

If a criminal obtained access to the roofer's bank account and stole money then that is their own problem.

Some scams involve getting an email or phone call shortly before transferring money, so that you send it to the wrong bank account. That would be your problem but all you need to do is ensure you use the original bank details, and query any changes to them by phone or in person. If what you meant is the roofer's email account had been hacked, then this is one danger of BACS.

However, there are plenty more scams involving cheques.

McKneff

Do your parents have a credit card . If they could pay a token amount by Cc and the rest by Bank transfer, then the whole job is covered if anything goes wrong.