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Tradesman Insurance: A Tradesman's Guide to TrustMark

Whatever your trade, customers want to know that they're using reliable and trustworthy tradesmen who will get the job done well. Apart from asking friends and family for suggestions, trawling the internet for recommended tradesmen and checking trade association memberships, customers are also turning to TrustMark, a government-backed scheme, supported by consumer protection groups and the building industry, which provides details of quality tradesmen who have been inspected and approved by one of its scheme operators.

What's in it for you?

Apart from the obvious benefits the scheme offers to customers, there's also a lot in it for tradesmen.

Your details will be promoted on the TrustMark website and its partner sites (apparently, on average, 330,000 tradesmen's details are viewed by the public each month on the TrustMark site).
You'll benefit from TrustMark's local and national campaigns publicising its approved tradesmen.
You can use the TrustMark logo on all your marketing and publicity information.

What's involved?

Most customers use the scheme because they want peace of mind. To ensure that they get this your business will undergo some inspections and you'll also have to agree to do a number of things.

Checks

To get approved, you can expect initial checks and further inspections of the following things.

Technical skills.
Trading records.
Financial status.
Quality of work trading practices.
Customer satisfaction.
On-site work.

Agreements

As well as being inspected, you'll also have to agree to do the following.

Adopt a code of practice covering insurance, health and safety, and customer care.
Offer an insurance backed warranty.
Provide customers with building regulations information and certificates.
Follow a complaints handling procedure.

Other

If you cease trading then your customers will benefit from a deposit protection insurance.

How do you get approved?

To join, you will have to be approved by a scheme operator. There are three ways you can do this.

Through a trade association.
Through a local authority.
Through a non-trade association.

Becoming a TrustMark approved tradesman isn't just about giving potential customers peace of mind. It's also about standing out from rogue traders by promoting your reputation, reliability and trustworthiness, and securing more work for your business.

For more details about how your business can benefit from the TrustMark scheme visit: www.trustmark.org.uk