News-Rogue roofer to pay family over £3,500 compensation

A roof Wase worked on

Our trading standards team took legal action against Christopher Wase, of Castle Gardens, Paisley, after he carried out substandard roofing work at two properties in the region.

In both cases, Wase approached the families at their addresses on behalf of his business, CW Roofing Services.

Unfinished work

We were approached by a family in Blackhall Colliery after Wase quoted £3,800 to carry out repair works to their roof.

The family paid a £500 deposit, and Wase and four other men started work at the property. Wase requested another £3,485 immediately to purchase the materials needed, then left the property and did not return.

The other men continued to work on the property, but accidentally set fire to a bay window, then left mid-works.

The family contacted Wase about the works and requested a refund, which was not paid, and the works were left incomplete.

A surveyor, who was hired to assess the property, confirmed that the repairs had been carried out by inexperienced people and were not completed to a satisfactory standard. The works carried out were assessed to be worth in the region of £400.

Requesting further deposits

Peterlee Magistrates Court heart that, before this, Wase had approached another family in Coulby Newham about a missing tile in their roof and discussed a quote of £5,000 to repair it.

Wase carried out some work at the property, then requested a further deposit of £1,000 for the remainder of the works.

He advised the family that, in addition to the deposit, he needed another £1,200 for materials before he could start the work.

When Wase did not show up on the agreed date, the family sent several messages to Wase to ask why the work had not been carried out, to which he said he was on holiday.

The family requested a refund of £2,200, and the matter was taken to County Court. Peterlee Magistrates Court heard that Wase was ordered to pay £2,406.62, which remains unpaid.

Guilty plea

Wase, who was registered to an address in Billingham at the time of offending, pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching trading regulations and unfair trading. The 38-year-old was ordered to pay £3,580 compensation to the family in Blackhall Colliery.

The court noted that a live court order remains in place for the previously unpaid County Court compensation to the Coulby Newham family, so no further order was made for this case.

Wase was also given 240 hours of unpaid work to be completed within 12 months.

Significant distress and disruption

Gary Carr, our strategic regulation manager, said: "Rogue trading causes significant stress and disruption to residents who, in good faith, have trusted someone to come into their home and carry out work. Mr Wase broke this trust with two families and, as a result, faced serious legal consequences.

"We take reports of rogue trading very seriously and will investigate criminal allegations where it is suspected a trader has broken the law. We always recommend that people use an approved trader site when sourcing a tradesperson to carry out work on their property or garden. If anyone has concerns about the legitimacy of a tradesperson or rogue trader activity, we would encourage them to report it to our community protection service's trading standards officers or the Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133."