Paying a tradesperson safely in London: cards, bank transfers, "new bank details" emails and what the scam refund rules really cover

Choosing the right tradesperson is half the job. The other half is how you pay them. Our guide to verifying a tradesperson before you hire covers registers, insurance and paperwork; this one is about the money itself - the methods that protect you, the scams that target homeowners mid-project, and what the newer bank refund rules will and will not do if something goes wrong. Figures were checked on 22 October 2026.

What the 2026 fraud figures show

UK Finance's Annual Fraud Report 2026, published on 15 June 2026, recorded £576.4 million lost to authorised push payment (APP) fraud in 2025 - where the victim is tricked into sending a payment themselves - up 19%, across 248,070 cases. Banks reimbursed £354.3 million, equivalent to 61% of losses.

Two categories matter most to anyone hiring a trade:

• Purchase scams - paying in advance for goods or services that are never received - made up 71% of all APP cases, with losses up 20% to £118.1 million across 175,809 cases. The report notes the average purchase scam case was £671, the lowest of the eight scam types, but rising.
• Invoice and mandate scams - where you intend to pay a genuine payee but a criminal persuades you to send the money elsewhere - fell to their lowest recorded level: £41.3 million across 2,305 cases. The report says these include criminals "posing as conveyancing solicitors, builders, and other tradespeople" and claiming bank details have changed, often by intercepting emails or compromising an email account.

The fall in invoice scams is welcome, but the figures for personal accounts show why they still matter: 1,088 personal cases lost £13.3 million in 2025 - roughly £12,000 per case on our arithmetic, far above a typical purchase scam. Only 48% of invoice and mandate scam losses were returned to victims. Builders' stage payments are exactly the kind of large, expected transfer criminals like to redirect.

How the "new bank details" scam works

The pattern is consistent. You have a real builder and a real invoice due. An email arrives - from what looks like the builder's address, sometimes in the same email thread - saying the business has changed banks, or that the account is "under audit", and giving new details. Sometimes it is the builder's own email account that has been hacked, so everything looks genuine.

The defence is simple and must be absolute:

1. Never act on changed bank details received by email or text alone.
2. Phone the tradesperson on a number you already hold - from the original quote, their van or a previous call - never a number in the new message.
3. Use Confirmation of Payee. Pay.UK describes Confirmation of Payee as an account name-checking service, with more than 2 million checks a day across over 300 organisations. If your banking app says the name does not match, stop. A match is reassuring but not proof - criminals can open accounts in plausible names.
4. Send a small test payment first for a new payee and confirm by phone that it arrived before sending the balance.
5. Agree at the start that bank details will never change by email - put it in the contract.

Choosing how to pay

Credit card: the strongest protection for deposits

Citizens Advice explains that under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act you can claim against your credit card provider if something goes wrong with goods or services costing more than £100 and no more than £30,000 - even if you paid only part, such as the deposit, on the card. That makes a credit card the obvious way to pay a deposit or a materials payment to a trader who accepts cards. Debit card payments may be recoverable through the voluntary chargeback scheme, which is weaker but still better than nothing.

Bank transfer: fine, with discipline

Most London trades are paid by transfer and there is nothing wrong with that, provided the account name matches the business on your quote and contract, you have verified details by phone, and each payment matches a stage you can see has been completed. Keep the invoice and the bank record together.

Cash: the weakest position

A "discount for cash" saves a little and costs a lot of protection. Cash leaves no trail, no card claim and no bank to complain to, and makes it far harder to prove what was paid if the job ends up in a dispute or the small claims court. If you do pay any cash, get a dated, itemised receipt with the business name and address.

What the APP refund rules do - and do not - cover

Since 7 October 2024, the Payment Systems Regulator has required banks to reimburse victims of APP fraud sent by Faster Payments or CHAPS, within limits:

• reimbursement is normally due within five business days, extendable to 35 business days where the bank needs more information;
• the maximum claim is £85,000; the PSR says this covers over 99% of claims;
• banks may apply an excess of up to £100 (not to vulnerable customers);
• claims can be refused if made more than 13 months after the final payment;
• exceptions apply for first-party fraud and for gross negligence under the "consumer standard of caution".

The crucial limitation is in the PSR's consolidated policy statement: the requirement "does not apply to civil disputes". If you paid a genuine trader who then does shoddy work, walks off the job or becomes insolvent, your bank may regard that as a dispute between you and the business, not a scam. That is precisely why the structure of your payments matters more than the existence of refund rules.

The PSR reported that 89% of in-scope APP fraud was reimbursed in the first 15 months of the rules, according to UK Finance's summary - reassuring for genuine scams, but not a substitute for paying sensibly.

Structuring payments on a London job

• Keep deposits modest and tie them to something tangible, such as ordering specified materials - ideally paid by credit card or direct to the supplier in your name.
• Pay in arrears against stages you can verify: first fix complete, plastering done, certificates issued.
• Hold back a retention until snagging is finished and certificates - Gas Safe, electrical, building control - are in your hands.
• Agree variations in writing with a price before the extra work is done.
• Match names: the business on the contract, the insurance certificate and the bank account should be the same.
• Check any VAT number on GOV.UK's VAT number checker if VAT appears on the invoice. A trader below the £90,000 registration threshold may legitimately not charge VAT - but one who charges VAT without a valid number is a serious warning sign.

Red flags at the payment stage

• Bank details that change mid-job, or a request to pay a "partner" or relative.
• Pressure for a large upfront sum "to secure materials" or "lock in the price".
• Insistence on cash, or a significantly better price for cash.
• An account name that does not match the business, explained away as an "accountant's account".
• Requests to pay through an unfamiliar app or overseas account.
• Urgency - "the supplier needs it today" - especially by email or text.

If you think you have been scammed

1. Call your bank immediately using the number on your card. Speed improves the chance of freezing funds.
2. Report the fraud to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040.
3. Keep the evidence: emails with full headers, texts, invoices and payment records.
4. If you paid by credit card, make a Section 75 claim; by debit card, ask about chargeback.
5. If the bank refuses, you can complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free to use.
6. Tell the genuine tradesperson if their email was spoofed or hacked - other customers may be targeted.

The best protection is dull: verified details, modest deposits, payment for work done, and a phone call before any change. Criminals rely on hurry; a good tradesperson will never mind you taking ten minutes to check.

Sources (checked 22 October 2026): UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 press release (15 June 2026) and full report (purchase scam and invoice and mandate scam tables); PSR, APP fraud reimbursement protections; PSR PS25/5 (May 2025); Pay.UK, Confirmation of Payee; Citizens Advice, card and PayPal refunds; GOV.UK, VAT registration threshold. Information only; not financial or legal advice.