A walk through the offers that should make you pause, the paperwork a sound quote carries, how the 14-day cancellation right works at home, and where to get free advice if a job goes wrong.
A roof is hard to judge from underneath. From the garden you cannot see the ridge, the flashings or the state of the underlay, so owners rely on what a roofer tells them. That is exactly why dodgy offers work. A stranger says a slate has slipped, shows you a photograph of someone else's roof, and names a price for today only.
None of this means every unexpected caller is a rogue, or that every roofer who hands you a number is straight. It means the order of events is what you check. A sound job runs: someone looks at your roof, shows you what they saw, writes down what they will do, gives you one total price, and leaves you time to think. A dodgy one skips a step, usually the first or the last.
Below are the signs that should slow you down, a description of a written quote that deserves your attention, your cooling-off rights, and where to turn if the job has already gone sideways. For a cost range to hold against any figure you are given, our guide to what a roofer costs in Margate sets out national guides, and the main page at Castle Roofing Margate shows how we run a survey.
Offers on the doorstep after a storm
After a gale or a heavy downpour, people knock on doors along a street offering to check roofs. Some are genuine tradespeople looking for work. Some are not. The offer itself is the thing to treat with care, because you did not ask for it and you cannot check who is on the other side of the door.
The pattern to watch for is a quick, confident claim about damage you cannot see, followed by an offer to fix it there and then. Roof faults after a storm are real, and a slipped slate or a displaced ridge tile does happen. The point is that you do not have to agree to anything on the step. You can say you will arrange your own survey and close the door politely.
If you think there is damage, there is a calmer order of events. Look from the ground and photograph anything you see, noting the date. Ring your insurer before anything else and keep every photograph and receipt, an order the Institution of Structural Engineers also recommends. Then ask for a written quote from a roofer you contacted yourself, not one who came to you.
On storm cover, the Financial Ombudsman Service links a storm to violent wind, often arriving with rain, hail or snow, while your policy has wording of its own. A caller who promises a payout is offering something no roofer controls, because the decision rests with the insurer.
Pressure to sign today
A genuine price does not expire at the end of the visit. If a caller says the quote is only good today, that the materials are on the van for this street only, or that the price rises tomorrow, you are being asked to decide before you can compare. A sound roofer is content to leave you the quote and let you ring back.
The law helps here, but only in part. A contract made at your house, instead of at the trader's own premises, is an off-premises contract, and that includes one you sign at the kitchen table after a survey. For a service contract made this way, you can cancel without giving a reason until 14 days have passed from the day after the contract was made. Where nobody explained the cancellation right to you in the first place, the window can run for as long as 12 months more.
Two limits matter. If you ask the trader to begin inside the 14 days, your request must be in writing. And regulation 28(1)(e) of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 takes away the right to cancel when the visit was one you specifically requested to deal with an urgent repair. That is why a genuine emergency call and a doorstep sale are treated differently.
Citizens Advice adds that your cooling-off period starts on the day following the making of the contract, and that 14 days is the least a seller must give you. Put the date of signing in your diary and write down the last day you can cancel.
Warning signs at a glance
Any one of these on its own may have an innocent explanation. Several together are a reason to stop and ask for time.
| Sign | Why it matters | Your move |
|---|---|---|
| Unrequested knock | You cannot check who they are | Book your own survey |
| Price good for today | You cannot compare | Ask for it in writing |
| No written scope | Nothing to hold them to | Do not start |
| Cash only | No record of payment | Pay by a traceable method |
| Photos of another roof | Not evidence about yours | Ask for pictures of your own |
Other signs are quieter. A caller who cannot tell you in plain words what is wrong, which slope it is on, and what they will do about it has not looked closely. A roofer who is vague about who will do the work, or who will not give a phone number you can ring back, leaves you with nobody to call if the job fails.
A wide gap between quotes also deserves a question, not a rush to the lowest. If one figure is far below the others, ask what it leaves out. If one is far above, ask why. A sound roofer can explain a difference in method, in covering or in access, and will do so in writing if you ask.
Trust your sense of the conversation too. If a caller gets irritated when you ask for time, or changes the story when you ask a question twice, that is information about how the job would go.
What a fair written quote contains
A fair quote reads like a plan for the job. It is written, dated and signed, and anyone with no roofing knowledge can follow it.
- The address, plus the section of roof the work covers: front slope, rear slope, chimney or flat roof.
- What will be removed and what will go back: slates or tiles, battens, underlay, lead, ridge, verge, gutters.
- Photographs of your own roof showing the fault, taken on the survey.
- One total price for the whole job, with VAT stated, and a note of whether scaffold is part of it.
- Who is responsible for waste, and how it will leave the site.
- A start date, a rough length of time, and a phone number for the person running the job.
For scaffold on the pavement, Kent County Council is the licensing body: it is the scaffolder who submits the paperwork, at least 5 working days ahead. If the quote says nothing about scaffold on a tall house, ask who is arranging it and who pays for the licence.
Citizens Advice recommends getting written quotes from 3 traders or more. When you set them side by side, compare scope first and price second, because a cheaper quote that leaves out the underlay or the flashings is a different job altogether.
A quote that names the work, shows photographs of your roof and ends in one total is the shape to look for. Figures that creep upwards once the scaffold is standing are the warning.
Checking the roof and the rules before work starts
Before you sign, a few checks cost nothing. Ask to see the photographs. A roofer who has been on your roof has pictures of your roof, and can show you the slipped slate, the cracked lead or the failed felt. Ask for matching pictures when the job is finished.
Ask whether the work needs building control approval. The Planning Portal sets the national test: below 25 per cent of the building envelope and below 50 per cent of the roof, building control approval is not normally required. A heavier covering is a separate trigger, at 15 per cent or more. For a Thanet house, the council's building control team is on 01843 577522. For Canterbury and Swale addresses it is STG Building Control, on 01634 331133. Folkestone & Hythe District Council's in-house team answers on 01303 853538, and Ashford Borough Council runs its own Building Control team for Ashford addresses. Dover District Council's own building control page names replacement coverings, even matching ones, in its approval list, which makes a Dover address worth a phone call.
A listed house needs consent from the council before anything alters its character, and a conservation area may limit some work. Ask the roofer what route applies, and whether they have been through it before.
Lastly, ask how the work will be done safely. Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 expects employers to take practicable steps against injurious falls. A roofer who is relaxed about one ladder on a three-storey terrace is telling you something about how the day will go.
- Who will be on site each day, and who is in charge.
- Whether the same people return after a break for weather.
If a job has already gone wrong
If you have signed, paid or let someone start, you still have rights, and the sooner you act the easier they are to use.
- Stop paying. Do not hand over more money for work you are not happy with.
- Take dated photographs of the roof and of anything damaged.
- Write down what was agreed, what was done and what was said, with dates.
- Work out whether the cancellation period still applies, and what the paperwork says about it.
- Contact the trader in writing, say what is wrong and what you want done.
- Keep copies of every message, invoice and receipt in one place.
The Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49, says a service has to be delivered with reasonable care and skill, and sections 54 and 57 set out remedies when it is not. For free advice, ring the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133. If your complaint is against an insurer over a storm claim, the Financial Ombudsman Service is on 0800 023 4567.
One note on dispute resolution. The Alternative Dispute Resolution Regulations 2015 were revoked on 6 April 2026 under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, whose section 308 now obliges a trader to tell a dissatisfied customer about any ADR route that is available. Ask the trader which one applies to them.
If your roof still needs a second opinion, send us photographs and we will describe what shows up on them.
