Insurance work - is this a scam?

[rocker]

Hi all, I have just got off the phone with an agency who says they will give me insurance contracts, let me price up the work and bill the insurance company directly, then ask for a 2.5% cut of my final figure. They have also asked me for a £200 deposit to get me this work. To be fair, for £200 I would happily take on as much work as they could give me, but as soon as they mentioned this deposit 'which is totally refundable to you, Rocker' alarm bells started ringing. I suppose it's reasonable - I guess I could take five or six big jobs off them and never pay them and they'd want some insurance against that - but I don't know, it smells a little fishy to me. The company's name is Quality Build services and they are based in Brighton. Anyone had any dealings with them?

What do you think, internet? Has anyone had any dealings with this type of agency before, and is this normal, or should I beware?​

 

[acat]

Beware ask them for telephone numbers of other electricians that have used them for reference purposes. If they dont give that sort of information thank them for wasting your time. You would be better off sending a mailshot to insurance people yourself bet you could do them all for a lot less than
£200 and no commission to pay either.


Chris

 

[Des 56]

If it is not a scam,why not arrange with them that the £200 be deducted at say 10% chunks off the paid up jobs they provide on top of their 2.5% which they claim is their payment until the registration fee is covered

They should have no objection to doing so

They will most likely insist that £200 is paid up front and if thats so.
that would be the time to get the hell out of their thieving clutches

 

[Guest123]

Theres a lot of this type of thing going round at the mo, eveyone one I've heard of so far has been a



CROOK!!!

This one may be genuine but as the chaps have said ask for contact numbers of other sparks first before you part with your hard earned.

 

[bugsy]

I have done work for Ins companies in the past but I have always had direct contact or the insured has been given a list of approved contractors

 

[rocker]

Thanks for the advice, all.
To be fair, the fella didn't seem that dodgy and wasn't exactly pushy or anything, but I have since received an email with the 'contract' which talks about a deposit which is not specified anywhere, but says I should pay it within 7 days otherwise they could not guarantee that I'd be put on their books, and doesn't mention when or how I would get this 'deposit' back. The guy I spoke to seemed very knowledgeable and told me everything that would be going on, but none of this is stipulated in anything that has been sent to me. Seems dodgyer and dodgyer every minute, to be honest.....

ACAT do you think I would be able to just approach insurance companies directly for work. I hear that insurance work can be a bit of a bugger regarding getting the money, but let's be honest when is it not? I'd be happy to do insurance work, I suppose if you do a good job for them then theres always going to be more work....

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[bugsy]

If you want to do insurance work go direct , they don't often use third parties ( costs them a percentage)
In my experiance 30-60 days for payment = after all works are complete and signed off to the clients satisfaction

 

[Admin]

Moved to the pub.

 

[ezzzekiel]

would not deal with any1 asking for money up front usaually a scam, i do work for a few ins comps and nothing like this set up, they just ring when works there and i bill them a pre agreed rate.