What to look for when hiring a handyman

Hiring a handyman feels like a small decision until you think about it for more than five seconds. You are letting a stranger into your house, trusting them near your walls with power tools, and paying for work you may not be able to judge yourself. A few checks beforehand save a lot of regret afterwards.

Public liability insurance

This is the one that matters most. Public liability insurance covers damage to your property caused by the handyman while working. A drill through a hidden pipe, a cracked tile, a scuff across a freshly painted wall: a policy of £1 million or more means you are not left arguing about who pays. Mine is £2 million. Without it, you carry the risk personally.

Ask to see a certificate. Most handymen keep it as a PDF on their phone. If someone gets evasive when you ask, that tells you something.

DBS check

A Disclosure and Barring Service check is a criminal record check. It is not a legal requirement for handyman work, but anyone regularly working inside the homes of older residents ought to have one and ought to be willing to show it. The basic level confirms whether someone has unspent convictions. If a handyman says they are DBS checked, ask when it was issued. Anything older than three years is worth renewing.

References

References are more useful than online reviews. A review could be from a mate. It could reflect one unusually good afternoon. A reference is a name and a phone number for someone who had work done recently and agreed to be contacted.

A handyman with a good local reputation should be able to give you two or three names. Ask me and I'll put you in touch with customers happy to talk. When you call, ask practical things. Was the final price what you were quoted? Did they clean up? Would you use them again?

Transparent pricing

A good handyman can state their hourly rate in one sentence. Mine: £55 for the first hour, then £35 an hour. No hedging, no "it depends", no refusal to commit. It is reasonable to say "I would need to see that particular job first", but the underlying rate should be plain: a first-hour figure, an ongoing rate, and a day rate if the job will take that long.

Some handymen charge extra just to turn up. Others fold it into the first hour. Neither approach is wrong, but it's worth asking which one you're being quoted. My first hour includes getting to you if you're within five miles of Cirencester.

Willingness to say no

This is the real test. A handyman who says "that is a job for a Gas Safe engineer" when you describe a boiler problem is telling you they know where their competence ends. A handyman who offers to have a go at your consumer unit is telling you the opposite.

Handyman work has a well-understood scope: small repairs, fixings, assembly, like-for-like swaps, minor decorating. Anything outside that should be passed on. Saying no costs a handyman one small job today and earns your trust for every job after that.

Written quotes versus estimates

A quote is a fixed price. Once given, it cannot change without your agreement. An estimate is a best guess and can shift if the job turns out bigger than expected. Both are legitimate. The problem comes when you do not know which one you have been given.

For any job expected to last more than a couple of hours, ask for a written quote. A text message is fine. If the job grows mid-way, a good handyman will stop, explain what they have found, and give you a choice before carrying on.

Red flags

Some warning signs are obvious. Others take a second look.

• Cash only, no receipt offered.
• No insurance, or evasiveness when asked about it.
• Vague pricing, or prices that creep upwards once the job starts.
• Door-to-door cold calling, particularly to older residents.
• High-pressure language: "this needs doing today or it will get worse".
• Refusal to put anything in writing.
• No business name, email or website, only a mobile number.
• Asking for a large deposit on a small job.

Any one of these on its own might have an innocent explanation. More than one in the same conversation is a reason to say "thanks, I will think about it" and ring someone else.

Questions to ask before booking

Six questions cover most of the ground. They take two minutes.

• Do you have public liability insurance, and can I see a copy?
• Do you have a current DBS check?
• What is your first hour rate and your hourly rate after that?
• Is travel included, or extra?
• Can I have a written quote before you start?
• Do you provide a receipt or invoice?

Clear answers to all six are a good sign. Anyone who dodges one is worth thinking twice about. Ask me any of them before I come round.