Question answered
A roofer knocked on my door: what should I do?
The short answer
Do not agree to anything on the doorstep. Thank the caller, close the door and check the claim yourself, from the ground or with a photograph of the roof, then get a written quote from a firm you chose. Urgency is the warning sign: real roof damage rarely needs a decision in the next ten minutes. If you do sign at home, you normally have 14 days to cancel.
A stranger who says your roof is damaged is selling, not surveying. You can say no, take your time, check the claim yourself, and keep your cancellation rights if you do sign.
Why urgency is the red flag
Callers who go door to door after a gale tend to open with the same line: they were passing, they noticed a slipped tile, and they can fix it today. The pitch depends on speed. A rushed homeowner does not compare quotes, does not ask for a written price and does not check who is on the roof.
Look at what the offer leaves out. There is no survey, no explanation of where water would actually get in, and usually no paperwork. A real fault is rarely visible from the pavement in the way the caller describes, and a roof that has stood through a winter will stand through the week it takes to arrange a proper look.
Pressure can also be gentler than it sounds: a discount that expires today, materials left over from a neighbour's job, a promise to start now. Treat each as the same signal. A firm confident in its work is happy for you to think it over, and a good roofer would rather lose a job than win it on a rushed yes.
Your right to cancel if you already signed
Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, a deal struck face to face in your own home is classed as off-premises. That label sounds technical, but it simply means the sale happened away from the roofer's yard or office, and it carries a right to change your mind. For a service such as roof work, you can cancel without giving any reason until 14 days after the day you agreed.
The trader is meant to tell you about that right. If nobody did, the window does not just close quietly: it can stay open for up to a further 12 months. Our page on the 14-day cooling-off period explains how the clock runs.
One exclusion is worth knowing. The cancellation rules step aside when you yourself asked a trader to come out because something urgent needed repairing. Somebody who knocked unasked has not been invited in that sense, so the exclusion is a poor fit for a doorstep caller. Should you want the job started within the fortnight, say so in a letter or an email. Cancel after that and you owe only for the portion already delivered.
How to check the damage they say they found
Start from the ground. Look at the roof in daylight from the garden or the road; binoculars help if you own a pair. Watch for gaps in the tile pattern, a ridge line that has tilted, a gutter that sags, or lead hanging loose at a chimney. If you cannot see what the caller described, that tells you something.
Then look inside. Check the loft with a torch for daylight through the covering, damp timber or stained insulation, and look at the ceilings below for fresh marks. No sign of water indoors after the storm suggests the urgency belongs to the caller, not to the roof.
Never agree to a stranger climbing up to take pictures, and do not climb up yourself. A close-up photograph without context proves little, and it can be a picture of somebody else's roof. A genuine survey ties each fault to a place on your roof and arrives with a written quote. Our guide to paying a roofer a deposit explains why you should not hand money to a caller in advance.
What to do on the doorstep and afterwards
Say you are not deciding today and ask for nothing in return. Do not let the caller in, do not accept a lift to a cash machine, and do not hand over money, even a small sum for materials. A name and a phone number are worth asking for, but a number on a business card tells you nothing about whether the firm is real.
Write down the date, the time, the van registration if you can see it, and what was claimed. If you feel threatened or the caller will not leave, phone the police. Tell a neighbour too, because callers often work a whole street.
Once the caller has gone, get one or two written quotes from firms you found yourself. What a skilled day's work costs is covered in what a roofer charges per day, which helps you spot a figure plucked from the air. If the damage is real, your insurer may want to see it before permanent work starts, which is covered in our guide to roof damage and home insurance. For how we survey a roof when you do call us, start from the Watertight Worthing Roofing home page.
Doorstep callers: two more situations
A caller offered to start work this afternoon. Can I let them?
That needs an express request from you, and when the deal was struck in your house the request has to be in a letter or an email. Cancel afterwards and you owe just for the portion delivered. A spoken yes on the doorstep does not count as that request.
Is it ever sensible to use a firm that called unannounced?
It is safer not to. If the caller seems genuine, take their details and treat them like any other firm: ask for a written quote, check the claim on your own roof, compare it with a firm you chose, and sleep on it before you decide.
More quick answers
Tell us about your roof
Describe what is happening and we will call you back to arrange a visit.
- Photographs of what we find
- A written quote with one total price
- Or call 01903 299063
10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.