Safepay for homeowners - Ensure work gets done

Keep your money safe & protect building work on your home.

Hire tradespeople without the risk

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Buyer protection

Keep funds in a safe place whilst you agree details, milestones and to ensure the job gets done as agreed.

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ID verified tradespeople

Know exactly WHO you are dealing with online and feel protected using a secure payment method where every user is verified.

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Stay in control

Top-up to add funds, make partial releases or raise a dispute and request money back... all from within your account.

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Stay on budget

Keep your job on budget, the average overspend on a project is £3,200 – with SafePay, what was agreed is what you pay.

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Stay on schedule

Milestones are set to release payments on your behalf at different stages that have been agreed and signed off by you.

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Peace of mind

Avoid potentially awkward conversations about payments and let us handle the process for you for FREE.

Safeguard your project

Why use SafePay?

There are many benefits to using SafePay for your building or home improvement project. Your money is held securely in an FCA approved account and only released upon your instruction when you are happy with the work carried out. You can rest assured that the tradesperson cannot disappear with your money and your money is protected against poor workmanship.

£3,200

The average OVERSPEND on a project.

3 Months

The average DELAY on a project.

35%

Proportion of projects that run BEHIND SCHEDULE.

40%

Proportion of projects that go OVER BUDGET.

Based on an AXA Business Insurance survey of 2000 consumers and 320 tradespeople in the UK, November 2015.
Sources: Hiscox / Climadoor

How SafePay works

01

Choose your tradesperson

Whether you have found a tradesperson through BookaBuilderUK's "Post a job" feature or elsewhere, you can choose to pay them with SafePay.

02

Initiate a transaction

After an amount is agreed, simply click "Pay securely with SafePay" on your chosen tradesperson or enter their email address to send them a SafePay invite.

03

Manage your money

Once you've created a transaction you are free to top-up funds, make partial releases or request money back if you are unsatisfied.

04

Release funds

Your funds are kept in a secure account to ensure the job gets done as agreed, ready to be released as soon as you are happy with the work completed!

BookaBuilderUK’s SafePay scheme is a clear, secure and transparent solution for both homeowners and tradespeople across the UK. We hold the money for you and ONLY release it to the tradesperson once YOU are satisfied with the work carried out.

Keep your job on budget, the average overspend on a project is £3200 – with SafePay, what was agreed is what you pay.
Keep your job on schedule, the average delay on large projects like house extensions or renovations is 3 months. With BookABuilder’s SafePay scheme, milestones are set to release payments on your behalf at different stages that have been agreed and signed off by you.

35% of all projects run behind schedule
40% projects go over budget
Keep a paper trail, provide us with a copy of the quote and we will know everything that was agreed and at what cost which would help in the event of a dispute.
Avoid potentially awkward conversations about payments and let us handle the process for you for FREE.

Frequently asked questions

Find the answers to some common questions about SafePay below.

Getting started

How do I pay a tradesperson with SafePay?

You can initiate a SafePay transaction from inside your BookaBuilderUK account. You can either click "Pay securely with SafePay" on a particular tradesperson, or you can click the large green button on this page to initiate a transaction and enter your chosen tradespersons email address. You can pay securely with SafePay even if your chosen tradesperson is not a member of BookaBuilderUK.

How do I deposit money into my Escrow account?

You can checkout via online banking where you’ll be asked by your bank to confirm the payment. If your bank isn't listed, you can pay manually into the dedicated escrow account using the sort code and account number or IBAN listed. For small transactions, you also have the option to pay via card.

How do I verify my identity?

To verify, sign in to your account and click on your profile. You'll be asked to enter your personal details, take a selfie and a picture of a valid photo ID. We use Passbase, a reputable KYC provider for this step. We may also ask you to upload a copy of your ID if this check fails. Passbase is GDPR compliant, so you can be rest assured your data is safe.

Payments

When should I release the funds?

The advantage of using a dedicated escrow account is that you only release the funds to the tradesperson once you are happy with the product or service provided.

Whilst the funds are in your escrow account, you are able to raise a dispute if you face any issues. It is important to note that you cannot raise a dispute regarding funds that have already been released. When the funds are released, they are sent directly to the tradespersons bank account and cannot be recovered.

This is why you should only release the funds when you are happy with the standard of the goods or service provided.

How do I release the money to the tradesperson?

If you are happy with the service, that's great news! Simply click "release" on that transaction.

Did you know? If you have agreed milestones, you can send a partial amount to the tradesperson.

You can find out more about milestone payments in our top tips here.

Please note: The tradesperson must be verified to receive the funds directly into their bank account.

What methods of payment do you accept?

We currently accept bank transfer payments. We’ll generate a specific sort code, account number and reference number for your escrow account. For small value transactions, we also accept card payments.

Disputes

I’m not happy with the service, how do I dispute a transaction?

You can dispute a transaction at any time by contacting our transaction partner, Trustap ([email protected]). We recommend speaking to the other party first - often they could have made a mistake or they may be on holiday hence not replying. You can read more about our disputes service here.

What information do you need from me to be able to raise my dispute?

You can raise a dispute on a particular transaction at any time by emailing [email protected]. Please only dispute transactions if either the other party is completely non-responsive or is not agreeing to complete the job as agreed. Most disputes can be solved with a quick phone call.

If you decide to raise a dispute, you will receive a confirmation e-mail and one of our team members will reach out to you to request the necessary documents.

What happens when I've sent my documents?

Thanks for sending the documents over! We ask both parties to reach out to eachother to come to an agreement. If after 15 business days (3 weeks) parties have not agreed to a solution, our transaction partner will make a decision on the case and distribute funds accordingly. As your trusted third party, it may take up to an additional 15 business days to come to this decision. If a party does not send us any supporting evidence or responds to a dispute being raised, we will side with the party who has provided evidence.

What happens if we can't reach an agreement during the Negotiation Period?

If you have not been able to reach a solution after 15 business days (3 weeks), our transaction partner will make a decision on the case and distribute funds accordingly. As your trusted third party, it may take up to an additional 15 business days to come to this decision.

What if I want to raise a dispute after funds have been released?

Once funds have been released you are unable to raise a dispute. This is why it’s very important that you only release funds once you are happy. You can, of course, open proceedings with the other party but this would be separate to trustshare.

What if the other party doesn't respond?

If a party does not send us any supporting evidence or responds to a dispute being raised, we will side with the party who has provided evidence.

What if I'm not happy with the dispute outcome?

We're sorry to hear you aren't happy with the outcome. We make decisions based on our best judgement from the supporting evidence that we have available at the time. You can open proceedings with the other party if you wish as, at this point, our service is complete.