Should I pay a builder in cash?

The cash discount is one of the most persistent offers in domestic building work, and it is genuinely tempting because the saving is immediate and the loss is contingent. What you are trading away is evidence — of payment, of who did the work, of what was agreed, and of the amount at stake — and evidence is precisely what you need on the day something goes wrong.

Safety

Step by step

1. Separate small jobs from substantial ones.Paying a handyman in cash for an hour's work with a receipt is not the issue. The question matters on jobs worth thousands, where the paperwork is the thing protecting you.
2. Understand what a cash payment removes.Proof that you paid, proof of the amount, and the ability to use any card-based protection. If the trader denies receiving payment, a bank record settles it and a memory does not.
3. Notice when the discount comes with no invoice.A cash discount plus a proper VAT invoice is one thing. A cash discount conditional on no paperwork is another, and the second is the one that leaves you exposed.
4. Consider what happens to the guarantee.A guarantee is only as real as the record of the transaction. Undocumented work rarely produces a guarantee anyone will honour, and it certainly does not produce the certificates a sale will need.
5. Consider the certificates.Notifiable work has to be notified whoever pays how. But a trade willing to work entirely off the record is more likely to be one who skips the notification too, which is the expensive part.
6. Always get a receipt for any cash you do hand over.Dated, showing the amount, the work, and the business name. Photograph it. This is the minimum and it takes thirty seconds.
7. Pay traceably for anything of size.Bank transfer to a business account or card payment, with an invoice for each stage. It costs you nothing and it preserves every route you might later need.
8. Verify account details by voice before large transfers.Building projects are a specific target for invoice interception. Ring a number you already had and confirm the account before sending money.

Tips

• If a builder will only work for cash, ask yourself what other records they are not keeping — including the building control notification.
• The saving on a cash discount is usually a fraction of the cost of putting one significant thing right without any evidence of what was agreed.
• Keep every invoice and payment record with the certificates. It is the same file, and it is what a buyer's solicitor asks about.

Common mistakes

• Taking a cash discount on a large job — You give up proof of payment, card protections and usually the invoice, in exchange for a modest saving. The exposure is far larger than the discount.
• Paying without any receipt at all — In a dispute the burden falls on you to show what you paid. Without a record there is nothing to show, whatever the truth was.

Questions people ask