I asked my wife to call a plumber and it ended up with my family being held to ransom…

When Jonathan Reeves left for work one morning in September 2023 and asked his wife to call a plumber to fix their boiler, he never thought it would end with his family held to ransom.

Jonathan, 43, of West Hampstead, north-west London, had just moved into a new home with his wife and their two daughters, then aged one and two.

As they were still settling in, the boiler had not yet been switched on and the dishwasher and washing machine needed to be plumbed in.

After Jonathan left for his job as a City banker, his wife, who doesn’t want to be named, tried to ring a reputable local plumbing firm called Plumberoo, which they had used at their previous home.

Jonathan says a plumber turned up shortly after, wearing work overalls, and barged into the home as his wife opened the door.

‘He spent five hours in the boiler room but appeared to be doing nothing – he just kept saying the boiler still needed to be repaired,’ he says. The plumber then emerged and demanded to be paid £2,000 immediately, either in cash or by bank transfer before he would leave. He said this would cover the cost of his labour and replacement parts.

Jonathan says: ‘Feeling vulnerable, and with the two young children at home, my wife called me – and I spoke to him on the phone – explaining I would not be intimidated to pay while he was still in the house and that he must leave us a bill.’

But he refused to leave. As the standoff reached an impasse, the plumber went into the boiler room and used his tools to rip out the entire boiler. He carried it out with him, leaving a gaping hole where it had been.

Jonathan says his wife was extremely upset by the ordeal and didn’t feel she could stop him from leaving with the boiler. ‘It was a traumatic experience and my wife was left really shaken,’ he adds.

Jonathan says he returned later to discover water dripping on the floor and gas pipes dangling from the wall. He phoned Plumberoo, but they said they had never heard of the man who had turned up. He tried to phone the rogue trader again, but could not get through to anyone.

Jonathan was left with no choice but to find a legitimate plumber to install a new boiler.

He then contacted his insurer, Tesco, to make a claim. The stolen Vaillant boiler was worth £3,600 and the cost of replacing it, including labour, was £5,000.

The Reeves family had fallen victim to a dangerous rogue trader crime, which involves crooks posing as genuine tradesmen. Once they have tricked their way into your home they make a threat – demanding money is paid immediately or else they will steal or damage fittings inside your house.

Katherine Hart, lead officer for doorstep crime at the customer protection group Trading Standards Institute, fears this shocking crime is not an isolated incident.

She says: ‘This theft has all the hallmarks of a rogue trader. He may have intended to fix the boiler but realised he was out of his depth – or always intended to hold the household to ransom with a demand. But the outcome was the same.

‘Never invite a stranger into your home for a repair, even in an emergency, without seeing their credentials and having written documentation with an agreement about exactly what they will do and the cost.’

Despite being shaken by the experience, Jonathan hoped a replacement boiler would be installed under his home cover as provided by Tesco Insurance.

But the company refused to pay out, claiming that because the family let the burglar into the home, even though they believed he was a genuine plumber, the insurer did not have to pay up under small-print terms and conditions on thefts.

Jonathan decided to take Tesco Insurance on at the small claims court in January, seeking £5,000 to cover the cost of replacing the boiler. But the insurer won. Jonathan received nothing and picked up the £205 court costs.

The 43-year-old is baffled by how a call to a local plumber he trusted had ended with a visit from a conman and believes a ‘sophisticated technique’ was used to hack the call – which he believes his wife made to a genuine plumber. Jonathan said his wife believed she had called the reputable local company they had used before – Plumberoo – and that’s where the tradesman was from but it was only after talking to the firm later that Jonathan discovered the thief did not work for them.

It’s still unclear how that happened. However, at the court hearing, Tesco defence lawyer Oliver Stapel suggested ‘google spoofing’ might have been the culprit behind the criminal interception.

This is when copycat websites appear when you tap in the details of a company or service – which means anyone browsing the internet might accidentally contact fake providers believing they are genuine.

Hart adds: ‘This family may never find out how the criminal managed to trick them into believing he came from a reputable outfit.

‘But we have come across similar deception techniques, varying from intercepting genuine phone calls to impersonating others with clone websites.

‘Sadly, homeowners need to constantly be on their guard.’

Jonathan says: ‘We have been robbed – pure and simple – and I am disappointed that this is not covered by the insurance policy that covers you in the case of theft.

‘The experience has taught me the importance of making sure the person at your door is exactly who they say they are before you let them in. It turned out to be a costly mistake.’

Deputy District Judge Javaherian was ‘sympathetic’ with Jonathan but threw out his case because the thief had technically been invited into the home – and the crime was only discovered later. The judge said if his wife had phoned the police immediately then Tesco Insurance might have been forced to pay the £5,000 that Jonathan demanded.

The judge also pointed out that the home cover taken out with Tesco Insurance was for buildings – and had the couple taken out contents cover as well then it would have been more likely that their insurer would have paid out. Tesco failed to respond to our request for a comment.

Plumbing expert Billy Gunn, director of Imperial Heating Services, says: ‘Ripping out a gas boiler is extremely dangerous – and any problems should only be dealt with by fully qualified engineers. Otherwise, there is potential for a gas leak and explosion, not to mention water damage.

‘Never let anyone inside your home without asking to see their credentials first. If they are working with gas, they must be Gas Safe Registered.’

If concerned about a gas leak – even if someone has not taken your boiler – you should contact the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999.

Tips for trusted tradesmen 

• A great place to start is a recommendation from family or friends. Ask for references and get a written agreement on the job to be done.

• Do not pay in advance, although a small deposit is okay. Try to get two or three people to provide a written quote. But be wary as the cheapest is not always the best.

• Several websites offer tradesman-finding services, but the only Government-backed scheme is TrustMark.

• Paying cash is not recommended as it means there is little recourse if things go wrong.

• If using a website, be wary of unusual endings, such as .rs (Russia). Copycat websites may also have a different spelling of a name – perhaps using digit ‘1’ instead of letter ‘i’ or putting a hyphen in a title. When a handyman arrives ask for their office phone number and call to check it ties up with details being provided on a genuine website.