A grandmother has told how her roof was left “hanging off” after she was preyed on by rogue insulation traders.Mary Melvin from Alexandria in West Dunbartonshire, lost thousands after an unknown firm turned up one day last month to offer an entire new roof.The 69-year-old shelled out £9,000 on repairs, which included a £3,500 deposit and a five-year loan plan with the bank.But when she immediately found damage to her property the company vanished out of sight.It comes as officials at Advice Direct Scotland revealed that Sots are losing more than £10,000 to rogue traders who are targeting the elderly.The charity are warning that cowboy contractors are promising to lower bills for vulnerable residents amidst the energy crisis – by winter-proofing their homes.Mary, a former distillery worker said: “They turned up one day offering to do the work and I just took them at face value.“After noticing some damage, I’ve struggled to get a hold of the firm.
I don’t know if they have gone bust or what has happened with them, but the work was meant to be guaranteed for about 20 years.“I just can’t get a hold of them at all.
I don’t know if they were a genuine company or if they were just chancing their arm by going round the doors.“The corner of the roof is coming away and hanging off, and a couple of pieces have fallen to the ground.”Advice Direct Scotland which runs a scam reporting tool at consumeradvice.scot found that households across the country have lost a whopping £661,586 to insulation-related scams over the past two years.In 2023/24 alone, £197,762 was lost, but reports have more than doubled in the current financial year.
Read more on dailyrecord.co.uk