Giving References

[newhandyman]

Why does this sound like a phishing exercise - are these prospective 'employers' checking to see if you are declaring all your earnings? Are you paid 'cash in hand'? Do you have accurate records and an accountant?

Do you really need the work?

BTW - £40 a fortnight sounds cheap - 1 visit or 2? how many hours?
TBH - in my book asking for references puts the price up.

£40 a fortnight is for two hrs and that's one visit. Go higher? It's quite a drive

I got the number and email off a friend who quoted for window cleaning. They said they managed lots of properties.

phishing- yes, why do they want my UTR number? i changed one of the numbers anyway before sending back because I couldn't understand why they need that info. I said £30,000 when in reality I am on tax credits. outI haven't worked that long but put five years, another lie. However, lying about this could be passed off as someone just trying to make themselves look good on a job application and I doubt HMRC will care. With the references two are all bank transfers from customers but one is cash in hand for years so maybe delete that one and use someone else. You got me worried now.

They are also asking things like-

Professional indeminity, employers liability! I don't even know what these mean so put N/A. I only have public liability

And are you chas accredited and what's construction phase? I guess it's a general application for everyone even if not relevant to me.

Another weird thing is when i went to flats the people who live there took my quote and said they would contact Tracey and had never heard of the name I was given' , maybe I should ask my friend where he got the contact

 

[StephenStephen]

ask them first. They will probably be flattered, but if they get calls without having given their agreement, they are liable to be irritated.

Yes - Always ask people if they're happy to be a referee, before giving their contact details to anyone - it's polite, and it gives them a chance to ask you what the new job is, and to think of (maybe even talk with you about) what they might say.
I've never had a request for a reference without someone checking with me first, and I've never given a referee's contact details without checking with them first.
In this situation, if I were you, I'd be getting back to those customers, briefly apologizing for not checking with them first, and checking they're ok with it.
...and yes, it does seem odd for them to be asking for so much info for such a small amount of work - be suspicious!

 

[newhandyman]

The UTR number was with my banking details, not debit card details but account number and sort code etc with my address. I assumed for bank transfers. Is this normal to send banking details and UTR number when applying for work with property managment company? I dont even have job yet! A

Crawco is the company name

I couldn't find it on google search

Found this-

http://uk.crawfordandcompany.com/services/property-services/contractor-connection.aspx

I called but no one answered and when they did gave another number. I called that but it was a totally different company. Solicitors. ??? The lady did offer to give me the contact's number, but it's all strange!!! Should I be worried about giving my personal info?

 

[newhandyman]

Yes - Always ask people if they're happy to be a referee, before giving their contact details to anyone - it's polite, and it gives them a chance to ask you what the new job is, and to think of (maybe even talk with you about) what they might say.
I've never had a request for a reference without someone checking with me first, and I've never given a referee's contact details without checking with them first.
In this situation, if I were you, I'd be getting back to those customers, briefly apologizing for not checking with them first, and checking they're ok with it.
...and yes, it does seem odd for them to be asking for so much info for such a small amount of work - be suspicious!

You think it's HMRC or someone trying to steal money from my card? I sent email to friend to find out where he got this contact he passed on to me.

 

[Mottie]

.....so was a bit blase with the references......Tidy I am not sure and they may say limited skills/inexperienced .........I lied and put £30,000..........I would worry they would say something like he's ok for mowing a lawn and can do some things but isn't a real gardener........I have got it. i will put the name and address of three customers real ones. they will never write back anyway. But the numbers can be mobile numbers. i will just buy some sims and answer the call myself.

Are you for real? With that attitude I’m surprised you have any work at all. You sound like a right chancer to me.

 

[MMarve]

Just give them a link to this thread. I am sure this tells anybody everything they need to know about employing you for anything.

 

[newhandyman]

My friend who gave me the email was contacted by her on checkatrade. . So is this all a bit dodgy? Is giving your turnover and UTR number normal on an application? When I called them it all sounded dodgy- no one answering just gave the number of a solicitors who didnt know who crawco were!

 

[newhandyman]

Yes - Always ask people if they're happy to be a referee, before giving their contact details to anyone - it's polite, and it gives them a chance to ask you what the new job is, and to think of (maybe even talk with you about) what they might say.
I've never had a request for a reference without someone checking with me first, and I've never given a referee's contact details without checking with them first.
In this situation, if I were you, I'd be getting back to those customers, briefly apologizing for not checking with them first, and checking they're ok with it.
...and yes, it does seem odd for them to be asking for so much info for such a small amount of work - be suspicious!

After bank details?

 

[newhandyman]

Why does this sound like a phishing exercise - are these prospective 'employers' checking to see if you are declaring all your earnings? Are you paid 'cash in hand'? Do you have accurate records and an accountant?

Do you really need the work?

BTW - £40 a fortnight sounds cheap - 1 visit or 2? how many hours?
TBH - in my book asking for references puts the price up.

HMRC?

 

[opps]

It seems to be a CIS requirement

read the following

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=10&t=1306799

 

[opps]

Oh and then read this

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crawford_&_Company

They sound like a pretty big and legit company. I assume that they are simply covering their behind.

 

[newhandyman]

This was the site I got telephone numbers from- didnt answer for most numbers then when they did gave me a different company's (solicitor's numnber). Strange! Also, the padlock in search bar has a red line through it!!! That doesn't look secure to me although, I am not totally sure about these things-

http://uk.crawfordandcompany.com/contact-us.aspx

 

[opps]

The red padlock means that the site doesn't use SSL and that the data isn't encrypted. The parts of the site where you have to interact with the site and send info are however encrypted, eg

https://myeyeclaims.crawco.co.uk/Account/LogOn

You only need a SSL if you are dealing with confidential data. A static homepage with no personal info doesn't need an SSL.

 

[opps]

If a site begins with HTTP is doesn't use SSL, if it starts with HTTPS it uses SSL to encrypt the data.

Just to muddy the waters, some HTTP sites legitimately use self signed SSL certs but will be flagged by some browsers as being unsafe.

In general, only buy online from sites with green padlocks.

 

[newhandyman]

I guess it's all pukka. Someone just posted about phishing on this thread and it got me nervous. Didn't get much answering either from the links on that website just diversion to messaging machine. If it was a good company people would pick up nd the girl I spoke to didnt give a good impression. Dont think I'll bother sending my updated application with improved references. None of it felt right.