{"id":408469,"date":"2026-04-20T15:57:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T15:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/408469\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T15:57:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T15:57:09","slug":"one-in-two-people-in-ireland-caught-out-by-home-repair-scams-as-warning-issued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/408469\/","title":{"rendered":"One in two people in Ireland caught out by home repair scams as warning issued"},"content":{"rendered":"

53% of people in Ireland have been affected by a home repair or contractor scam; these include unregistered tradespeople and contractors taking deposits and disappearing\"Young<\/p>\n

Young woman looking shocked at her phone(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

More than one in two people living in Ireland have been caught out by nasty home repair or contractor scams<\/a>.<\/p>\n

From unregistered tradespeople to disappearing deposits, scammers <\/a>are always on the search for their next victim to take advantage of.<\/p>\n

Aviva Insurance Ireland has reported a rise in calls from concerned homeowners, particularly after severe weather, when demand for urgent repairs is high. Nation Garda <\/a>data also shows a 43% rise in \u2018bogus tradespeople\u2019 incidents in 2025 compared with the previous year<\/p>\n

Digital threats are also increasing. At least 1 in 10 have experienced cyber scams related to home improvements, including invoice redirection fraud, in which payment details are intercepted or altered.<\/p>\n

A further 11% report having been hacked or targeted by smart home devices, showing that households face risks both online and at the doorstep.<\/p>\n

While a majority of people believe they can recognise a scam, 14% say they cannot, which leaves a substantial number vulnerable to increasingly convincing tactics.<\/p>\n

How to stay safe from rising scams<\/p>\n

Aviva Insurance advises several practical steps to protect against in-person, financial and digital scams:<\/p>\n

Be cautious of unsolicited contact, including doorstep approaches after storms or unexpected calls, texts or emails urging quick action.Verify who you\u2019re dealing with before agreeing to any work or payment. Many people do this by checking trade body registration (39%) and proof of insurance (22%).Insist on written quotes, contracts or invoices (31% take this step).Be wary of payment-related scams, and always confirm changed bank details by phone with a trusted contact.Avoid large upfront payments \u2013 staged payments reduce the risk of loss.Secure smart home devices with strong passwords, two-factor authentication and regular updates.Pause and reassess if anything feels off \u2013 scammers often rely on urgency.Report suspicious approaches to Garda\u00ed (57% say they would).<\/p>\n

Gillian Devereux, Senior Loss Adjuster at Aviva Insurance Ireland DAC, said: “The research reflects what we\u2019re seeing every day. Homeowners are often approached after storms or water damage with offers of quick, low-cost repairs that leave them worse off, especially older or more vulnerable customers.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re also hearing of cases where bogus tradespeople claim they\u2019ll send photos or invoices to insurers on the customer\u2019s behalf, which is a clear warning sign. If this happens, contact your insurer\u2019s claims team, financial advisor or broker before any work begins. The best protection is to verify who you\u2019re dealing with, get everything in writing, double-check payment details, and trust your instincts if something feels off.”<\/p>\n

Want to see more of the stories you love from RSVP<\/a> ? To add RSVP as a preferred source of news on Google, simply click here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"53% of people in Ireland have been affected by a home repair or contractor scam; these include unregistered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1115,61,60,43,4578],"class_list":["post-408469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-crime","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-scams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}