Offering escrow – where the customer's money sits with an FCA-authorised payment provider until each stage of work is signed off – wins you jobs, because homeowners buy on trust. Research by the Federation of Master Builders found that one in five homeowners have put off building work altogether because they couldn't find a builder they trust [1]. Escrow is the strongest trust signal you can put on a quote: it's putting your money where your mouth is, in a way references and a polished quote can't match. And there's a second half to it that gets missed: protection set up this way protects you just as much as the customer.
Why does payment escrow win you work?
Because jobs are won on trust, not price. A homeowner planning a big job gathers more than one quote – the standard advice is three – and the winner is rarely simply the cheapest. It's whoever they trust to be in their house for six weeks and to finish what they started, and everything they weigh you on – references, first impressions, how professional the quote looks – is trust evidence. The same FMB research shows how much trust is worth: one in five homeowners have put off building work altogether because they couldn't find a builder they trust [1] – jobs that go to nobody, because nobody on the shortlist felt safe. And they're told to be careful: Citizens Advice tells homeowners not to pay everything up front and to check what protection exists for money paid before work is done, including escrow schemes [2], and the Federation of Master Builders tells them to be wary of anyone wanting large sums ahead of the work [3].
Everyone quoting against you has references and a track record to point to. Escrow is the trust signal none of that can match, because it isn't a claim – "I only get paid as you sign off each stage" is trust you've backed with your own payment terms, and it can't be copied by anyone who doesn't mean it. Homeowners put real value on it, too: in Renofy's own survey, homeowners said they'd be willing to pay an extra 4–5% to a tradesperson offering escrow – the same willingness to pay for proven trust that the FMB found nationally, with 82% of homeowners saying they'd pay more for a builder with proven competence [1]. Not that you need to charge it – the point is what it tells you. Customers actively want this, and in a three-quote comparison the one offering it starts ahead.
How does the homeowner's protection protect you?
Escrow proves the customer's money is actually there before you lift a tool. When a customer accepts an escrow quote on Renofy, they fund the whole job up front – the full project value moves into escrow, held by an FCA-authorised payment provider, before you start. Not a deposit. The whole job.
Every tradesperson has a version of the same story: three weeks into a job and the payments start slipping, and it slowly becomes clear the customer never had the full amount to begin with. Escrow makes that job impossible to start. If the money isn't there, the quote doesn't get funded and you find out on day zero – before the materials are ordered and your diary is committed – instead of week three. From your side of the job it's proof of funds, plus a payment for each completed stage that releases on approval rather than on an invoice you have to chase. (The mechanics – the 7-day review clock, deemed approval, the dispute process – are covered in how to get paid the day you finish.)
How do you bring it up with a customer?
It's one line, at the point you're already talking about money. After you've walked the job and you're on to how payment works: "I'll send the quote through the app – your money sits with an FCA-authorised payment provider, not with me, and I only get paid as you sign off each stage." Most customers just say "great", and that's the whole conversation – you've answered the question they were quietly asking anyway. (For introducing the app itself, not just the payments, see how to introduce Renofy to your customer.)
Does offering escrow mean you don't trust the customer?
No – it's not a demand you're making of them, it's a protection you're extending to them, and it mirrors how construction already works at the commercial end. Staged payments released against completed work are the structure of the standard domestic building contract; escrow gives an ordinary domestic job the same shape without a contract administrator and a stack of paperwork. Nobody reads a JCT contract as an insult, and no reasonable customer reads "you only pay me for verified work" as distrust. It reads as professionalism – which is precisely the signal that separates you from the trades who operate on cash up front and a handshake.
What does it cost you?
A 2% fee on escrow payouts, deducted from each milestone payment as it's released – nothing on refunds, no separate payment-provider charge, and free for the customer.
Setting it up takes a few minutes inside Renofy, and from then on escrow is an option on every quote you send: you pick it as the payment method, and the customer funds the job as part of accepting the quote.
Quote through Renofy with escrow payments: you give the customer the confidence to pay, and get the certainty of getting paid – funded before you start, released as they sign off each photo-backed milestone.
References
- Federation of Master Builders and HomeOwners Alliance – licensing research, 2025 (82% of homeowners would pay more to hire a licensed builder with proven competence; one in five have put off work because they couldn't find a builder they trust). https://www.fmb.org.uk/resource/new-research-shows-homeowners-want-licensed-builders.html
- Citizens Advice – Before you get work done on your home (don't pay everything up front; check protection for money paid before work is done, including escrow schemes holding money in a neutral account). https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/before-you-get-building-work-done/
- Federation of Master Builders – How to choose a builder (a 10% deposit is reasonable, think twice beyond 25%, be wary of demands for 50% or more upfront). https://www.fmb.org.uk/find-a-builder/ultimate-guides-to-home-renovation/how-to-choose-a-builder.html