Questions, answered plainly.
Everything you need to know about protecting a building project with Covarah, whether you’re the homeowner or the builder.
Can’t find your answer? Email hello@covarah.co.uk
Getting started
What Covarah is, who it’s for, and how to begin.
What is Covarah?
Covarah protects the payments on building projects, for homeowners and builders alike. Each stage of the work is paid into regulated escrow before it starts, and released when the work is approved.
Around that sits a contract you both sign online, a record of the whole project, and a clear process if something’s disputed.
Who is Covarah for?
Homeowners having building work done, such as an extension, renovation or refurbishment, and the builders doing the work. It works with any builder you’ve already chosen.
How much does Covarah cost?
1.5% of the project value, paid by the homeowner. It’s free for builders, and there are no subscriptions or setup fees. Fees exclude VAT.
How do I get started?
Create a free account, set up your project and invite your builder. Your builder drafts the contract, with the stages and what each one costs. You both review it, ask for changes if you need to, and sign online.
The homeowner then pays the first stage into escrow, and work can start.
What is the Property Passport?
Coming soon
We’re building a lasting record of the work done on your home: approvals, certificates, evidence and agreed variations, across every project. It will stay with the property rather than with one job, so it’s useful when you sell, for insurance, and for anyone who works on the property later.
Payment protection
Where your money is, and when it moves.
How is my money protected?
Every payment is held by Transpact, a payment provider authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (FRN 546279). Transpact must safeguard customers’ money, keeping it separate from its own.
Each stage’s money goes to your builder only when you’ve approved the work, or as the outcome of the dispute process.
How is Covarah different from other payment protection schemes?
Some schemes only secure a small deposit upfront and pay the builder after each stage is finished, so the builder starts every stage on trust. Others only protect builders who are registered with a partner scheme.
Covarah secures the next stage before it starts, every time, and works with any builder you’ve already chosen.
Does my builder need to be registered with a scheme?
No. Covarah isn’t tied to any trade scheme or accreditation body. If you’ve chosen your builder, we’ll help protect the payments between you.
How is this different from paying my builder by bank transfer?
You still pay by bank transfer, but into escrow with Transpact rather than straight to your builder.
A direct transfer gives your builder the money immediately, with no protection if the work isn’t finished. With Covarah, the money is held until you’ve approved the stage.
Is this the same as paying by credit card?
No. A card payment goes to your builder straight away, and any protection is a claim you make afterwards. Covarah holds each stage’s money before the work starts, and it’s released only when you’ve approved the work.
What if I already have Section 75 credit card protection?
Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act makes your card provider jointly responsible if something you paid for, at least partly by credit card, isn’t provided as agreed. It applies to purchases between £100 and £30,000, so many larger projects fall outside it.
It’s also a claim you make after the money has been paid. Covarah holds each stage’s money until you’ve approved the work.
What happens to my money while it’s in escrow?
It’s held by Transpact, separate from Covarah and from your builder. You only pay in the next stage, before it starts, never the whole project at once. The rest of your money stays with you until it’s needed.
How do payments get released?
When your builder finishes a stage, they mark it complete and ask for your approval. You check the work, then approve it or raise a concern. Once you’ve approved it, you release the payment through Transpact.
If you raise a concern, your builder can put it right and ask again. Nothing is released without your approval or the outcome of a dispute.
Can the builder access my money before I approve?
No. The money is held by Transpact and released only when you approve the stage, or as the outcome of the dispute process. Neither your builder nor Covarah can take it.
Contracts
What you sign, and how changes are handled.
Are the digital contracts legally binding?
Yes. Electronic signatures are legally valid in the UK and recognised under the Electronic Communications Act 2000. Covarah records the time, IP address and account of everyone who signs, so there’s a clear record of who agreed to what.
What does the contract include?
The scope of work, the stages and what each one costs, start and finish dates, retention, the insurance your builder should hold, the defects liability period, and what happens if there’s a dispute. You both review it, ask for changes if you need to, and sign it online.
What if the scope of work changes after the project starts?
Every change is a written variation, setting out what’s changing, what it costs and how it affects the timeline. The homeowner approves it before the price changes, and the contract and stage amounts update to match.
There’s no extra charge to your builder for recording a change properly. Changes agreed verbally or outside Covarah aren’t recognised.
Coming soonAdding a variation to the project as its own funded stage.
Can I choose my own insurance provider?
Coming soon
Not yet. We’re building a way to choose the cover that suits your project, with what’s covered set out plainly.
Today, the contract sets out the insurance your builder should hold, and reminds you to check that your own buildings insurance covers the work.
Disputes
What happens if you disagree, and where the money is meanwhile.
What happens if there’s a dispute?
Either of you can raise a dispute on the project. We start with facilitation: someone from our team keeps both sides talking, with the project record already in front of us. Facilitation costs nothing extra.
The money for the stage stays held in escrow throughout.
What happens if we can’t agree?
If facilitation doesn’t settle it, you both agree a qualified, independent mediator, adjudicator or arbitrator.
The outcome settles what happens to the money: the payment is released to your builder, the remaining work is set out with a deadline for finishing it, or the money goes back to the homeowner.
Can we choose our own mediator or adjudicator?
Yes. You agree on them together, so neither side picks alone, and they must be qualified and independent of you both. Agreeing who you’d use at the start of the project can save time if a stage is disputed later.
Coming soonChoosing and appointing them inside Covarah.
What does it mean for a decision to be “final”?
It means the outcome decides what happens to the money held for the disputed stage, rather than leaving it open. Until then, the money stays held in escrow.
How binding it is in law depends on the route. An arbitrator’s award is final and binding. An adjudicator’s decision is binding unless a court or arbitrator later decides otherwise. A mediator helps you reach an agreement, which binds you both once you’ve signed it.
Coming soonIf the deadline is missed, the stage’s money can be paid straight to a replacement tradesperson from escrow.
What happens to the money during a dispute?
It stays held in escrow with Transpact until the dispute is settled. Neither side loses it while things are being worked out, which takes the pressure off both of you.
Is our communication kept on record?
Messages, calls and documents sent through Covarah stay on the project record, with the time and who sent them. That record can be used if there’s a dispute.
Anything said or agreed outside Covarah isn’t on the record, so it’s best to keep project conversations on the platform.
Security & compliance
Who holds the money, who checks identities, and how your data is handled.
Does Covarah hold my money?
No. Covarah is a technology platform. Every payment is held by Transpact under its own FCA authorisation. Covarah never holds, receives or controls your money.
What does “FCA-regulated” mean?
Transpact, which holds the money, is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (FRN 546279), and registered with HM Revenue & Customs as a Money Services Business.
That means it must safeguard customers’ money, keeping it separate from its own, and follow UK anti-money laundering rules. You can check its authorisation on the FCA Register.
What are AML and KYC checks?
Anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) checks confirm that people are who they say they are. Everyone who pays or gets paid on Covarah is identity-checked by Transpact, so you know who you’re dealing with.
Is my data safe?
Covarah handles your data under UK GDPR. It’s encrypted in transit, and files are stored encrypted. You can ask to see, correct or delete your data, and we don’t sell it to anyone.
For builders
Getting paid, joining a project, and what it costs you.
How does Covarah help builders?
The homeowner pays each stage into escrow before you start it, so you know the money is there. Finish the stage, the homeowner approves it and releases the payment.
A signed contract keeps the scope agreed, and the project record backs you up if a claim is unfair.
Do I have to pay to use Covarah as a builder?
No. There’s no cost to you as a builder. The fee is paid by the homeowner, and you get stage payments funded before you start, a clear contract and the dispute process, free.
How do I join a project?
Your client invites you to their project. You confirm your identity with Transpact so you can be paid, agree and sign the contract, and start work once the next stage is funded.
There’s no profile to build and no reviews to chase.
What if a client unreasonably withholds approval?
Our terms ask clients to approve a stage or raise a concern within 5 working days. If approval is unreasonably held back, you can raise a dispute, and the record of your completed work supports your case.
The money stays in escrow throughout, so it’s still there when the dispute is settled.
Coming soonA check-in from our team if your client hasn’t responded to an approval within three days.
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