Call-out fees, VAT and 'from' prices: the hidden fee rules for trades

Since April 2025 the law on how prices are shown to consumers has been tighter, and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) can now fine businesses directly.

Its first fine for hidden fees, in April 2026, was over a £3 booking fee that a large driving school business added after its headline price. Small charges count.

The CMA's first cases have been against big firms, but the rules apply to every business that sells to consumers, including a one-person trade.

• Prices shown to homeowners include VAT, if you are VAT registered.
• Any charge the customer cannot avoid, such as a call-out fee, is part of the price, not added later.
• If you charge by the hour, put fixed charges right next to the rate, just as clearly.
• 'From' prices must be realistic and include the unavoidable charges.
• A price list given only to business customers can leave out VAT.

It is not only your quote. Any price that lets a customer decide to book counts: your website price list, a Facebook or Instagram post with a price in it, a leaflet, a directory listing.

If someone could read it and book you on that basis, treat it as a price under these rules.

If you are VAT registered, VAT is a charge the customer cannot avoid, so a price shown to a homeowner should include it.

"£400 plus VAT" on a website aimed at homeowners is the kind of price the rules are written to stop. "£480 including VAT" is fine.

Quotes to homeowners should show the total including VAT. You can still show the VAT as its own line, as long as the total is clear.

You can give business customers, such as letting agents or other trades, a price list or quote without VAT. But if you also work for homeowners, your website, adverts and posts must show prices including VAT.

A call-out fee, a booking fee, a parking charge you always pass on, a minimum admin charge: if the customer has to pay it to get the job done, it is mandatory, and it belongs in the price.

Showing it separately, or calling it something else, does not make it optional.

A charge that depends on the customer's own choice, such as an optional same-day visit, can be shown separately, as long as it is clear from the start.

Most trade work cannot be priced until you know the job, and the rules allow for that. You have three straightforward options.

• Show your rates so the customer can work out the total, with any fixed charges right next to them and just as clear. For example: "£55 an hour, plus a £30 call-out charged once per visit." Better still, fold it in: "£85 for the first hour, including the call-out, then £55 an hour."
• Show realistic 'from' prices or example prices: "Boiler service from £85, including VAT." A 'from' price must be one that real customers actually get, not a rare best case.
• Give no price until you have the details, then quote the full total. The CMA's own guidance says home improvement businesses commonly price only after assessing the job, and that they can still advertise indicative prices.

A quote is the total price. It should include VAT and every fixed charge, with nothing added at the end that the customer was not told about.

If something changes during the job, agree the extra before you do it. That keeps the final bill matching what the customer agreed to.

Before: "Boiler service £70 + VAT. Call-out charge applies." The customer then gets a bill for £114: £70, a £25 call-out, and VAT on both.

After: "Boiler service £114, including VAT and call-out." Same money, no surprise, and no hidden fee.

The honest version is easier to compare, and the customers who book know exactly what they will pay.

• Read your website, social posts and directory listings as a homeowner would, and find every price.
• Add VAT to any price aimed at homeowners, if you are VAT registered.
• Fold call-out and other fixed charges into the price, or put them right next to it.
• Check your 'from' prices are ones customers really get.
• Check your quote template shows one clear total, including VAT.

Website wording for work charged by time:

Call-outs: £[amount] for the first hour, including VAT and travel within [area]. Then £[amount] per half hour, including VAT. Parts are extra and agreed with you before they are fitted.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. The CMA's price transparency guidance on GOV.UK has the full rules and examples, and breaking them can lead to fines of up to 10% of turnover or £300,000, whichever is higher.