How do you choose a roof moss removal company?
By the Toiture Wash team · Updated on 20 October 2026 · 4 min read
Short answer. Choose a company that you contacted yourself, that gives you a written quote incl. VAT, line by line, and whose company number, jobs and reviews you can check. Be wary of anyone who turns up at your door without an appointment, announces an emergency and asks for a deposit: the police advise you not to pay and to call 101.
The signs of a moss removal scam
The police and the press regularly report rogue traders posing as moss removal companies, especially when the good weather returns. In July 2024, the police warned about individuals who turn up without an appointment, announce an emergency, ask for a deposit and then disappear, or botch the work and then demand very high sums; cases were reported in Schaerbeek, in Gaume and in the Borinage. In May 2023, the police zones of Walloon Brabant warned about rogue moss removers who targeted elderly people, with repeated card payments.
The warning signs:
- a visit you did not ask for;
- an emergency announced on the doorstep;
- a price given verbally, with no written quote or company number;
- a deposit demanded straight away, in cash or by card;
- work started the same day, followed by a demand for a sum much higher than the price quoted.
The police advice: contact established companies yourself, compare quotes, check the company number, and call 101 if in doubt.
Eight checks before signing
- The company number. It appears on the quote; check it in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (Banque-Carrefour des Entreprises): address, activity, date of creation.
- A written quote, incl. VAT. For a private individual, the price must include VAT; also ask for the breakdown of the services: moss removal, treatment, gutters, travel.
- The VAT rate. Check it on the quote: it depends on your home, and a reduced rate applies only if the legal conditions are met.
- The method and the product. Ask how the roof will be cleaned, at what pressure, and which product will be applied. An anti-moss product is in principle a biocide: it must then carry an authorisation number, which you can check on biocide.be. The comparison of methods: Which moss removal method for your roof?
- What is included. Gutter cleaning, what is planned for a rainwater tank, and above all the treatment applied after the cleaning: included in the price per m², or charged extra? That is often where two quotes differ. At Toiture Wash, gutter cleaning and the treatment (a colourless water repellent or an algicide product, depending on your roof) are included in every moss removal.
- Asbestos. A serious company asks the question before any quote on artificial slates or corrugated sheets: see Does my roof contain asbestos?
- Evidence. Photos of real jobs, with the place and the date, and reviews that you can read somewhere other than on the company's own site.
- Insurance. Ask for the professional liability insurance certificate. The compulsory ten-year insurance for contractors (Act of 31 May 2017) only covers work that requires an architect: it does not apply to a moss removal.
Your rights if the contract is signed at your home
A contract signed at your home, or anywhere other than the company's premises, is an "off-premises" contract. The law then gives you:
- 14 days to withdraw, with no reason and no cost; for a service, the period runs from the conclusion of the contract;
- no work during this period without your express request: it only begins if you ask for it, on a durable medium such as an e-mail or a signed document. If you withdraw afterwards, you pay for the part already carried out.
The right of withdrawal does not apply to urgent maintenance or repair work that you yourself asked for when you requested the visit; any service added on the spot remains subject to it. These are legal rights: no company can present them as a favour.
Frequently asked questions
A door-to-door seller offers to remove the moss from my roof today: what should I do?
Sign nothing and pay nothing on the doorstep. Ask for a written quote and the company number, check them, and compare with another company. If you are pressured or in doubt, call 101.
I signed at home: can I cancel?
Yes, within 14 days, with no reason and no cost, if the contract was concluded off-premises. If the work began at your request during that period, you owe the part already done.
Should you pay a deposit for a moss removal?
It is not forbidden, but you do not have to pay one before you have a written quote that you have checked. Never hand over cash to someone who turned up without an appointment.
How do I compare two moss removal quotes?
Line by line, incl. VAT: roof area rather than ground area, method, treatment, gutters, travel and set-up costs. Our page Roof moss removal prices details what makes up the price.
Sources
- FPS Economy, Off-premises sales (updated 18 September 2026; in French).
- RTBF, Beware of scams: fake moss removers or roof repairers at work in Walloon Brabant (15 May 2023; in French).
- La DH, "Moss removal" and "chimney" scams on the rise as the good weather returns (2 July 2024; in French).
- FPS Public Health, Biocides: what you need to know before using them.
- Act of 31 May 2017 on the compulsory liability insurance of contractors, architects and other providers in the construction sector (Justel; in French).