my builder took full payment and money for metrical

You should never pay up front for work and always get a written quote before agreeing work some companies may require a deposit but you should always check them out before giving any payment never give a cash deposit make sure they are a reputable company or trades man ask for references etc if they are a ltd company get a company number and vat number once you have paid the deposit required and agreed on final payment plan get that in writing and always stick to that do not pay any more money until the job is finished or in some cases you and your builder may of agreed a further payment at a certain point and amount of work being carried out make sure that the agreed amount of work as been carried out and that you are happy with what as been done to that point if a builder or trades man tells you they need money for materials don't and over cash it is best for you to ask them what they need then you pay for it and get it delivered at least then if the tradesmen lets you down at least you have got your materials even if work is being carried out by a friend or someone who as come recommended to you still stick to the above advice it's your money being spent not there's in this case were you have already handed over the money and it as got to a point were this chap as become aggressive and not willing to finish the work I would advise contacting trading standards if he as threatened you contact the police if he refuses to return your money takeout a county court judgment against him or his company find out if he advertises with any online business directory and contact them and make them aware of what he as done hope this helps

Good morning, This is quite a difficult situation isn't it! Not very nice to be in the middle of, either. I think that there are two issues here; the aggressiveness of your neighbour and the issue of the work being done or not being done, or your money being returned to you. I would first contact the Police about your neighbour being aggressive and explain the situation to them. At the least they will then have a note of this on file and if he reacts badly to anything in the future, the Police will already have some awareness of what is going on. In regards to getting your money back or getting him to complete the work (which I imagine you don't really now want him to do) anyone who is registered as any kind of company will have a registration entry with Companies House. You should be able to contact them by phone, explain the situation and ask if they have a company registered at your neighbour's address. If not, then he isn't registered as a company and it's a personal issue. If you need to find out his full name and details then your local council should be able to assist with passing you his details, again with you explaining the situation. Another way would be to get his car registration and you can then obtain his details from DVLA. Once you have his details, you could then choose to take him to the small claims court, which you can do for a relatively small fee. BUT this takes months and if he is aggressive that will create a VERY awkward situation between you and your neighbour and could make things extremely uncomfortable for you - you have to decide whether it is worth you going through this or not. Even if the case went in your favour and the judgement was made for him to return your money, enforcing the payment of that money is not straightforward and he could end up paying back £15 a week for 50 weeks, for example. I think you need some simple legal advice if you want to go down this route, but you'll still need either his company or personal details regardless. I hope you find this useful and wish you all the best in a very awkward situation. Regards Philip Walters Walts Consulting Ltd