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Restoration & Refurbishment
Builder dispute
I hired a builder to carryout roughcasting of my house, he estimated it would take 1-2 weeks. After day 1 (Monday) of erecting the scaffolding he disappeared after I gave him the deposit. He did not answer his phone or respond to my emails. He sent me email on the Sat saying weather and his roughcaster being ill was an issue. I asked him again for an invoice and to complete work ASAP. I send him a letter under the consumer act to get the work fixed within the next 2 weeks, he did not respond to another week and then refused to do the work. He then entered my property and removed all the scaffolding. He has left the materials which I reckon are only a few hundred pounds but I have paid him a deposit of £1400. He has also damaged my shed and scratched many of my slabs when removing his scaffolding. I want to see if I have a case to take this person to court as I did not get an invoice for the deposit. I was thinking to take him to the small claims court as I have photos of the damage.
3 Answers from MyBuilder Restoration & Refurb Specialists
If you have a quote and you have paid him by bank transfer or credit card and or have a signature for the money paid then I believe you have a contract which can be resolved in the small claims court. You'll need to issue a letter titled Letter Before Action and allow a reasonable amount of time for him to repay the money. If he does not respond or refuses to pay then begin the court process. If you are unsure then I would contact a debt recovery company or solicitor.
Answered 30th Oct 2016
I agree what room by room posted. But you need to know that trader may take solicitor as well. If you will lose in court you need to pay his bill as well. which may be thousands pounds. I used to have similar issue with my car. I wanted to claim 1000 pounds from car mechanic. Finally I gave up because it is to big risk. You never know what other person will do. I know it is difficult and painful when you hire someone and treat you this way.
Answered 30th Oct 2016
I handle a lot of this type of issue and courts don't favor the contractor weather you paid by cash, cheque or debit card, bank transfer you have a good case to persue the cowboy contractor, I am work on two cases at the moment client v contractor on over charging and poor standard of workmanship.
Dr Paul D Rogers
Answered 30th Oct 2016
