Builder threat of legal action.

skivington

A builder undertook work to a shared chimney breast on my property. It was my neighbour who asked him to do the work. He sent me a bill for over £500. My neighbour paid him an identical amount. My neighbour was estimated 3 - 4 hours work for the job.
I wrote to the builder saying I was not happy with the bill and that I did not believe that I had to pay it. I pointed out that he was asked to do the work my my neighbour and that the estimate was 3 - 4 hours labour.
I now have a solicitors letter saying that I have 7 days to pay before court proceedings in the sheriff court are raised against me and that they will be seeking to recover the costs of raising the action.
Is what he is doing legal? Are you allowed to do this? I am worried that I will be landed with this huge bill and legal costs on top, I cant afford to pay £500 and certainly cant afford a lawyer to go to court with. Any advice would be most appreciated - sorry if this is in the wrong place, I am very woried about the letter and the way this guy seems to be intent on billing me. What can I do

DVardysShadow

Who is his contract with? Who instructed him? If it was not you, what did you agree with the neighbour?

hollydays

You are being a little cagey about why the work was needed.
You say the builder estimated-not "quoted" then.There is a big difference.

skivington

The first I herd of this was my neighbour asking if it was OK to give the builder my number as he needed to check if my fire was blocked or open. She had asked him for a price to repoint the chimney breast as a decorator advised her that damp was coming in trough the chimney. She was told by the builder that it was a small job and that it would take 3 or 4 hours so she asked him to do it. She is a pensioner and lives alone, she thought she may get a grant for the work but did not ask for a written quote.

skivington

I should say that I asked the builder to let me know what the bill was as I intended to pay my neighbour half of it as it is a shared chinmey.

hollydays

Shouldn't you have asked for a written quote?
How well recommended is the builder?
So nobody had asked him his hourly rate?You say she asked him for a price,but she never actually got one?

Did you ask for a breakdown of the bill? Was there any scaffolding or other equipment he had to hire?

I am a liitle confused,because although you appear to be saying you asked him to send you the bill,you also appear to have told him that you didn't ask for the work to be done.Surely you can't do both of these things simultaneously.

pinkshoes

skivington wrote: »

She was told by the builder that it was a small job and that it would take 3 or 4 hours so she asked him to do it.

The first thing you need to do is speak to your neighbour and get a full break down of the costs, and exactly what the verbal agreement was. Tell her you're not happy with the quote, and feel you have potentially been ripped off.

If the builder quoted your neighbour saying it would take 3 to 4 hours work, then they had a verbal contract. Did the builder tell your neighbour it was going to cost more than this? He should have specified if it was going to cost more than this, and I doubt he can justify £250 an hour for his wage!

A quick google brings up THIS, which gives a list of prices for repointing. Further down the list it says re-pointing two chimney stacks including cost of scaffolding was £560.

skivington

hollydays wrote: »

Shouldn't you have asked for a written quote?
How well recommended is the builder?
So nobody had asked him his hourly rate?You say she asked him for a price,but she never actually got one?

Did you ask for a breakdown of the bill? Was there any scaffolding or other equipment he had to hire?

I am a liitle confused,because although you appear to be saying you asked him to send you the bill,you also appear to have told him that you didn't ask for the work to be done.Surely you can't do both of these things simultaneously.

I should say that I was contacted on the day the builder turned up to do the work and that was the first I knew of it. I did ask for 'sight' of the bill when he was asking if my fireplace was blocked or not, as I felt it only right that I shared some of the cost with my neighbour as a personal arangement.

hollydays

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1149087&highlight=repointing+chimney

Found this thread here too.
I do hope this works out for you,I admit I have no idea if he can get away with this or not!!

skivington

pinkshoes wrote: »

The first thing you need to do is speak to your neighbour and get a full break down of the costs, and exactly what the verbal agreement was. Tell her you're not happy with the quote, and feel you have potentially been ripped off.

If the builder quoted your neighbour saying it would take 3 to 4 hours work, then they had a verbal contract. Did the builder tell your neighbour it was going to cost more than this? He should have specified if it was going to cost more than this, and I doubt he can justify £250 an hour for his wage!

A quick google brings which gives a list of prices for repointing. Further down the list it says re-pointing two chimney stacks including cost of scaffolding was £560.

Thanks, I had seen these prices and as the area is circa 5m sq both me and my neighbour felt the £500 was excessive, to find that the builder expects this paid twice is indeed a shock. In my mind the builder had a contrat with my neighbour, I got involved only to advise on the state of my fireplace. If I were involved I would have been asking for quotes etc, I only found out about the 'loose' arangement when the bills came in.

hollydays

I wonder if you should have a chat with your local Police too.Your neighbour may have been ripped off before and will be glad of the support.