Plasterer walked out on job

panchenlama

id be a little more careful...

I had an absolute idiot project manage an extension last year for me. I ended up having to get someone in to finish off the work he started and I refused to pay him anything until teh work was finished and I knew what the final bill etc was. Big email barny ensued. to cut a long story short he submitted a claim to court saying I owed him money (which I did but the amount was not yet determined). I got a lawyer on the case who said that whilst I had a good case (and cause to not pay him yet) the court case meant I had 28 days to either pay him or contest it. Long and short was that if I contested and lost I would get a CCJ against my name for being a debtor. Clearly the impact of that would be greater over my life than the impact of paying.

long and short is that I decided to pay him off - very begrudgingly. If I saw him in the street not sure what I'd do...

on the back of the above, my advice is either pay him off (and live with it) or take him to court NOW i.e. get in before he has the chance to submit a claim that you owe him money....

DVardysShadow

panchenlama wrote: »

Long and short was that if I contested and lost I would get a CCJ against my name for being a debtor. Clearly the impact of that would be greater over my life than the impact of paying.

A CCJ does not go on your record in any way which can count against you if you pay as ordered within 28 or 30 days.

You are allowed to have an honest dispute and lose in court with no impact on credit.

panchenlama

Sorry, but you're wrong. The papers issued to you by the court give you the opportunity to pay within the 28 days, contest or state that you cannot pay. If you contest then the court will make a ruling and (the paperwork states) this may result in a CCJ as you have refused to pay a bill you owe.

This process is supposed to make it easier for small traders to recover funds owed but is being !!!!!!!ised by crappy builders to recover money for shoddy work they have performed.

DVardysShadow

panchenlama wrote: »

Sorry, but you're wrong. The papers issued to you by the court give you the opportunity to pay within the 28 days, contest or state that you cannot pay. If you contest then the court will make a ruling and (the paperwork states) this may result in a CCJ as you have refused to pay a bill you owe.

This process is supposed to make it easier for small traders to recover funds owed but is being !!!!!!!ised by crappy builders to recover money for shoddy work they have performed.

Sorry, but you are even wronger because you missed the point. You DO risk a CCJ. But the amount can be paid within 28 days and does not appear on your credit record and it has no lasting impact. It would be very wrong for legitimate disputes not to get a proper hearing under the coercion of a CCJ affecting your credit record.

But in your case, given the circumstances, I think that the least you would have got from the court would be a grant of an application to stay proceedings until your losses were known for your counterclaim

aboard_epsilon

i reckon he didn't walk out because of you asking him to do the other job at a lower price ..he just used that as an excuse ..

he had taken on more work that he could handle ..and didn't want to do your job.

and you should just insist that he carries on with your job ..until its finished ..before you hand over any money .

thats the way i would have done it ......but with him asking for more money for petrol ..makes me think that he's just an aquard basket...and that alone would get my goat up........just pay him for his time and materials..and thats it.no more .he's let you down..and he should loose out and not you.

get a new lock

all the best.markj

kford224

Thank you for the replies. It has been over a week since he walked off the job and we have still heard nothing. Not even a reply to our message asking for our key back. We have since changed the lock and if he does decide to ask for money now, we'll refuse to pay
him. Walking out on a job is one thing, but his behaviour since then has been appalling! We have another plasterer starting a week Monday who we found on Check A Trade

jafsie

kford224,

If you are from the leeds area send me a PM I may have some news that could save you time (and money)

Viper_7

Report it to the police that he has stolen your house key so it is on file.
Second replace all the locks - but looks like you have done this.
File a claim against him in the small claims court for cost of replacing the locks and the inconvenience caused for walking out on the job. If your new plaster charges more, claim the difference back to put right the incomplete work and to complete the job.

Vipes