Invoice Dispute

Problem5

Hi Everyone,
I had a central heating pipe leak at my property and found a company online. I called them initially and they said that it will cost me roughly £380 + VAT, but I should not worry about the cost as they will claim everything themselves from the building insurance company directly. We arranged an appointment, my view being to give me a full quote, but they came and did the work straight away, without giving me any price estimate. I was very happy at the time that it all got fixed in a matter of days.
As my flat is leasehold, the building insurance is held by the freeholder who unfortunately is not disclosing the details and I did not provide them to the company (but kept them informed of my progress all the time). Understandably as the invoice has been outstanding for over 2 months now, they invoiced me directly. But the invoice is for £803.40 + VAT!!! I never got a written quote and I never agreed to this price in the first place, they don’t even have my full name (though they can find that from the Land Registry). They are now threatening to send debt collector agencies.
My questions:
- Do they have any grounds to charge this amount considering I never signed anything and they never sent me a written quote?
- Can I dispute it? If yes how and on what grounds?
- Can they send debt collectors considering all of the above mentioned
- If they sue me what grounds do they have?
Thank you for your help.

unclebulgaria

Ask them to prove that the work was carried out?
If you didn't sign anything and they don't have written consent they may find it hard to chase up I would imagine. Only problem is they could say that you agreed in principle as you allowed them to carry out the work.
I may be talking out of my hat but I know how hard it is for me to chase money when I have no proof.
I would call a solicitor and ask for some pro bono advice, you can easily pick up 30mins free on the phone.
As far as I'm aware the debt can't be sold onto a collections agency that quickly but they are allowed to use all reasonable means to chase the debt.

dacouch

The chances of a building Insurer paying for repairing a pipe are very very slim

dalesrider

Problem5 wrote: »

Hi Everyone,
I had a central heating pipe leak at my property and found a company online. I called them initially and they said that it will cost me roughly £380 + VAT, but I should not worry about the cost as they will claim everything themselves from the building insurance company directly.
Thank you for your help.

Did you have approval from the freeholder to go ahead? Or even ask them if their policy covers the issue?

dacouch

dalesrider wrote: »

Did you have approval from the freeholder to go ahead? Or even ask them if their policy covers the issue?

Building Insurance would (Normally) cover the damage from a leaking pipe.

It would not cover repairing the pipe itself as that is a maintenance issue. Unless the damage to the pipe was due to an insured peril such as accidental damage or subsidence

arcon5

They gave you an estimate over the phone so it sounds more like they was going to do some work rather than give a quote to me.

If the work carried out what exactly that estimated over the phone then you could have grounds to dispute it. I vaguely remember reading an OFT guide that covered this and said the final price should resemble to estimate somewhat... So it can be higher... But only reasonably: I wouldn't say this is reasonable.

Although worth contacting TS for clarification