Builder damage

moremore

Hi, I am helping a friend of mine that needs to get reimbursement for damage done to his property by building working on a block of flats. His damaged are under £200 does he have to send the builder’s a letter before he takes them to small claims court any help would be great please:T

dimbo61

Do the builders know he has a problem ? that the work they are doing on the flats have caused damage to his property?
Who are the builders ? Big firm or BoB the builder and his mate!

grifferz

Unless your friend has conducted a proper communication with the building firm then he risks wasting his own time and the court's time.

Assuming that the problem has been reported in writing and has either been completely ignored or flat out disputed with no hint of possibility for compromise, the it would be appropriate to send a "letter before action".

This basically just states what the issue is, what payment you expect for it and by when. Something like 7 days would be reasonable.

If payment does not get made within this time then it is your friend's option to then go to small claims court, which can be done online via http://moneyclaim.gov.uk/

Bear in mind that there will be a cost to pursuing this. Initially £25, then if there is any defence raised your friend would need to attend court so that could be a day of earnings lost.

Finally if the court does find in your friend's favour all your friend gets is a judgement saying the company owes them the money. It doesn't force them to actually pay it. To do that, the debt has to passed on to debt collectors. Ultimately your friend may have to pay to get a winding up order to lose down the company and hope to get paid out of the remaining assets of the company.

A reasonable company will be quite scared of the effect that a court judgement will have on their credit record, but then a reasonable company should respond to written complaints appropriately. An unreasonable / cowboy outfit is more likely to take this to the bitter end..

Good luck!

G_M

moremore wrote: »

Hi, I am helping a friend of mine that needs to get reimbursement for damage done to his property by building working on a block of flats. His damaged are under £200 does he have to send the builder’s a letter before he takes them to small claims court any help would be great please:T

Of course.

Has he communicated at all? Given details
a) of the damage
b)of the repair cost with quotes and
c) of why they are liable?

If not, that is step one.
If so, did they respond? How?

If negotiation gets no where,then a final 'letter before action' giving 7 days topay is step two (or 3, after negotiation).

Court action is step 4 (if not 5)