Business to consumer debt

DaftyDuck

Frankly, I'd ignore him completely. No court would find in his favour. Responding in any way really just feeds his instinct to pressure and bully. If I were to respond, it would either be a one-liner "Do stop being so silly", or a full blown solicitor letter counter claiming damages and compensation(!) left right and centre.

But, I would be doing neither. I wouldn't waste a stamp on post, electrons on an email, or breath on speaking. Ignore the silly bug r. Completely.

steampowered

Whether or not interest can be charged on an invoice doesn't depend on whether the rate of interest charged is "reasonable".

The rate of interest which can be charged is the rate which was agreed when the contract was formed, i.e. when you instructed the builder to do work. Not the rate stated on his invoice.

If no interest rate was specified, the default rate set by law is 8% per annum.

At this point you need to make your position clear to the builder as to when you will be making payment. If you can't agree that with him, he may end up leaving the job.

unforeseen

Steampowered - Please read the first post. Builder unilaterally decided to cancel the job when OP would not agree to the builder's demand for 40% upfront as it was not part of the original agreement

alumende27

thanks for the responses, helpful as always! We'll have to wait and see if he follows through on his threats to take me to court.

dacouch

http://www.mylawyer.co.uk/before-building-works-start-a-A76052D76386/

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/cancelling-building-or-decorating-work/

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/contents/made

unholyangel

steampowered wrote: »

Whether or not interest can be charged on an invoice doesn't depend on whether the rate of interest charged is "reasonable".

The rate of interest which can be charged is the rate which was agreed when the contract was formed, i.e. when you instructed the builder to do work. Not the rate stated on his invoice.

If no interest rate was specified, the default rate set by law is 8% per annum.

At this point you need to make your position clear to the builder as to when you will be making payment. If you can't agree that with him, he may end up leaving the job.

I'm afraid what you've said is only correct where b2b contracts are concerned (although its actually 8% + whatever the base rate bank of england have set at the time - currently 0.25%). Its not applicable to b2c.


Tbh if the builders being so ridiculous, I'd be tempted to respond in kind, by saying that he also failed to ask me for my terms and attach a list of terms that are inane. Although I'd then go on to explain how each party can only be bound by terms they had the opportunity to become acquainted with before entering the contract, that he had a duty to provide certain information in a durable medium before the OP became bound by the contract (and that the burden of proof is on him to prove he complied rather than on you to prove he didnt) and also that you cannot unilaterally alter the terms of a contract without the other party agreeing to it.

But I'd advise to at least communicate enough to make your position understood to him (if you haven't already) as its part of pre-action protocol and he sounds like he's ignorant rather than just chancing his arm.

ThumbRemote

dsdhall wrote: »

When agreeing to the works at the above property you did not ask for any terms and conditions to be attached to the quote and agreed a contract to have the works carried out without this information. Had you asked for terms of contract before agreeing to the works at the above property the terms and conditions would have been sent unfortunately this was not the case.

Can I assume he's still trying it on?

He's not just trying it on, he's a total fruitcake.

Can you imagine how the world would work if 'not asking to see the terms and conditions' meant you quite literally agreed to anything? You could go into the newspaper shop and buy a paper, then find out you'd also agreed to give them your house. You'd go to the pub and discover the terms of sitting at their table meant you'd donated your kidneys.

It's not only ludicrous, how he's acting is illegal and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations means he had to tell you his terms and conditions. Trading Standards are responsible for enforcing these - I would report them. See https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/report-to-trading-standards/

alumende27

It's been over a month now, so I just wanted to do a quick follow up. Thanks all for the advice, the key was the consumer contracts act. I was fairly sure I knew I was in the right but to have someone threaten to take you to court can shake your self-belief.

I wrote him a polite but robust letter that laid out the relevant parts of the Consumer Contracts regulations, noting that he had completely failed to abide by them. I further noted that if he felt I still had a case to answer that he would need to pursue the matter through the courts.

I also strongly recommended that he obtain professional legal advice before embarking on a course of action that was likely to prove costly to him and if he took me to court and lost I would ask the court to make a costs order against him. Finally, I pointed out that if he continued to make unjustified demands for payment I would report him to trading standards via a criminal referral from Citizens Advice.

I haven't heard a word from him since.

paddyrg

The burden isn't on you to request terms of business - and the current 'reasonable' interest rate is 8.25% simple interest. ie (8.25 / 12) percent per month - less than 1% per month.

Stick to your guns 'so sue me, see you in court'. Make sure you keep your paperwork in order, I suspect it'll be thrown out without even visiting the court