Cowboy Builders and smalll claims courts

kaya

the architect submitted all the forms to planning and bc, i paid bc the £300 or whatever it was when the job began and paid the architect all other relevent fees

kaya

Doozergirl wrote: »

Keeping below the threshold doesn't explain why he needed cash. I have a seven figure turnover and I'd have trouble getting rid of that much cash.

its none of my business why he wanted cash, maybe he wanted to avoid declaring his income on his tax returns and paying income tax?
lots of businesses work in cash it doesnt automaticly make them dodgy

Annie1960

kaya wrote: »

their seem to be a few no win no fee solicitors about

I think you will find that solicotors are regulated, and there are only specific types of case where they are permitted to work on a 'no win no fee' basis, such as personal injury. I doubt whether they can work on this basis for a consumer law case.

Is there anyone on here with relevent legal experience who can add anything rather than just personal opinion?

No, there is not, which is why I gave links to people who are qualified to help in post no. 17.

You have done nothing wrong, you have receipts for payments.

......................

Doozergirl

I can't quote on my phone, kaya, but it is your business.

If you can put 2 and 2 together and come up with income tax evasion then you are also clever enough to know that you were probably complicit in VAT evasion too.

Lots of legitimate businesses do deal in cash but not in fat lumps totalling £55k. The only way I could shift that without attracting attention would be if my subbies were also tax evaders. That is not a legitimate business. I don't employ people who aren't registered subcontractors because they do not have integrity in their jobs - no other decent contractor has or will take them on.

For the record, I also don't take on clients who ask to avoid tax as they are troublesome themselves and value money above people.

It is a question of integrity. If someone cannot deal with HMRC with integrity then anyone else they come across is potentially in trouble. HMRC have the full weight of the law and the resources to get people to pay. You are alone and he knows it.

I am sorry you are in this situation but there were warning bells there that you probably chose to ignore.
A £3k job is not comparable to £30k, which is not comparable to £60k.
A part-time groundworker would be a part time a project manager if they were a competent project manager. The money is far better, the job demands it.
£60k in cash is not normal. Tax evasion is not carried out by purely wholesome personalities. If you want the best chance of integrity you must discount people who show any sign of being otherwise. You may have saved VAT but it sounds like it could cost you the VAT in rectifying the work.

I got a CCJ against someone. I get £10 a month. Funnily enough, they don't declare their income and so they look skint. If I get all my money, it will take 20 years. You can get a charging order on a house but that costs money - and if they never sell their house, you'll not see a penny.

I genuinely hope you get a result. I've been screwed over by a client on an even larger scale and all we can do is learn from it. Having taken legal advice, even being right may not see us with a penny of what is owed once the legal fees are paid.

kaya

I had 4 quotes for the work all from supposed reputable local builders two were reccomended and two were from local jobs/papers. out of the 4 quotes only one added V.A.T to the estimate (should i have reported the other 3 on suspicion of fraudulant activities before employing them or maybe insisted that they all register for V.A.T as a condition of me awarding them the contract?) , i have 2 friends who own tattoo parlours and its not unusual for them to bank amounts of £5000 each weekly in cash so im afraid i don't automaticaly associate large cash amounts as fraudulent. With hindsight i could have chosen to pay a different builder £10,000 more and then added an extra 20% on top for VAT and insisted i paid them by cheque or bank transfer instead of cash but would that have guaranteed a better job was done and/or made the pathway to getting my money back any easier in a court? The answer is no im afraid, all it would have meant is that instead of paying out £55,000 for a substandard job i would have paid £78,000 and had £23,000 less to sort out the problems with.
for those that missed it:
1) got 4 quotes
2) two were reccomendations
3)didn't accept the cheapest quote
4)got the detailed quote in writing
5)made sure i had the builders name and address on the paperwork(i knew his address so i didnt just believe what he said) along with a home phone number as well as a mobile
6)visited two jobs the buider had done and spoke to the people who assured me they had had no issues
7)got a written payment schedule from the builder based on stages of completion
8) had him sign for and date every payment he recieved

i didn't employ the cheapest guy with no details and references or any supporting paperwork , not being VAT registered is not a criminal offence nor does it infer criminal intentions neither does not questioning a contractors VAT regstration make me a criminal or have criminal intentions. Asking for payment in cash does not make someone a criminal or mean they have criminal intentions just the same as paying someone in cash as requested does not make me a criminal or have criminal intentions.

comeandgo

Does your builder have liability insurance? You could try going through that. Is he a member of any federation? Again the federation may be interested if one of their members did shoddy work.

Doozergirl

No one is calling anyone a criminal. I think you could have done better. Judging by where you are, you could have done better.

Furts

kaya wrote: »

nowhere have i colluded with the builder to dupe building services,

i do understand that employing someone to manage a big commercial building project would be a smart move but this is a small home extension on a residential property

whilst i thank everyone for their input it would be hepful if we could make it relevent to the type of project i have rather than big commercial projects where people need clerks and project managers.

Whilst you do not like what I post and are critical of this, I will persist once more. My recollection is the ufh was something between you and the builder and not to be notified to the Inspector. This is where the word collude comes into matters.

You are wrong regarding a Clerk Of Works. They are not exclusive to large contracts. If a council house has a kitchen upgrade, or a new heating system or replacement windows then one will be involved. This is because building skill levels are so low that one is necessary and it is cost effective. You could still engage one. I have advise you to do this.

I have advised you to get a report. You choose to dismiss this.

You believe you can go forward based on builders quotes. These could vary, they may not be based on the same assumptions and will be challenged by your builder and the courts. I say this is a bad strategy.

You say you had a Full Plans application, though you have not itemised what was included with this. Assuming this application was in order then you have a case against the Inspector over the flat roof. In your responses you have not picked up on this. This is another area where you are being given good advice but not recognising, nor thanking, people for offering it.

If you are emotive, or confrontational, or not factual,or not technical, then you will be unlikely to succeed in a challenge of the Inspector. You would benefit from professional help. I have advised this but you choose to dismiss this.

You believe the courts are you magic silver bullet. Maybe they are, so I wish you well.

kaya

In conclusion to this thread i would like to say to all the doom-mongers that today i got a judgement for £10,666 awarded to me against the builder, i didn't pay any solicitors, didn't pay or ask for any specialist reports, didn't have to involve the building control inspectors and didn't get questioned for any "colusion" to defraud anyone or anything.
He ignored my letter to discuss or rectify the problems, ignored the mediation request and filed an acnowledgement of service then failed to enter any defence(as i said he hadn't really got one) so i won a judgement by default, you can expect to see him starring on can't pay we'll take it away next season. The total cost to me was less than £500 which was the cost of the claim and has gone on his judgement. The court will apply interest at 8%per annum and i can put a charging order on his property for £150 so if it takes 20 years thats quite a little nest egg when he sells his property , thanks again for all the input both good and bad im off for a celebratory pint :-)

teneighty

Excellent result, well done.

Interesting that the charging order is only £150. I am also looking at enforcing a judgement so that might be my course of action too.