How to Cancel contract with possible rogue builder - driveway specialist

balich

Hi,

I have been silly to sign a contract with a trader to pave my driveway for £3600 who came cold calling.

After i signed the so called contract with this company on 2nd May:
solidstonepaving.co.uk

I started to be concerned after i realised that i am not able to find this company at companies warehouse. Which means it is not a registered company.

I would like to know what rights i have if I was to call them and say i am no longer interested in contract if they are not willing to provide:

- Registered Company number that i can verify
- Full name of Company director
- Recomendations
- Credentials and Qualifications

The builder is due to start work next week (WC 8th May). We have not chosen the colour of bricks for the driveway... The contract says that i am to pay full amount in cash after the work is done.

Because we wanted to get on with the job as soon as possible I also ticked the box to wave my rights to 14 Days cooling period. Can the trader enforce this contract?

Please help!

balich

Here is the contract:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8EqzVYilG40NTZwMU9wUjVUWnM/view?usp=sharing

PaulaJ_2

I am not an expert in this.
I dealt with a company who did my guttering and found out not registered. They wouldn't take my calls to come out and fix an issue.
I did however take down number plates and names of the builders and said by text that I would be contacting HMRC to check their tax payments were in order.
Funny enough they came round that weekend and sorted.
I know it is a bit retrospective, but it got them back.
The only other way of getting out of this one is to ask them to provide waste transfer documentation and proof that they will be clearing all the old driveway materials legitimately and that you won't be the one liable if they dispose of the goods unlawfully. This may put them off, as often the old materials are dumped / fly tipped if they are not quite legit

hollydays

I'd be inclined to check this out with the police, preferably face to face.
The address on their website is a mailbox, not that this isn't legal per se but is an indication they don't have a permanent address.
I'd be concerned about any pressure they may apply when you tell you don't have the work carried out.

comeandgo

You won't find it at companies house because it's not a Ltd company, no legal requirement to be a ltd company so you won't get anything about directors. You could ask for qualifications and details of their insurances .

PaulaJ_2

The police are not interested as it is a private matter. If you have signed and signed away your waiver I think you are stuck, unless you can put the builder off.
I always ask to see work done / recommendations before I sign now

hollydays

PaulaJ wrote: »

The police are not interested as it is a private matter. If you have signed and signed away your waiver I think you are stuck, unless you can put the builder off.
I always ask to see work done / recommendations before I sign now

The police may be interested if they are calling door to door are a known scammers, or have made threats previously.
They definitely will be able to give the op some advice about what to do in the event of any altercation .

PaulaJ_2

Try trading standards instead of the police

ARandomMiser

I could be wrong but I didn't think you were allowed to waive away your rights - so I am not sure how legally binding that checkbox would be if they have not yet started any work. If they had started then it may be different. Overall though (and knowing what I paid a few years ago for a brick drive) the price seems OK.

If they are not asking for money until job completion then that means you can inspect the work before paying and ensure any 'flaws' are remedied (if you spot anything then hold back maybe 10% until fixed).

Keep an eye on how well they compress the hardcore foundation to the drive - if that is not done properly then the bricks may loosen.

PaulaJ_2

Great point!
I think you cannot waive your statutory rights on what I have read.
So try and stop under the cold call option

hollydays

PaulaJ wrote: »

Try trading standards instead of the police

Trading standards aren't open over the weekend..