Claiming against house building company through small claims court... Help !!

mortonj

Hi,

I am at a point where I am unsure if it is worth taking the builders of my new build house to small claims court because I dont know if I have the rights to claim for what I believe is fair... I will explain the situation and hopefully somebody can advise me on the options available.

I purchased a house along with extras which included underfloor heating in the rooms that I was having tiles laid (I have the receipt). After completion (which was way over schedule), I found out that some of the underfloor heating was missing in the dining part of the kitchen/diner and the hallway. The building company admitted they made a mistake and it was their fault which I have saved on an email as proof.

However this is where the disagreement begins, the amount paid for the underfloor heating was £1730 for kitchen/diner, utility, downstairs w/c, hallway, family bathroom and en suite (this is just for the electrical wiring and operating panels installation only). On the receipt it doesn't have a breakdown of how much each individual room costs but they offered a refund of £494 as that is derived from each room being £247 each. I thought that was extremely unreasonable because I paid for the work to be done and it isnt because of their admitted mistake.

They then said they would give me the £1730 after about 3 months of emails to and fro... I explained that I either wanted them to come and rectify their error or give me the money it would cost to get another builder/company to do the work. I gathered two quotes from other builders which on average works out at £6500 to complete the work which includes taking the tiles up in the kitchen/diner and hallway, removing skirting boards, supplying and installing new underfloor heating, supplying and laying new tiles etc.

Since August 2016 the building company have been ignoring my emails and calls, occasionally replying saying that the owner who makes the decisions is out of the office blah blah blah... fobbing me off basically, so I sent a 'letter before action' a couple of months ago and no attempt was made by them to come to an agreement.

So the question I am asking is, by going to court am I eligble to claim for the £6500 under the consumer rights act 2015 or would I have to use any other legislations to back up my claim? and also do I have a strong case?

In my letter before action i thought that asking the building company for just the money to rectify the mistake and no compensation would have seemed reasonable to them but they never replied with what they think or anything which has resulted in me becoming extremely frustrated and angry with them. Me and my fiancee have just had a little baby boy and the timing couldn't have been any worse financially, so I am currently waiting for a credit card so I can pay the fees to start the claim. I am also wondering whether to claim any compensation for all the time and effort put into this ordeal.

Advice please guys!!!!

Jak :eek:

mortonj

Also, would I be able to claim for other things that I believe to be compensation worthy on the same claim? or would this have to be a different claim?
Against the same building company?

martinsurrey

mortonj wrote: »

by going to court am I eligble to claim for the £6500 under the consumer rights act 2015 or would I have to use any other legislations to back up my claim? and also do I have a strong case?

In short, no.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/enacted

The consumer rights act only applies to movable goods, which your house is not!.

have you contacted the provider of your new build 10 year warranty?

(one of National House Building Council, Premier Guarantee ,LABC Warranty)

they are your first port of call.

wealdroam

martinsurrey wrote: »

The consumer rights act only applies to movable goods, which your house is not!.

Doesn't the CRA also apply to the supply of services?
The service agreed and paid for was not supplied.

I would also suggest that the goods being supplied - the underfloor heating pipes/wires (or lack of) - is movable. Otherwise, how could it be put in place?

martinsurrey

wealdroam wrote: »

Doesn't the CRA also apply to the supply of services?
The service agreed and paid for was not supplied.

I would also suggest that the goods being supplied - the underfloor heating pipes/wires (or lack of) - is movable. Otherwise, how could it be put in place?

A brick is moveable, doesn't mean the resulting house is.

The contract was for the supply of a house with underfloor heating, the OP just paid extra to increase the spec of that house.

steampowered

This is a breach of contract claim. You are claiming that the builder entered into a contract with you to install underfloor heating which was not provided.

The damages due would be the cost of remedying the breach of contract - i.e. the £6,500 cost of having underfloor heating put in.

Contract law is not statutory. I do not think you need to cite any legislation at all. Simply breach of contract. Have a search for simple example "Particulars of Claim" used for contract claims.

I do not think the Consumer Rights Act is relevant. A contract to buy a house is not a contract for "movable property", and it is not a "service contract", so is not covered by the Act. But you don't need to cite the Consumer Rights Act so this is nothing to worry about.

If your letter before action did not ask for the full amount, I think you need to send a new letter before action clearly specifying the full amount. The letter can then go on to say that you are happy to consider a reasonable settlement offer. Follow the examples available online.