Roofer scam

lemurshun

Hi all

I hired a roofer to do some minor work to my roof. He asked for £320 in total. He sent me quote a via e-mail and a paid him in advance via bank transfer. He did 1/4 of the work on a single day and then never came back. I have texted him numerous times and every time he says he will show up at a particular date/time but never does.

It has been close to two months since I paid him. What can I do now? Should/can I take him to court? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Supersonos

If you have his address etc., you certainly can take him to court.  Send him a letter before action and give him, say, five days to refund you.  If nothing, start court proceedings.

Sandtree

Once you have sent him a letter before action (as suggested above) you can indeed take him to court. 

What do you know about the chap to know if he is likely to pay the monies if court ordered? Remember you have to pay the court fee first, you can add it to your claim but if he has no means, has given you a bogus address etc then its good money after bad. Some will be happy simply getting a CCJ against him even if doesn't get their money back but it may just be a yet another one for him.

lemurshun

Supersonos said:

If you have his address etc., you certainly can take him to court.  Send him a letter before action and give him, say, five days to refund you.  If nothing, start court proceedings.

Thanks! Do I take him to small claims court? Should I hire a lawyer or file the claim myself? What evidence should I attach to my claim? I am thinking the following:
1. Copy of the quote he sent me.
2. Copy of all the texts we have exchanged.
3. Copy of the letter which I will send him before I file the claim

lemurshun

Sandtree said:

Once you have sent him a letter before action (as suggested above) you can indeed take him to court. 

What do you know about the chap to know if he is likely to pay the monies if court ordered? Remember you have to pay the court fee first, you can add it to your claim but if he has no means, has given you a bogus address etc then its good money after bad. Some will be happy simply getting a CCJ against him even if doesn't get their money back but it may just be a yet another one for him.

If the court fee is small, then I am happy getting a CCJ against him even if I don't get a refund in the end.

shaun_from_Africa

The important question asked earlier is do you have a valid address for the builder?

lemurshun

shaun_from_Africa said:

The important question asked earlier is do you have a valid address for the builder?

The quote he sent me has an address and contact details on it but I am not sure whether they are valid or not. He has a website and social media where the contact details are the same.

On a separate issue, is there a template I could use as a starting point for the letter of the demand which I will send him before taking him to court?

Sandtree

lemurshun said:
Thanks! Do I take him to small claims court? Should I hire a lawyer or file the claim myself? 

Cost for filing online is about £35, if it actually has to go to court there is a hearing fee which I think is £55 

The small track of the county court is intentionally intended to be simple to use and for claimants to do so themselves. You are perfectly entitled to use a lawyer if you want to however their fees cannot be added to the cost of a claim as standard and things need to be fairly exceptional to be able to get anything (and then its capped to a token amount (in solicitor fee terms)).

You will want to consider evidence of "a contract" (eg the estimate), that you had paid, that work wasn't completed (eg photos or text exchanges etc) and that you have been reasonable in allowing them to rectify it (eg your letter before action)

PS, above all assumes you are in England or Wales... Scotland and N. Ireland have their own courts, processes and fees

lemurshun

Is there a template I could use as a starting point for my claim?
Do I claim back only the original amount from the quote or do I add the court fees?

Spank

Have you called him out on social media?

lemurshun

Spank said:

Have you called him out on social media?

No, I haven't. He has facebook and is on google and checkatrader.com but I would rather resolve this first, either by coming to arrangement with him or taking him to court. Once all is said and done, I might call him out on social media.