Should you pay a builder into a personal account?

jacoscar

Hello, I just had my roof re-done by a "company" found on Rated People (don't use their app/website!); they came to give me a quote and presented themselves as a company; they had shirts and van with the company logo, although their website didn't work.
I had a quote of 3800£; I asked if it was including VAT and he said yes, also he would give me "15 year warranty"; I gave the go ahead and the work was done quickly in just over 2 days. When the time came for them to be paid, the person in charge asked me to pay by bank transfer into what I found to be a personal account; when asked why he wasn't using a business account he replied that he was "sole trader". I didn't give it too much attention at the time.

Just after paying I started doing some investigations and realised that the job wasn't properly done; I've been trying to get them back, and he said he would send someone this week, but this hasn't happened. Also, I still haven't received an invoice (or warranty); during our last call he said that he had sent it and that he would re-send it, but I still haven't received anything.
Also what kind of invoice should I expect? Would it have to include VAT or could it be that they stay below the 85000£ threshold so that's not required?
Is being paid into a personal account a normal thing for sole traders (I'm not sure what it means, as his 4 guys did the job, not him)? 
Is there something dodgy going on or am I being paranoid?

comeandgo

You may have a problem or you may not.  It is pretty common for sole traders to just have a personal bank account, no problem there.  You should get an invoice, if they are vat registered it should show their vat registration number and their address and the gross and net amounts and the vat.  If they are small enough then if not vat registered you will just have one gross payment figure.  
The people who did the job may have been employees or may have been sub contractors, nothing to worry about there.  

Rosa_Damascena

Good builders tend not to be known for their admin skills.

As long as you have an audit trail of money from you to the builder, I wouldn't be concerned....unless there is something you're not telling us?

jacoscar

Rosa_Damascena said:

Good builders tend not to be known for their admin skills.

As long as you have an audit trail of money from you to the builder, I wouldn't be concerned....unless there is something you're not telling us?

I’m concerned because I found out the way they’ve laid the roof tiles is incorrect and it should be redone
I am just thinking if there isn’t a solid company behind how can they provide a ‘15 year guarantee’ and how does that affect my rights as a consumer 

mr_stripey

jacoscar said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

Good builders tend not to be known for their admin skills.

As long as you have an audit trail of money from you to the builder, I wouldn't be concerned....unless there is something you're not telling us?

I’m concerned because I found out the way they’ve laid the roof tiles is incorrect and it should be redone
I am just thinking if there isn’t a solid company behind how can they provide a ‘15 year guarantee’ and how does that affect my rights as a consumer 

the "15 year guarantee" is likely not worth the paper it is written on, but in this case if you have concerns about the work you need to call him back now and get him to rectify it. Whether he does so or not is another matter of course.

I got stung by a "dodgy" roofer who re did all my valleys and ridges. The bizarre thing is he did a great job on one side of the house, but the other one - which was the problem one - he just "patched up". When it rained a few weeks later and the leak was still there I tried to call him back but he was always "too busy" and "might be able to fit you in next month" etc, so not exactly refusing but not actually doing it either. In the end I had to pay a builder mate to come and sort it as it needed doing right away.

jacoscar

I just found out the new roof has more leaks than the old one; I’ve already had to put two buckets in the loft

Can I ask the bank to revert the payment? I already tried but they told me they can only do something if there has been a fraud so I held fire. 

I am now starting to think this is a scam, they are not roofers, I haven’t received an invoice. I am afraid they can simply declare themselves insolvent and never reimburse me.