Builder going into Administration

steampowered

If you ever wanted to go to court about the quality of the work, you would want to prove that Company B has taken over the contract.

It is a good idea to keep any evidence you can (e.g. emails, letters, invoices) demonstrating that Company B has taken over the contract and is now responsible for delivering the work.

From that perspective, it might actually be a good idea to get Company B on site and make an additional (small) payment to Company B. That would provide evidence you could use in a court of law to demonstrate that Company B has taken over the contract.

Aylesbury_Duck

Hussain22 said:

TadleyBaggie said:

As long as they are willing to complete the work before you pay them another penny, if they want more money upfront then no.

If I say they won't get a penny until they do a significant amount of work it could risk they walking away? I believe they are not obligated to anything after the old company went under. It's a tight rope and they have us by the neck. Thank you btw

What's the alternative?  Give the new company another £70k+ and hope the work gets done?  That's madness, surely.

JJ_Egan

Is the OP not saying company A director is now Company B director .

Hussain22

JJ_Egan said:

Company A has your money and no longer trading .

How did company B get your money that was an asset of company A .??

They do not. It was meant to be a timber frame pre fabricated build. We saw this in on of their warehouses. The new company has this now. The way I see it is 1. We walk away and find new builders (but will have to be cowboys as we can't afford it) 2. we say we'll pay them and try get them to do as much work as possible then walk away without paying them anything extra. 3. We say we won't pay them until they've done the work we've paid for - and they likely walk away. 4. We give them the rest of the money (another 70k on top of the 55k) and hope they complete the project. 

Hussain22

JJ_Egan said:

Is the OP not saying company A director is now Company B director .

This is the case yes. 

Aylesbury_Duck

Hussain22 said:

JJ_Egan said:

Company A has your money and no longer trading .

How did company B get your money that was an asset of company A .??

They do not. It was meant to be a timber frame pre fabricated build. We saw this in on of their warehouses. The new company has this now. The way I see it is 1. We walk away and find new builders (but will have to be cowboys as we can't afford it) 2. we say we'll pay them and try get them to do as much work as possible then walk away without paying them anything extra. 3. We say we won't pay them until they've done the work we've paid for - and they likely walk away. 4. We give them the rest of the money (another 70k on top of the 55k) and hope they complete the project. 

Looking at those options:

1. No.  You can't walk away from £55k and then pay cowboys.  You'll end up losing way more than the £55k already lost.
2. I'm not sure exactly what you're getting at here, but it seems similar to 3.
3. This has to be your stance.  Then deal with the consequences if they walk away.
4. Absolutely not.  At the moment your maximum potential loss is £55k.  Don't make that £125k.

You shouldn't let the consequences of 3 force you into losing more money or at least putting more at risk.

Given the high stakes here, I suggest you employ proper legal advice rather than seeking it from strangers on a forum.  I know this is your life savings, but you clearly have £70k ready to spend, so it would be sensible to spend a tiny part of that on getting some solid legal opinion and support to ensure you minimise the risk of losing the £55k you've stumped up so far.

davidmcn

Is the £55k all work which hasn't been carried out? Or had they started work?

Hussain22

davidmcn said:

Is the £55k all work which hasn't been carried out? Or had they started work?

no work has been carried out at all 

Aylesbury_Duck

davidmcn said:

Is the £55k all work which hasn't been carried out? Or had they started work?

I took it that work hasn't started.  OP said the £55k was a large deposit and additional payment (maybe for materials?).  They also said "Do we trust them to actually build something?"

Ectophile

I'm not sure if this helps you or not, but if the timber frame exists, but hasn't been put up yet, then it belongs to you. You could put in a claim for it with the administrator.