Requirements of the Limited company with customer.

Terrier11

Help required. I asked a builder to build an extension. He sent estimate via email nothing itemised etc signed with just his name, and a few text messages, no written contract. He provided a sort code and account number for me to pay money into for the materials and his labour(it turns out the bank account was in the name of a ltd company).  Money paid ( five figures) to the account and worked commenced.  Approx half the work done then he stopped working and stopped taking calls etc. 
Proceeded with legal action. Builder then claims i was dealing with his Limited company, which had gone into liquidation.
My question is, as a limited company, what should have been provided by the company to make me aware i was dealing with a limited company ie email with registered address, itemised estimate for material and vat etc, written contract between the company and me etc.  None of which were provided. 
          

Keep_pedalling

What is the name of the ltd company? 

user1977

He's talking nonsense. If all your dealings had been with him personally, he can't later claim you really had a contract with a company which you had never heard of.

Ectophile

If the only written communication you've had from him was the initial email estimate, and that email never mentioned the company name, then he doesn't have a leg to stand on.  Your contract was with him.

Sandtree

user1977 said:

He's talking nonsense. If all your dealings had been with him personally, he can't later claim you really had a contract with a company which you had never heard of.

The problem is that companies, being non-natural persons, cannot be dealt with directly and in the case of a one man band it will be the director you deal with personally.


To the OP - how did you find said builder? What were they advertised as? 

Where things are produced there are requirements for the legal entity to be properly identified but ultimately there is no legal requirement for a written contract etc if both parties are willing to deal with things verbally. Personally I wouldn't pay a five figure sum into a bank account before having a written contract, or at least a detailed quote, and wouldn't be paying all of those monies in advance.

When you saw the account was in the name of a Ltd why didn't you abandon making the payment and query that fact then? Its a little hard to say you had no idea a company was involved when your bank told you before you made the payment but you proceeded anyway.

Terrier11

Thank you for your feedback, especially Sandtree. A friend at work had the builder do work for him and recommended him as he had no problems with the builder. 
Clearly, i regret paying the money, but at the time it did not appear to be a problem. It was only a problem when he just stopped the building working when half completed.
As always, nothing is ever straightforward, as in this case, it transpires that the builder set the Ltd company up two months prior to me using him, then put the Ltd company into liquidation just after stopping work. The Ltd as debts of over 20k. 
My understanding legally is that under Consumer rights law, the supplier is required to make clear to customer who they are dealing with at the outset.          

Sandtree

Liquidation is different to insolvency, though the later will lead to the former its not the only path there. So first step is to find out more about whats happening to the company. Assuming its in England then Companies House will have some details and certain things need also to be published in the press like the London Gazette, in it all shoiuld be the the identification of the administrator/liquidator.

The administrator/liquidator is a neutral party, he doesnt work for any one party but needs to make sure the appropriate process is followed and the companies remaining funds are distributed appropriately according to law. They cannot give you legal advice and aren't "on your side" but if you make them aware that you are a creditor they need to deal with that info (depending on where they are in the process).

The issue is that in the absence of proper documentation it is unclear who the contracting party is, you could issue against the builder personally but he will inevitably file a defense that it wasnt him and potentially use where you paid the money as evidence of you contracting with the company. Ultimately it will be for a judge to determine which legal entity entered into the contract based on the evidence and witness statements submitted (your account will be a witness story, not necessarily meaing third parties who over heard conversations etc).

tasticz

if they didn't mention their company name in the signature then you were dealing with the person. you can claim you were duped to believing it.

if he has asset and you're pursuing it then that is your story, you may win.

GrumpyDil

When the payment was made did you get any indication that you were paying to a Ltd company account? 

Terrier11

GrumpyDil, I only found out the bank transfer went to a LTD company when i received my bank statement. For info, at the time it would no have been an issue if the work paid for had been completed.