Need Advise Please Re Letter Before Action

Gwalker

2 weeks ago we sent LBA to our builder who hasn't turned up for his job for couple of months. We requested him to complete his job within 14 days or we will take him to court and will claim for refund.

My husband was reluctant to get quotes from other tradesmen in case our builder will come back to complete his work. So the sum of money we put on the letter was just our estimation based on prices we got from the internet.

He didn't turn up so we intend to file a claim and obviously now we need a proper quote from other builder. Will it be okay if the money we claim isn't the same with the one we put on the Letter Before Action? OR should we send him another Letter Before Action, request him for refund based on the price from the new builder? But in our previous letter we already stated that we will take him to court without further notice if he doesn't complete his job within 14 days!

I'm so confused now what to do next. Anyone can advise me please or maybe anybody has been in the same situation? Thank you.

macman

The LBA has no legal status at all. It doesn't matter what amount you stated, it's what is on the claim that matters. The LBA is simply giving the defendant the opportunity to avoid it going forward to court. The only way this would cause you a problem would be if he decided to pay you now based on the contents of your LBA.
Why did you pay your builder upfront though?
Since the 14 days have expired, you should now file your claim without delay, because if you don't, he will think you are bluffing.
You can only claim what he was charging you for work not done, not what another builder might now quote you.

Gwalker

macman said:

The LBA has no legal status at all. It doesn't matter what amount you stated, it's what is on the claim that matters. The LBA is simply giving the defendant the opportunity to avoid it going forward to court. The only way this would cause you a problem would be if he decided to pay you now based on the contents of your LBA.
Why did you pay your builder upfront though?
Since the 14 days have expired, you should now file your claim without delay, because if you don't, he will think you are bluffing.
You can only claim what he was charging you for work not done, not what another builder might now quote you.

Thanks for the advice! I know we made a mistake paid him upfront. When he asked for 2nd payment, my husband didn't realise it was the remaining amount. He thought he didn't pay him full. Anyhow either way we don't have any problem if he wants to pay based on the price on LBA. We are only worried if the court question us why the money we claim is different with the one we told him on the LBA. 

But since you said that wouldn't be a problem in the court, I'm so relieved now! Thank you so much!