Builder has disappeared with my deposit.

Happy_Sloth

It's a really long story ....  so i'll skip to the crux of the matter.  

We hired a company to do some building work on the house,  they subcontracted that work out to one of their partners.  

Just after the work started,  we found a couple of extra jobs that needed doing that the initial company didn't do themselves but the subcontractor did.  So we paid the subcontractor a deposit for 2 jobs that needed to be done to the house which they where going to perform as they where doing the main job.  

1)  New Facias and Sofits -  This work was never started. 
2)  New Roof on a bay window -  The contractor removed the old roof but did not add the new one.  it's still just got some roofing felt stapled to it, keeping the weather out.  

During the last 6 months (Work started in June)  the subcontractor started to mess us about,  he wouldn't' turn up for week's at a time, when he did turn up the quality of the work was terrible.  We started to complain to the main company in august and it took them till December to finally replace the contractor on our job.  

The main work is now proceeding to a much better standard and we are happy that they are committed to completing the work.  However they have openly admitted that the contractor has done irreparable damage to our home and while they are committed to making things right they admit his work was sub-par to the point of incompetence.

However regarding the 2 smaller jobs...we paid him a deposit directly for these,  so we can't hold the main company liable. 
  
Since he was taken off the job he hasn't tried to contact us regarding the deposit for the other work, nor has has he tried to arrange to do it.  Although we do not want the contractor back on site because he proved to us that he's not fit to do the work. We did check with Citizens advice and they believe we have every right to refuse to allow him on-site to complete the work.  

We have sent a text, a whatasapp and an email to the contractor trying to get hold of him however he is ignoring our attempts to communicate.  

• We believe we should be entitled to the deposit for the facias and soffits in full as this work was never started.  
• We know that the roof was started, but as less than a days work was done we believe we should be entitled to most of the roof deposit back, although tbh we'd be honestly happy to negotiate and let him keep some of it for the labour performed. 

Given that he's ignoring our calls/emails what is our next step?  is the only viable next step taking him to court? or is there another alternative.  

We have his Name/Address and company name? 

Sandtree

How did you pay?

If you paid by card there may be options via your bank, depending on exactly how it was paid (eg PayPal or not). If you paid cash, cheque, BACS etc then a letter before action and court is your realistic options.

You mention a "company name", were you in contract with the company or him himself? Its always worth doing basic checks on someone or a company before adding the cost of court fees as you may find they have no meaningful assets so all you are doing is increasing your losses.

Happy_Sloth

Sandtree said:

How did you pay?

If you paid by card there may be options via your bank, depending on exactly how it was paid (eg PayPal or not). If you paid cash, cheque, BACS etc then a letter before action and court is your realistic options.

You mention a "company name", were you in contract with the company or him himself? Its always worth doing basic checks on someone or a company before adding the cost of court fees as you may find they have no meaningful assets so all you are doing is increasing your losses.

We paid via bank transfer. 

The contractor has his own company i assume it's a LTD company or some sort of Sole trader.  He's works under a company name. it's on his van etc and has a face book site.  

Sandtree

Happy_Sloth said:

Sandtree said:

How did you pay?

If you paid by card there may be options via your bank, depending on exactly how it was paid (eg PayPal or not). If you paid cash, cheque, BACS etc then a letter before action and court is your realistic options.

You mention a "company name", were you in contract with the company or him himself? Its always worth doing basic checks on someone or a company before adding the cost of court fees as you may find they have no meaningful assets so all you are doing is increasing your losses.

We paid via bank transfer. 

The contractor has his own company i assume it's a LTD company or some sort of Sole trader.  He's works under a company name. it's on his van etc and has a face book site.  

You need to know for certain as its easy for them to dismiss your court case if you contacted with the ltd company but have issued against the person assuming they are a sole trader. Not the end of the world as you can just reissue against the corrected name but its further wasted money and time.

Ectophile

Happy_Sloth said:

Sandtree said:

How did you pay?

If you paid by card there may be options via your bank, depending on exactly how it was paid (eg PayPal or not). If you paid cash, cheque, BACS etc then a letter before action and court is your realistic options.

You mention a "company name", were you in contract with the company or him himself? Its always worth doing basic checks on someone or a company before adding the cost of court fees as you may find they have no meaningful assets so all you are doing is increasing your losses.

We paid via bank transfer. 

The contractor has his own company i assume it's a LTD company or some sort of Sole trader.  He's works under a company name. it's on his van etc and has a face book site.  

Never assume. If it gets to the stage of taking him to court, then you need to know if you are suing a sole trader or a company. Get it wrong and you will lose the case.

Check any paperwork or emails to see if there's a company named (but it's quite legal for a sole trader to operate under a business name). Check the Companies House web site (it's free) to see if there's a company registered under that name.

Happy_Sloth

Ectophile said:

Happy_Sloth said:

Sandtree said:

How did you pay?

If you paid by card there may be options via your bank, depending on exactly how it was paid (eg PayPal or not). If you paid cash, cheque, BACS etc then a letter before action and court is your realistic options.

You mention a "company name", were you in contract with the company or him himself? Its always worth doing basic checks on someone or a company before adding the cost of court fees as you may find they have no meaningful assets so all you are doing is increasing your losses.

We paid via bank transfer. 

The contractor has his own company i assume it's a LTD company or some sort of Sole trader.  He's works under a company name. it's on his van etc and has a face book site.  

Never assume. If it gets to the stage of taking him to court, then you need to know if you are suing a sole trader or a company. Get it wrong and you will lose the case.

Check any paperwork or emails to see if there's a company named (but it's quite legal for a sole trader to operate under a business name). Check the Companies House web site (it's free) to see if there's a company registered under that name.

Ok he's a sole trader rather than a LTD.