Rogue builders

mandy_67

I’m looking for some advice, I’m having a 2 storey extension built, I have had 2 builders who have scammed us out of £30,000, and left with just the brickwork done, we have spent £50,000 now, and not even at the stage of the roof ready to go on, I rang the police, but they have said it’s not a criminal offence, any advice would be gratefully accepted

Alderbank

Hi Mandy, sorry to hear you have had two builders who have scammed you.

Would you like to tell us what happened?

mobileron

Why r u paying upfront dont do it again.

tacpot12

If you have home insurance, check to see if you have legal expenses cover. If you do, you can call the legal helpline for advice and help to sue the builders. 

pinkshoes

mandy_67 said:

I’m looking for some advice, I’m having a 2 storey extension built, I have had 2 builders who have scammed us out of £30,000, and left with just the brickwork done, we have spent £50,000 now, and not even at the stage of the roof ready to go on, I rang the police, but they have said it’s not a criminal offence, any advice would be gratefully accepted

Some more details would be helpful.

How much was quoted for the extension?
How much was paid to builder 1 and how much work did they do?
What were the agreed terms of the contract?
Where did you find this builder?
Why has builder 2 now disappeared? Where did you find builder 2?

That seems a lot of money to have paid upfront. I assume you have the full name and business address of the builder(s)? You will need to send a letter before action to get them to pay the money back and threaten them with court action.

mandy_67

The first builder was a family member, he quoted us 48k, but kept asking for money, to pay his workforce, and to buy materials before Xmas, before the prices went up, so we just trusted him, and gave him 25k,then one day the brickies knocked on our door to tell us they were walking off the job, as they hadn’t been paid, and most of the time, they had no materials, so we asked for all the receipts etc, and it turned out that over 15k, hadn’t been spent, which he denied, so after 7 weeks he had only got to 6 bricks high, reported him to the police, but it’s not criminal. Reported him to trading standards.
second builder has so we thought a reputable company. We signed a contract, which we would pay in 3 instalments, first 2 within 2 weeks of each other, last one on completion, we agreed on 42.5k for a completed 2 storey extension, the first few weeks, the bricks went flying up, and got to roof height, then things started to slow down, with excuse after excuse, but just thought he was squeezing us in here and there, as he took us on quickly, but said he had a big job on, then when it came to the roof going on at week at week 7, there was no materials, every time the roofer came,, we started to do some digging, and he hadn’t paid his staff, we’re at week 9 now, and asked if we could have our money back, after deducting wages and materials, he then got aggressive, and threatening, so now we have paid out 55k, and only up to the roof level, I know I’ve been silly, but never had builders, let alone an extension, and I look after vulnerable adults permanently in my home, so just panicked

macman

Your only option is an LBA and then a civil (county court) claim against the company or individual(s) concerned. You are way above the level for small claims, so you would be wise to take some professional legal advice before you throw any more money away.