Builder Dispute

CodyCalling74

Hi

Not sure if this is the correct part of the forum but here goes - also apologies for length of the post.

We have recently had an extension and we naturally got a quote before proceeding - the initial quote (say £75000) we got from our chosen builder didn't (after consulting with them via email/text) include some of the things we wanted so we went back and asked for another quote which included x,y and z and they came back and said it would be for arguments sake £100000. This was more than our budget so we then asked for just x and they came back with a quote for say £85000 and we agreed to this and this is what went in the contract but of which there is only one copy which the builder has.

In any case as the build went ahead and we started to approach the £85000 mark and I began questioning how we were with the finances given that we were approaching the quoted value and there was still a fair bit of work to do but was assured by the builder everything was fine. Eventually we had paid what the quote stated and he continued to ask for money stating that the what we agreed to was the £100000. When I pointed out to him that there were items on the higher quote that we weren't having done he changed it to remove those but the total was still more than what we originally agreed by £5000. Initially we refused to pay and so he stopped working and so resumed paying as it seemed he had us over a barrel as the work wasn't finished and to get another builder to finish the work is hard. In addition he also added other works on which wasn't on the original quote that we weren't consulted about and were just added on to the bill without us agreeing. On a similar theme there were things on the quote which weren't fully used up but charged for i.e. quoted for 10 skips but only used 4 and when asked where that money was he said it has been used elsewhere but nothing more.

Eventually we got to the end of the build and the builder wanted his final payment of £1200. However there was some damage to our property (paving) as a result of the building works and so we asked for it to be fixed. His attempts at fixing it weren't to our satisfaction and he admitted he wasn't a paving company so we told him that we weren't going to make the final payment because firstly we felt we had paid more than was originally agreed and secondly we were going to deduct the amount it would cost to get the paving fixed off.

Naturally he disagreed and he has now passed this over to a debt collectors who are trying to contact us to see if we are going to pay - the initial email they sent contains a photo of the contract where the original amount of £85000 has been crossed out and replaced with the higher amount of £100000. In addition they attached the quote for £100000 even though it has work on there that we didn't have done. Naturally we didn't agree to that change particularly as we would be signing a contract for work that we didn't want done.

We haven't yet got back to the debt collectors and so are looking for advice - we think we have enough of a paper trail to dispute this claim but want to know what are next options are. From what I have read debt collectors don't have any rights to get the money and have to prove that a debt is owed. I also think that they would have to initiate court action (at their expense if they lost) to get a judge to decide which I would have thought is risky if they don't know the full picture. So what we are looking for is general advice on any/all aspects of the above and whether we should:

• Contact the debt collector simply stating we are disputing the payment
• Contact the debt collector providing details of why we are disputing
• Ignore the debt collector

I would say that we are prepared to go to court to argue our case so any idea of costs if we should lose would be helpful.

Olinda99

You are right the debt collector has no powers.

No point in contacting them - they have been instructed by the builder and it won't matter what you say.

If it ever gets to a court hearing then just put your side of the argument to the judge and let him/her decide.

If they find against you then you have I believe a month to pay and if you do then nothing is against your credit records.

Admiral_Barbarossa

CodyCalling74 said:

Hi

Not sure if this is the correct part of the forum but here goes - also apologies for length of the post.

We have recently had an extension and we naturally got a quote before proceeding - the initial quote (say £75000) we got from our chosen builder didn't (after consulting with them via email/text) include some of the things we wanted so we went back and asked for another quote which included x,y and z and they came back and said it would be for arguments sake £100000. This was more than our budget so we then asked for just x and they came back with a quote for say £85000 and we agreed to this and this is what went in the contract but of which there is only one copy which the builder has.

In any case as the build went ahead and we started to approach the £85000 mark and I began questioning how we were with the finances given that we were approaching the quoted value and there was still a fair bit of work to do but was assured by the builder everything was fine. Eventually we had paid what the quote stated and he continued to ask for money stating that the what we agreed to was the £100000. When I pointed out to him that there were items on the higher quote that we weren't having done he changed it to remove those but the total was still more than what we originally agreed by £5000. Initially we refused to pay and so he stopped working and so resumed paying as it seemed he had us over a barrel as the work wasn't finished and to get another builder to finish the work is hard. In addition he also added other works on which wasn't on the original quote that we weren't consulted about and were just added on to the bill without us agreeing. On a similar theme there were things on the quote which weren't fully used up but charged for i.e. quoted for 10 skips but only used 4 and when asked where that money was he said it has been used elsewhere but nothing more.

Eventually we got to the end of the build and the builder wanted his final payment of £1200. However there was some damage to our property (paving) as a result of the building works and so we asked for it to be fixed. His attempts at fixing it weren't to our satisfaction and he admitted he wasn't a paving company so we told him that we weren't going to make the final payment because firstly we felt we had paid more than was originally agreed and secondly we were going to deduct the amount it would cost to get the paving fixed off.

Naturally he disagreed and he has now passed this over to a debt collectors who are trying to contact us to see if we are going to pay - the initial email they sent contains a photo of the contract where the original amount of £85000 has been crossed out and replaced with the higher amount of £100000. In addition they attached the quote for £100000 even though it has work on there that we didn't have done. Naturally we didn't agree to that change particularly as we would be signing a contract for work that we didn't want done.

We haven't yet got back to the debt collectors and so are looking for advice - we think we have enough of a paper trail to dispute this claim but want to know what are next options are. From what I have read debt collectors don't have any rights to get the money and have to prove that a debt is owed. I also think that they would have to initiate court action (at their expense if they lost) to get a judge to decide which I would have thought is risky if they don't know the full picture. So what we are looking for is general advice on any/all aspects of the above and whether we should:

• Contact the debt collector simply stating we are disputing the payment
• Contact the debt collector providing details of why we are disputing
• Ignore the debt collector

I would say that we are prepared to go to court to argue our case so any idea of costs if we should lose would be helpful.

I hope you are doing this building work better than you did back in 2012!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3917425/re-mortgage-with-large-debts#latest