MIsleading estimates

ValR123

We obtained verbal estimates for a refit of our bathroom plus some comparatively minor work elsewhere in the house. The quotes all came back between £7,000 and £8,000 and we opted for a ''middle of the road'' estimate of £7,800. We recorded this figure in a message to the contractor, clarifying the work to be completed - but the contractor provided NOTHING in writing. The contractor was a ''one man band'' trading in his own individual name and as he made NO mention of VAT, we accepted the estimate of £7,800, in good faith, as representing the final cost to us.
The contractor took weeks to even start the job and, when he did finally begin, he frequently failed to turn up, leaving us in total chaos and disrupting our home life for over 6 weeks - after which he failed to show up at all, leaving the bathroom refit was unfinished and failing to do ANY of the other relatively minor jobs. However, he presented us with an invoice for £9,200, claiming that his original fgure of £7,800 ws exclusive of VAT and also claiming that he had done additional work in the bathroom (repairing leaks etc), even though this was never discussed, let alone agreed, with us. 
We are both elederly and in very poor health and, by this itme, we just wanted rid of him, so we paid him £7,000 and told him that he didn't really deserve that, especially as it had cost us around £2,000 extra to get all the work finished off. 
The £7,000 was paid, and accepted, into the contractor's bank account in September 2021, but towards the end of March 2022, we received a Court claim for £2,700. The basis of the claim is that ''there was a misunderstanding'' due to the fact that we ''had not realised'' that the Claimant was VAT registered AND also that we still owe for the alleged additional, but unauthorised, work.  We filed a defence, with supporting documents plus details of the counter claim which we were (and still are) prepared to waive and we confirmed that we would be prepared to participate in mediation. However, the Claimant has refused mediation and, as there is no way that we can pay the £2,700, either on principle or financially, we are now faced with the stressful prospect of appearing in Court.
As we understand it, the Claimant's failure to provide ANY indication that his estimate might have been subject to VAT constitutes a misleading omission under the Comsumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008? But is there also a section of the VAT Act which requires hm to include VAT in estimates provided to individual consumers or at least clarify whether or not VAT is included? 

Ectophile

If someone is quoting prices to consumers, then those prices are supposed to be inclusive of VAT.  It's only business-to-business transactions where "+VAT" is allowed.  So I would consider that to be misleading.

grumbler

Absolutely. It's like to see £10 in Tesco and then to be asked to pay £12 at the checkout.

TELLIT01

The OP does switch between 'estimate' and 'quote' which are different.  That doesn't justify the contractor trying to add VAT after the event.

macman

Did you not ask at the outset if VAT was chargeable?
What do you mean by a 'court claim'? Have you actually received a summons? If so, and no LBA was sent prior to this, the court will take a very dim view of it. And that he refused mediation.
You should certainly contest it. It's not stressful, it's just a meeting room with a judge in civvies, you, and the complainant. 
This kind of claim, where everything is verbal, usually comes down to whoever is best prepared and makes the more credible case.

fenwick458

lessons can be learned from this, in future don't accept anything less than a detailed quote in writing that states the following:
the contractors business name & address, their registered company number(so you can look them up to see if they are VAT reg etc), specific details of the work to be done and the total price agreed (and stating the blindingly obvious here but if it doesn't say it on the quote then they are not going to do it)

grumbler

fenwick458 said:

...don't accept anything less than a detailed quote in writing that states....

their registered company number(so you can look them up to see if they are VAT reg etc),

What if it's a sole trader?

In this case it was ''one man band''.

macman

And you don't need to be a limited company to be reg'd for VAT...

Risteard

fenwick458 said:

lessons can be learned from this, in future don't accept anything less than a detailed quote in writing that states the following:
the contractors business name & address, their registered company number(so you can look them up to see if they are VAT reg etc), specific details of the work to be done and the total price agreed (and stating the blindingly obvious here but if it doesn't say it on the quote then they are not going to do it)

You would need their VAT Number to verify this - Company Registration Number won't tell you that.

fenwick458

grumbler said:

fenwick458 said:

...don't accept anything less than a detailed quote in writing that states....

their registered company number(so you can look them up to see if they are VAT reg etc),

What if it's a sole trader?

In this case it was ''one man band''.

well if they aren't a registered company then obviously that bit doesn't apply.
they can still provide a detailed quote with their details on it can't they?