I paid a roofer in cash to fix my roof but he never came back to finish the work!

Jon2022

Hi,

I know I should never pay anyone cash until the work is finished but I stupidly trusted this man.
I had a leak in my roof and found his number on a flyer so called him. He has a registered limited company. He came round the next day and suggested the whole roof needed changing which was surprising given I'd only redone the roof completely 3-4 years ago. I wrongly thought he was genuine so agreed to have only half the roof changed, the side that was leaking. He said said he will change all the tiles and put a new membrane and battens.  He sent a couple of guys a couple of days later who spent 3 hours on the roof changing the membrane and only 10 tiles. They said they'll come back to finish the work the next day. The following day, the guy came round and said his workers are busy and will definitely come the following day but he demanded payment as he claimed not to be around the following day. I stupidly trusted him and paid him in full. For the following 3 days he has not responded to my phone calls and keeps rejecting my calls. I have reported him to the trading standards and I would be grateful for any advice on how I could escalate this further. 
Of note he insisted on being paid in cash as otherwise he will have to add 20% VAT if he's paid by bank transfer. He was clearly trying to avoid tax and I have a voice recording of him to prove this.

Many thanks

user1977

If he's trading as a limited company then your claim is against the company (how long has that existed?).

Though if you have only been waiting for 3 days then I think you may be being premature about escalating it at this stage, it's pretty standard (if annoying) for tradespeople to be juggling multiple jobs.

Alderbank

How did you manage to report him to Trading Standards?
They say they don't accept contact from members of the public.

Aylesbury_Duck

Jon2022 said:

Hi,

I know I should never pay anyone cash until the work is finished but I stupidly trusted this man.
I had a leak in my roof and found his number on a flyer so called him. He has a registered limited company. He came round the next day and suggested the whole roof needed changing which was surprising given I'd only redone the roof completely 3-4 years ago. I wrongly thought he was genuine so agreed to have only half the roof changed, the side that was leaking. He said said he will change all the tiles and put a new membrane and battens.  He sent a couple of guys a couple of days later who spent 3 hours on the roof changing the membrane and only 10 tiles. They said they'll come back to finish the work the next day. The following day, the guy came round and said his workers are busy and will definitely come the following day but he demanded payment as he claimed not to be around the following day. I stupidly trusted him and paid him in full. For the following 3 days he has not responded to my phone calls and keeps rejecting my calls. I have reported him to the trading standards and I would be grateful for any advice on how I could escalate this further. 
Of note he insisted on being paid in cash as otherwise he will have to add 20% VAT if he's paid by bank transfer. He was clearly trying to avoid tax and I have a voice recording of him to prove this.

Many thanks

...and you went along with it, knowingly.  Not a great look, to be honest.

Why on earth are you recording conversations with someone you supposedly trusted enough to pay cash, in full, up-front?  There's more to this than you're letting on, isn't there.

Jon2022

user1977 said:

If he's trading as a limited company then your claim is against the company (how long has that existed?).

Though if you have only been waiting for 3 days then I think you may be being premature about escalating it at this stage, it's pretty standard (if annoying) for tradespeople to be juggling multiple jobs.

Thanks but this is not the case. He purposefully rejects all the calls. Prior to paying him I never struggled to get in touch with him. Now 3 days straight he rejects the calls.

Jon2022

user1977 said:

If he's trading as a limited company then your claim is against the company (how long has that existed?).

Though if you have only been waiting for 3 days then I think you may be being premature about escalating it at this stage, it's pretty standard (if annoying) for tradespeople to be juggling multiple jobs.

Sorry forgot to say the company was registered on Jan 22. How do I go about claiming against the company? 

Jon2022

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Jon2022 said:

Hi,

I know I should never pay anyone cash until the work is finished but I stupidly trusted this man.
I had a leak in my roof and found his number on a flyer so called him. He has a registered limited company. He came round the next day and suggested the whole roof needed changing which was surprising given I'd only redone the roof completely 3-4 years ago. I wrongly thought he was genuine so agreed to have only half the roof changed, the side that was leaking. He said said he will change all the tiles and put a new membrane and battens.  He sent a couple of guys a couple of days later who spent 3 hours on the roof changing the membrane and only 10 tiles. They said they'll come back to finish the work the next day. The following day, the guy came round and said his workers are busy and will definitely come the following day but he demanded payment as he claimed not to be around the following day. I stupidly trusted him and paid him in full. For the following 3 days he has not responded to my phone calls and keeps rejecting my calls. I have reported him to the trading standards and I would be grateful for any advice on how I could escalate this further. 
Of note he insisted on being paid in cash as otherwise he will have to add 20% VAT if he's paid by bank transfer. He was clearly trying to avoid tax and I have a voice recording of him to prove this.

Many thanks

...and you went along with it, knowingly.  Not a great look, to be honest.

Why on earth are you recording conversations with someone you supposedly trusted enough to pay cash, in full, up-front?  There's more to this than you're letting on, isn't there.

To address your first comment - I'm not sure what you mean by going 'along with it'. We had agreed 5K at the start but we did not agree on the mode of payment. I later told him that I prefer to pay by bank transfer but he said if I do that he will add 20% VAT. 

With regards to your second comment - I was not recording conversations. He sent me a WhatsApp voice message saying that he will add 20% VAT if I want to pay by bank transfer.

Please don't jump to conclusions.

Aylesbury_Duck

Jon2022 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Jon2022 said:

Hi,

I know I should never pay anyone cash until the work is finished but I stupidly trusted this man.
I had a leak in my roof and found his number on a flyer so called him. He has a registered limited company. He came round the next day and suggested the whole roof needed changing which was surprising given I'd only redone the roof completely 3-4 years ago. I wrongly thought he was genuine so agreed to have only half the roof changed, the side that was leaking. He said said he will change all the tiles and put a new membrane and battens.  He sent a couple of guys a couple of days later who spent 3 hours on the roof changing the membrane and only 10 tiles. They said they'll come back to finish the work the next day. The following day, the guy came round and said his workers are busy and will definitely come the following day but he demanded payment as he claimed not to be around the following day. I stupidly trusted him and paid him in full. For the following 3 days he has not responded to my phone calls and keeps rejecting my calls. I have reported him to the trading standards and I would be grateful for any advice on how I could escalate this further. 
Of note he insisted on being paid in cash as otherwise he will have to add 20% VAT if he's paid by bank transfer. He was clearly trying to avoid tax and I have a voice recording of him to prove this.

Many thanks

...and you went along with it, knowingly.  Not a great look, to be honest.

Why on earth are you recording conversations with someone you supposedly trusted enough to pay cash, in full, up-front?  There's more to this than you're letting on, isn't there.

To address your first comment - I'm not sure what you mean by going 'along with it'. We had agreed 5K at the start but we did not agree on the mode of payment. I later told him that I prefer to pay by bank transfer but he said if I do that he will add 20% VAT. 

With regards to your second comment - I was not recording conversations. He sent me a WhatsApp voice message saying that he will add 20% VAT if I want to pay by bank transfer.

Please don't jump to conclusions.

So why did you pay cash, knowing that he was asking for a cash payment to avoid tax?

user1977

Jon2022 said:

user1977 said:

If he's trading as a limited company then your claim is against the company (how long has that existed?).

Though if you have only been waiting for 3 days then I think you may be being premature about escalating it at this stage, it's pretty standard (if annoying) for tradespeople to be juggling multiple jobs.

Sorry forgot to say the company was registered on Jan 22. How do I go about claiming against the company? 

Send a letter before action to their registered office, and if that doesn't work, start a small claim. Though bear in mind you may have difficulty identifying any company assets, so getting a judgment won't necessarily mean being paid.

diystarter7

too late now but for anyone reading this. Any outfit that gives you a so-called quote or estimate, as it if it inc vat/everything and get it in writing especially a quote.   I learned the hard way when i was young about 22 and those days, well for me I was not as well informed as 22 year olds today - got the brakes changed on my Audi and as i went to pay the agreed price it was as stated I asked the ........ does not inc vat it said not - i said buy it was a "quote" and the low life replied 'we dont get the vat, mate.'  This outfit had been recommended by a couple of women that worked in the same office as me and I thought never again. The warnings were there as i waited this bloke was having his car repaired and it was a hot day and those waiting were enjoying the sun and they we shouting and making threats to burn his car etc/


Ive paid in cash in the past for various reasons but I have never and never would pay anyone upfront. The times I paid before the job is completed is when items arrived out our address. Even then if its tiles/flooring stuff or worse block paving etc - they get it cheap or its stolen and you pay them good money and the /// off.


The only good bit for your op is that the ??? is actually registered as a limited co I thought it was a lie when i read your OP.  They do lie and i never call anyone from a flier.  Sadly, he is going to play you and is about to fold the ltd co within a couple of weeks. I sincerely hope I'm wrong.


PS - if your house is insured I think you need to tell them re any major works I read somewhere but not sure if this included the roof. Having said that I've never told them. However, your roof is not as secure it should be, so if there is a storm/etc as only ten tiles on the roof, possibly easier to flood/etc. But you decide
Good luck

diystarter7

OP
If you wish send me the details of the outfit and I will do a bit of research - not promising anything other than searching and having a better idea of where you stand

Your choice either way, good luck.