Plumbing work and Section 75

awz189

Hi,

Wasn't sure where to post this, but I thought I would post it here as it's linked to credit cards.

I have recently began to extend my kitchen. After a week of work being carried out, I was told work must stop due to an unidentified water leak coming from the ground. Subsequently I called out an emergency plumber for around £450 to diagnose the issue. He turned up much earlier than the time frame I was told he would come, and when I arrived he mentioned that he had already checked around the back of the house and been able to diagnose the problem. He then came into the home and using some tools, confirmed there was a leak in the main supply pipe. Following their advice, I spent a further £2,000 getting the supply pipe changed. However, the leak persisted. I called the company back who insisted it must just be the water table, or to get the water company involved

The leak has now been going on for around 2 weeks, and it leaves a pool of around 2 metres wide and 70cm deep. After removing the water every few days, today I found the source of the leak just at the bottom of the trench. Digging myself using a spade deeper around 10-20cm, I found a broken rainwater pipe. I can potentially fix this, and the leak, using a coupler for around £10.

I feel I have spent an awful lot of money (£2,500) on trying to fix a problem which was relatively much cheaper to fix. I also feel the plumbing company did not carry out their diagnosis properly, and were hasty in making a diagnosis.

I paid using a credit card and am now considering whether I should be pursuing a Section 75 refund, as I feel I have not received the service which I have paid for. Is this something which would likely be successful, or is it a case where the plumbing company is not liable?

eskbanker

Section 75 simply grants you the same rights against the credit provider as you have against the merchant, but the latter is probably the best place to start, as you'd need to commission an independent report for the card company since they won't have the expertise themselves.

There may be question marks about the limit of any liability in terms of whether the £2K cost (spent on a separate transaction with a different merchant) can be claimed - do you have visibility of any Ts & Cs for the emergency plumber, bearing in mind that you don't just need to demonstrate breach of contract but would have to establish liability for consequential losses?

phillw

You first need to complain to the plumber, then if that doesn't work complain to your credit card company, if that doesn't work you can escalate it to the ombudsman. You can also issue the plumber with a small claim.

You need to make sure you have as much evidence as possible though as the plumber could argue that you caused a new leak to avoid paying for the previous work.

Oh and don't forget to complain to the local councils trading standards...

eskbanker

phillw said:

You first need to complain to the plumber, then if that doesn't work complain to your credit card company

As above, I agree that this is the most sensible route, but just to be clear, from a s75 perspective it isn't actually necessary to go to the merchant prior to claiming against the creditor, as they're jointly and severally liable under the legislation....

grumbler

My impression was that the emergency plumber was from the same company that changed the pipe. If so, this makes the case a little simpler.

diystarter7

Hi OP

Did the person tell you what he/she did to diagnose the fault?  (Have you checked their reviews to give you an insight the way the operate? If not, to give you a better idea, piece of mind, I'd look at that)

Sadly, and I hope I'm wrong but they will cite the pipe was faulty as well and it was a coincidence you had the 2 faults.

Good luck.

DullGreyGuy

awz189 said:

I paid using a credit card and am now considering whether I should be pursuing a Section 75 refund, as I feel I have not received the service which I have paid for. Is this something which would likely be successful, or is it a case where the plumbing company is not liable?

You mean they charged you £2,000 and didnt replace your supply pipe?

Misdiagnosis claims are always difficult to deal with, as has been pointed out, it may be you had two issues. 

If you attempt to claim from your credit card, remember they pay for it out their own pocket, you are going to need to get an engineers report into the matter. How certain the engineer is going to be will depend on how clearly you know exactly what investigations they ran and if you have the old supply pipe available for inspection.