Dealings with Are You Owed Money ltd

HillStreetBlues

If you factor in the extra 25% of work then a rough estimate would be  about £1550. so an extra £950 does seem very steep (over 60% above estimate)
As you have paid £1800 that's about 16% extra on the estimate.
It would be up to the builder to show the extra costs as they can't simply pluck a figure out of the air.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

HillStreetBlues said:

tslambert1973 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

Just to break this down your were quoted £1250 and decided you wanted 25% extra added. For that 25% you were charged £1250.
You have paid the £1250 & £550 for the extra 25%
And it was a quote rather than an estimate?

I think was an estimate and not a quote so I guess that changes things.

Yes it does, estimate can be a rough cost of the job, a quote is a fixed cost.
So the calculation can be different as the £1250 estimate you first had could have risen meaning that it's not simply £1250 for the 25% of extra work.

It isn't particularly straightforward, under the CCRs a trader must supply

(f)the total price of the goods or services inclusive of taxes, or where the nature of the goods or services is such that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is to be calculated,

and under Section 50 of the CRA anything said or written by the trader is treated as being included in the contract so if you have an estimate to do a drive way and at the end the builder increases the price they'd need to be able to show why rather than just say it was an estimate and things change.

If the job went smoothly the trader doesn't have much of a position to move away from the estimate, if they had to dig out the ground and found a load cables or pipes buried too shallow that affected the job resulting in more work then of course they'd have reason to justify adjusting away from the estimate. 

OP changing the contract causes problems which is why is best to have everything precisely written, OP has something in messages at least to show the suggestion wasn't double for the extra but the situation in general is all a bit messy. 

tslambert1973

this is what was on the estimate PDF. FYI we did end up paying for the skip, I think £500 materials (he also paid for some and has receipts for some). No re-estimate for extra work, was a back and forth WhatsApp discussion with partner (in photos).

I have left off identifying info:

[Business name and address]

 Please find below my estimate for the brick pavers and flower boarder on driveway 

• To lay bricks pavers on a sand cement bed with and concrete flunching for strength 

• To building new flower boarder to righthand side of the drive which consists of 1 sleeper high 

• To point bricks on driveway 

This includes all materials and skips 

£1,250 

Many thanks 

[buildername]

[company name] 

Kind regards [name] 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

How much was the skip OP? 

tslambert1973

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

How much was the skip OP? 

approx £400

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

tslambert1973 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

How much was the skip OP? 

approx £400

Ouch! 

Well I'd certainly be knocking that off which ever way it goes as it clearly says the skip cost is included (I assume you have a receipt or card statement, etc?) 

tslambert1973

Ouch! 

Well I'd certainly be knocking that off which ever way it goes as it clearly says the skip cost is included (I assume you have a receipt or card statement, etc?) 

Yes have receipt/invoice all that. It also says 'all materials' which it clearly isn't as we paid for bricks, some sand and cement, sleepers (have invoices, receipts). To be fair I think that was agreed we'd pay for some things over text (would have to check), I think he perhaps forgot to delete that line perhaps typing over previous invoice.

HillStreetBlues

Even if you forget the materials you bought taking the £400 cost off that  £1100 estimate assuming the same skip was used.
So £1100 plus 25% = £1375  and you've paid £1800. That would work out about a third more than the estimate.

I wouldn't be paying any more unless clear costs were shown. With the threat of court, I would make it clear if that happens you would counterclaim the cost of the skip, as you haven't been reimbursed for that, and it was included in the price.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

tslambert1973 said:

Ouch! 

Well I'd certainly be knocking that off which ever way it goes as it clearly says the skip cost is included (I assume you have a receipt or card statement, etc?) 

Yes have receipt/invoice all that. It also says 'all materials' which it clearly isn't as we paid for bricks, some sand and cement, sleepers (have invoices, receipts). To be fair I think that was agreed we'd pay for some things over text (would have to check), I think he perhaps forgot to delete that line perhaps typing over previous invoice.

That's good OP.

So he wants £2500 minus £400 which is £2100.

You've got £700 outstanding which means you paid £1800, add in the skip and we're effectively down to £300 outstanding which would mean as it stands you've paid £1250 original + £950 for the extra 25%, with his messages about it only being a bit extra for materials and a days labour I think he needs a good excuse to get this £300 out of you.

If you haven't already I would point out to the builder you paid for the skip which was included in the estimate.

Not that I mean to over complicate things but I've got to say £1250 minus £400 for a skip leaves £850, that seems very cheap for a driveway to be done? Are you sure the work is to a standard that suitable? I.e it's not going to start dipping as you keep driving over it? 

tslambert1973

Update:

New letter from AYOM. Must say it does seem overly threatening, I think they'd much rather get us to pay than takes us to court. Also over half that amount is money they've added on to what the tradesman believes we owe.