Builders sending invoices 2 years after project completion

andypassingham

Hi
We had some work done in our house 2 years ago - we had a final account invoice which we paid.  the builder has just this week come back to us and asked for another £3k, saying that some worktops which they sourced invoiced them very late and they now need us to pay them!  My perspective is that we have settled the final invoice and any shortcomings in their reconciliation with their suppliers is their problem.  Any thoughts on this situation would be very welcome.

many thanks

eskbanker

Was the 'final account invoice' labelled as such, and did its value correspond with all outstanding work at the time, as compared with estimates/quotes given, less previous invoices?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

They'd need to show you under paid by £3k, a final invoice with an error wouldn't mean that error stands so as above you'd have to look at the quote, what you paid and how that tallies up to see if you paid the original price or if you were £3k under.

DullGreyGuy

They have 6 years to proceed with a legal claim against you so whilst 2 years is "late" it's well within the statutory limits. 

You need to go back through your paperwork and double check what you were quoted for and what you have paid to date. Presumably you'll find you are under budget having not yet paid for the worktops. 

MeteredOut

Reading between the lines, it seem that you did not pay for the worktops 2 years ago (due to the mismanaged invoicing by the builder) and are now asking whether you do legally have to pay for them. Is that correct?

DullGreyGuy

MeteredOut said:

Reading between the lines, it seem that did not pay for the worktops 2 years ago (due to the mismanaged invoicing by the builder) and are now asking whether you do legally have to pay for them. Is that correct?

Struggling to read the question... my reading would be that because the builder hadn't been charged for the worktop that they didn't charge the OP for the worktop, they just pass the bill through rather than billing in advance. Their supplier has now finally invoiced them and so they've in turn invoiced the OP. The OP is looking for a route to avoid paying for the goods they had. 

MeteredOut

DullGreyGuy said:

MeteredOut said:

Reading between the lines, it seem that did not pay for the worktops 2 years ago (due to the mismanaged invoicing by the builder) and are now asking whether you do legally have to pay for them. Is that correct?

Struggling to read the question... my reading would be that because the builder hadn't been charged for the worktop that they didn't charge the OP for the worktop, they just pass the bill through rather than billing in advance. Their supplier has now finally invoiced them and so they've in turn invoiced the OP. The OP is looking for a route to avoid paying for the goods they had. 

Just a guess, but I suspect the builder has not just been invoiced now by the supplier (OP said it was "very late") but has just realised that that very late invoice was not passed onto the OP.

eg. the work was 2 years ago, builder was invoiced 20 months ago but didn't invoice the OP

But, that point is moot really; I don't think the OP is challenging they got the worktop and did not pay for it, so the question is: does someone still have to pay for something they received if invoiced after 2 years.

swingaloo

MeteredOut said:

DullGreyGuy said:

MeteredOut said:

Reading between the lines, it seem that did not pay for the worktops 2 years ago (due to the mismanaged invoicing by the builder) and are now asking whether you do legally have to pay for them. Is that correct?

Struggling to read the question... my reading would be that because the builder hadn't been charged for the worktop that they didn't charge the OP for the worktop, they just pass the bill through rather than billing in advance. Their supplier has now finally invoiced them and so they've in turn invoiced the OP. The OP is looking for a route to avoid paying for the goods they had. 

Just a guess, but I suspect the builder has not just been invoiced now by the supplier (OP said it was "very late") but has just realised that that very late invoice was not passed onto the OP.

eg. the work was 2 years ago, builder was invoiced 20 months ago but didn't invoice the OP

But, that point is moot really; I don't think the OP is challenging they got the worktop and did not pay for it, so the question is: does someone still have to pay for something they received if invoiced after 2 years.

Morally and legally the answer is yes.  It would be very odd not to have noticed that the original bill was less than expected.

MeteredOut

swingaloo said:

MeteredOut said:

DullGreyGuy said:

MeteredOut said:

Reading between the lines, it seem that did not pay for the worktops 2 years ago (due to the mismanaged invoicing by the builder) and are now asking whether you do legally have to pay for them. Is that correct?

Struggling to read the question... my reading would be that because the builder hadn't been charged for the worktop that they didn't charge the OP for the worktop, they just pass the bill through rather than billing in advance. Their supplier has now finally invoiced them and so they've in turn invoiced the OP. The OP is looking for a route to avoid paying for the goods they had. 

Just a guess, but I suspect the builder has not just been invoiced now by the supplier (OP said it was "very late") but has just realised that that very late invoice was not passed onto the OP.

eg. the work was 2 years ago, builder was invoiced 20 months ago but didn't invoice the OP

But, that point is moot really; I don't think the OP is challenging they got the worktop and did not pay for it, so the question is: does someone still have to pay for something they received if invoiced after 2 years.

Morally and legally the answer is yes.  It would be very odd not to have noticed that the original bill was less than expected.

I know that, but I just wanted to re-frame the real question I think the OP was asking.

andypassingham

Thanks for all the replies. I think that because the worktops were from a separate supplier the builder forgot to add them to the overall quote spreadsheet (that had a lot of adds and omissions throughout the project) and it got lost in the background noise. The quote with it on was sent to them and they ordered it so they clearly messed up their reconciliation before issuing the final invoice (which was clearly labelled as final account due). All a bit murky. They are trying to put pressure on by saying they have received a final notice from the supplier but that should not be relevant as pay when paid is illegal….and they only contacted us when they got the final demand!

ArbitraryRandom

I appreciate it was missing from the working sheet, but the quote itself isn't the only factor - yes you have paid the bill for the items on the quote as invoiced, but if the worktops were missing you're either saying:

1. you shouldn't have had them/didn't specify you wanted them as part of the job so aren't liable to pay for them (they were unsolicited), or; 
2. a reasonable person would have thought they were included as a part of a line item on the quote so you already paid for them, or; 
3. they were not included in the written quote but you did specify/order them (verbally or by email etc) and you haven't paid for them because the builder provided them and simply forgot to include them on the invoice...  

If you're claiming 1 then arguably the trader can't seek to recover the units as they're fitted/integrated into the structure of the property, but I can see it getting a bit messy.

If 2, then you'd need to identify what element of the quote you reasonably believed included the worktops and defend that position with any evidence such as emails (perhaps where you listed what you wanted and the builder responded with a total price without the cost of the worktops being broken down specifically and that matching the amount on the invoice?) 

But if you're saying 3 then you're admitting you ordered the product and haven't paid for it as part of the final invoice. And if that's the case, as you've already been advised, a seller has 6 years to spot a mistake with billing and seek payment...