Trader installed fence in wrong postion without informing of any problems

randomsaver

Hello, as per title...
Had written in agreement new fence to be installed in place of old wall (so same postion) and gave measurements verbally during quotation and on the day just as about to start.

After third post was installed, I came around to have a look and noticed it was not straight and questioned it - he stated there was a electrical cable and suggested it's going to next door's garage (as there was a floodlight attached). 
He walked off and carried on working I was left stumped and tried to work this out as it was unexpected.

In the end I believed what he told me and paid on completion.

Several months later on, I decided to investigate and came to the conclusion there was no cable and it was an excuse because...

• I Identifed power cables in next door property (nowhere near the fence)
• Requested maps of lines for elec, gas and definitey not in that area
• Carried out line search and nothing shows up
• Requested other traders opinion who claim unlikely as at rear of property
• Post no1 installed in correct position. If there is a cable surely it should impact post no1 as cables tend to run in straight lines(?)
• Trader failed to inform of any problems and no alternative options were discussed

So I wrote him a email with my findings and he claims he did inform me, showed me the cable, worked out an alternative (all this did not happen) and will not be doing remedial work or refunding.

So far, spoken with CAB, who have advised to write to him and it'll will come down to evidence if I can successfully get him to do the work or get any money back.
Had a couple of quotes varying £2-3k, which is too much to spend.

Next step would be to write another letter mentioning alternative dispute resoltion (letter before action), but unsure how to progress (as he will refuse it) after this and after any advice.

Also exploring legal options as I have legal cover via home insurance. 

Thank you.

Aylesbury_Duck

I'd wait and see what your insurer says.  The obvious questions are why did you pay upon completion when you seemed unhappy at the time, why did you leave it several months before deciding to do something about it, and what exactly is the problem?  Has your neighbour complained?

If it comes to court, it will be down to whichever of you has the most plausible case.  

randomsaver

Aylesbury_Duck said:

I'd wait and see what your insurer says.  The obvious questions are why did you pay upon completion when you seemed unhappy at the time, why did you leave it several months before deciding to do something about it, and what exactly is the problem?  Has your neighbour complained?

If it comes to court, it will be down to whichever of you has the most plausible case.  

I paid based on the information given to me and didn't know what else to do or who to turn to for support.

With it in wrong position, I've lost land on one end.

It was only when I discussed with next door ( also unhappy) which ruled out the garage theory and then started to look into it more. 

Only recently became aware of the consumer rights act.

TELLIT01

Can you be absolutely certain that there are no cables where the contractor said they were?  Although they may have been wrong about the purpose of the cables, there may be old cables.  Has anybody actually dug down to confirm absence of cables, or is it simply an assumption that the contractor was lying?

Vectis

How much land do you consider you've lost? Centimetres? Metres? What I'm asking is, is it worth complaining about?

If you go the legal route, as has been said already, it will come down to who has the more believable story, you or the contractor. The fact that you agreed the work and paid in full at the time would weigh heavily against you.

But, for me anyway, it would come down to the question of how much land you think you've lost and is it worth the time, hassle and money pursuing it?

randomsaver

TELLIT01 said:

Can you be absolutely certain that there are no cables where the contractor said they were?  Although they may have been wrong about the purpose of the cables, there may be old cables.  Has anybody actually dug down to confirm absence of cables, or is it simply an assumption that the contractor was lying?

I believe he has made an error in marking up  because post no1 went in the right position as I saw it go in. I went away and came and back by then post no2&3 went in.
I questioned it at this point.

To me, why didn't the contractor raise the problem at post no2 but instead continued to no3 and then quickly gave the reason of electrical cables and continued onto no4.
No other discussion took place and was forced to accept it.
In hindsight I should have asked him to show me, but that's my error.

Digging up probably is going to be costly and may impact the fence. 

Other option would be to have the area scanned using a cable avoidance tool.

randomsaver

Vectis said:

How much land do you consider you've lost? Centimetres? Metres? What I'm asking is, is it worth complaining about?

If you go the legal route, as has been said already, it will come down to who has the more believable story, you or the contractor. The fact that you agreed the work and paid in full at the time would weigh heavily against you.

But, for me anyway, it would come down to the question of how much land you think you've lost and is it worth the time, hassle and money pursuing it?

Lost land is 20cm wide, 3.5m in length (0.7 sq.m) may not seem a lot. Its disappointing when asked and payed for one thing and got something else.
I paid based on the information given at the time and trusted the contractor.

Now all the research suggests no cables and other contractors have quoted to carry out remedial work.

So I need to be 100% certain if there's anything in the ground and weigh up additional costs of pursuing this, so I'll seek legal advice.
Definitely learnt a lesson here.

randomsaver

Follow up question, if another contractor carried out remedial work and did not encounter issues, would I be able to claim against original contractor?
Thank you all for your responses.

RefluentBeans

bss1983 said:

Follow up question, if another contractor carried out remedial work and did not encounter issues, would I be able to claim against original contractor?
Thank you all for your responses.

You normally have to give the original contractor a chance to remedy the work first. If they are unable to/decline/don’t recognise your claim then you can normally claim the money back. 

A word of warning - if you proceed through the SCC route (which you’ll have to if they refuse to carry out the remedial work/your insistence won’t cover it) then I would double check who you paid vs who you’re suing (you can’t sue a person if the business entity was who your contract was with - RefluentBeans Landscaping is different than RefluentBeans - you take the latter to court when your contract is with the former then it’ll get bounced almost immediately…) 

user1977

bss1983 said:

Vectis said:

How much land do you consider you've lost? Centimetres? Metres? What I'm asking is, is it worth complaining about?

If you go the legal route, as has been said already, it will come down to who has the more believable story, you or the contractor. The fact that you agreed the work and paid in full at the time would weigh heavily against you.

But, for me anyway, it would come down to the question of how much land you think you've lost and is it worth the time, hassle and money pursuing it?

Lost land is 20cm wide, 3.5m in length (0.7 sq.m) may not seem a lot. Its disappointing when asked and payed for one thing and got something else.

Bear in mind you haven't "lost" the land, you still have it, it just happens to be on the other side of the fence.

born_again

bss1983 said:

Vectis said:

How much land do you consider you've lost? Centimetres? Metres? What I'm asking is, is it worth complaining about?

If you go the legal route, as has been said already, it will come down to who has the more believable story, you or the contractor. The fact that you agreed the work and paid in full at the time would weigh heavily against you.

But, for me anyway, it would come down to the question of how much land you think you've lost and is it worth the time, hassle and money pursuing it?

Lost land is 20cm wide, 3.5m in length (0.7 sq.m) may not seem a lot. Its disappointing when asked and payed for one thing and got something else.
I paid based on the information given at the time and trusted the contractor.

Now all the research suggests no cables and other contractors have quoted to carry out remedial work.

So I need to be 100% certain if there's anything in the ground and weigh up additional costs of pursuing this, so I'll seek legal advice.
Definitely learnt a lesson here.

Many people lay cables, that are never reported.
So as above. You need to carefully dig in the area that they said cable was & see for yourself.