‼️ Advice on incompetent plumber needed, re flood

plot64

Hi everyone, 

Not really sure if this belongs here but would appreciate opinions and advice.

A family member recommended a self-employed 30yrs+ experience plumber to fit a new sink. He, the plumber, decided he could do it on Dec 23rd. Half a day job. Rather than remove the dishwasher in the adjacent kitchen carcass for access, he smashed out the old sink with a screwdriver, chisel and hammer. Widened the hole and fit the new sink with silicon to hold it down. He said the type of tap I had purchased (one-lever mixer with a weighted hose) were notoriously awful and prone to problems with the mixer and I should order another for delivery/pickup next day and he’d come back to finish the job.

What he did not tell me was that he’d left the waste pipe cut in two, and not to use the dishwasher or washing machine …. 

I used the washing machine. Set on a timer overnight, so when i woke up and came downstairs  stepped onto a soaking floor. The entire downstairs was flooded. I obviously called him immediately.

He came and his ‘you-idiot’-type attitude aside, proceeded to fit the waste pipe up properly! He had not drilled the hole for the new tap, much less connected the tap up or left the tap connectors dangling inside (something I’ve read that makes the job easier and should be done before fitting the sink), strange. The silicon had not held the sink down despite significant weight on top and needed to be refitted, this time with “no more nails” adhesive he said. But then after removing it again abruptly said he’d see me the day after Boxing Day to finish the job and there was nothing more he could do. Left me with a hole in my counter top where the sink should be, no water downstairs, and a dishwasher and washing machine he told me this time, to not use. All on Christmas Eve, oh and I have a 4YO too 🤬

Bottom line is he said he has no insurance. Too late to do anything else, I hobbled through Christmas. He has text on Boxing Day to say he now needs time off work so wouldn’t be turning up today, 27th as planned and I’m left with a right mess in my home.

No sink, no usable kitchen, no appliances. My home insurance excess is £500 for water escape and because of the flood, the entire downstairs laminate has now swollen, blebbed up and needs to be replaced. Throughout. 

I don’t see why I should have to claim on my insurance for his incompetence and push my renewal premiums higher next year for him being lazy, incompetent and unprofessional. But if he has no insurance what can I do?

Emmia

How much is the damage going to cost to fix? You could sue him in the small claims court.

ThisIsWeird

Ouch... :-(

Do you have Legal Protection included in your house insurance? If so, call them up for guidance - they are independent of the actual insurance co, and will cost you nothing. See what they advise.

It could be, for example, to claim on your policy, and then to sue the plumber for the £500 excess you'll have lost out on. But, I obviously don't know.

Your insurance co might even chase the plumber for their outlay too, but that has nothing to do with you.

I'd suggest, be guided by your LP - nothing to lose by calling them out for a chat. Leave out all the emotive stuff - just stick to the facts. Perhaps worth writing down a bullet-pointed chronology of events, first, so you can cut to t'chase, and also refer back to any point they want clarifying; "What time did you say you called him?" "That was at 3.30 on the 24th..."

Let us know how you get on

And a Happy New Year...

plot64

Emmia said:

How much is the damage going to cost to fix? You could sue him in the small claims court.

Entire downstairs flooring, I’d say minimally 2k. Certainly under 5-7k including labour as an absolute top end I think though.

plot64

ThisIsWeird said:

Ouch... :-(

Do you have Legal Protection included in your house insurance? If so, call them up for guidance - they are independent of the actual insurance co, and will cost you nothing. See what they advise.

It could be, for example, to claim on your policy, and then to sue the plumber for the £500 excess you'll have lost out on. But, I obviously don't know.

Your insurance co might even chase the plumber for their outlay too, but that has nothing to do with you.

I'd suggest, be guided by your LP - nothing to lose by calling them out for a chat. Leave out all the emotive stuff - just stick to the facts. Perhaps worth writing down a bullet-pointed chronology of events, first, so you can cut to t'chase, and also refer back to any point they want clarifying; "What time did you say you called him?" "That was at 3.30 on the 24th..."

Let us know how you get on

And a Happy New Year...

I don’t think legal protection is in there, it’s not super clear. I have AA Gold if that helps. Their T&Cs say to refer to the Statement of Fact document but that doc doesn’t mention the legal one way or another (so I’d have to assume not) 🫤

Point taken re bullets and sticking to facts.

SootySweep1

Hi
I'd suggest contacting your local trading standards to see what support they can offer.

I'm not sure if legally the plumber should have in place some sort of insurance to cover accidents etc whilst on a job.

Jen

ThisIsWeird

plot64 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Ouch... :-(

Do you have Legal Protection included in your house insurance? If so, call them up for guidance - they are independent of the actual insurance co, and will cost you nothing. See what they advise.

It could be, for example, to claim on your policy, and then to sue the plumber for the £500 excess you'll have lost out on. But, I obviously don't know.

Your insurance co might even chase the plumber for their outlay too, but that has nothing to do with you.

I'd suggest, be guided by your LP - nothing to lose by calling them out for a chat. Leave out all the emotive stuff - just stick to the facts. Perhaps worth writing down a bullet-pointed chronology of events, first, so you can cut to t'chase, and also refer back to any point they want clarifying; "What time did you say you called him?" "That was at 3.30 on the 24th..."

Let us know how you get on

And a Happy New Year...

I don’t think legal protection is in there, it’s not super clear. I have AA Gold if that helps. Their T&Cs say to refer to the Statement of Fact document but that doc doesn’t mention the legal one way or another (so I’d have to assume not) 🫤

Point taken re bullets and sticking to facts.

A quick Google suggests 'gold' includes 'legal liability' cover, but you'd need to contact them to check.

Keep_pedalling

ThisIsWeird said:

plot64 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Ouch... :-(

Do you have Legal Protection included in your house insurance? If so, call them up for guidance - they are independent of the actual insurance co, and will cost you nothing. See what they advise.

It could be, for example, to claim on your policy, and then to sue the plumber for the £500 excess you'll have lost out on. But, I obviously don't know.

Your insurance co might even chase the plumber for their outlay too, but that has nothing to do with you.

I'd suggest, be guided by your LP - nothing to lose by calling them out for a chat. Leave out all the emotive stuff - just stick to the facts. Perhaps worth writing down a bullet-pointed chronology of events, first, so you can cut to t'chase, and also refer back to any point they want clarifying; "What time did you say you called him?" "That was at 3.30 on the 24th..."

Let us know how you get on

And a Happy New Year...

I don’t think legal protection is in there, it’s not super clear. I have AA Gold if that helps. Their T&Cs say to refer to the Statement of Fact document but that doc doesn’t mention the legal one way or another (so I’d have to assume not) 🫤

Point taken re bullets and sticking to facts.

A quick Google suggests 'gold' includes 'legal liability' cover, but you'd need to contact them to check.

Legal liability is to protect the policy holder for claims against them not to help them claim against someone else. 

silvercar

I hope his comment that he doesn’t have insurance (which is his problem, not yours) means he admits liability. The danger is that he claims either that he told you not to use the washing machine or you should have realised.

insurance should cover for damage caused by this, even if they don’t cover the replacement taps, sink and waste pipes.

GDB2222

silvercar said:

I hope his comment that he doesn’t have insurance (which is his problem, not yours) means he admits liability. The danger is that he claims either that he told you not to use the washing machine or you should have realised.

insurance should cover for damage caused by this, even if they don’t cover the replacement taps, sink and waste pipes.

I agree. The simplest solution is for the op to claim on their home insurance, if the insurance covers it. It will cover escape of water, but possibly not in these circumstances.  

The snag with suing the plumber Is that he will say it was obvious that the waste was disconnected and the op should at least have asked. The judge might agree!  After all, there’s bound to have been some sort of discussion about this, and the plumber may have a different recollection than the op.