Section 75 Building work

adamskix

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has had any experience against claiming back money from a builder through section 75 and what is the best option to get money back?
We agreed a quote to have an extension done along with replacement windows for our existing property. 
We ended up paying quite a large sum of deposits before the building work started as the builder said he was going to order the windows straight away after he measured up.
We had our suspicions about him early on with delays and other excuses. When we did not believe that he had ordered any windows, we asked for some sort of confirmation or email, receipt etc which has never been able to provide.
So based on this we asked him to remove the windows from the quote in which he said it was not a problem which almost but confirms he had not ordered them as he would of said he/we would of lost the deposit. 
We have ended up having a big argument with him after we had emailed him to tell him we are claiming a section 75. 
He is now asking us whether we want to terminate the work and was wondering if we have a case to claim anything back?
Thanks

TheSpectator

Surprised a builder would accept payment on a credit card, assuming he did?

MattMattMattUK

adamskix said:

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has had any experience against claiming back money from a builder through section 75 and what is the best option to get money back?
We agreed a quote to have an extension done along with replacement windows for our existing property. 
We ended up paying quite a large sum of deposits before the building work started as the builder said he was going to order the windows straight away after he measured up.
We had our suspicions about him early on with delays and other excuses. When we did not believe that he had ordered any windows, we asked for some sort of confirmation or email, receipt etc which has never been able to provide.
So based on this we asked him to remove the windows from the quote in which he said it was not a problem which almost but confirms he had not ordered them as he would of said he/we would of lost the deposit. 

Did he supply terms and conditions with his quote? Was it a quote or an estimate?

adamskix said:

We have ended up having a big argument with him after we had emailed him to tell him we are claiming a section 75. 

Section 75 means that you reclaim the money from the card provider, it does not cost him anything it is unlikely to bother him. 

adamskix said:

He is now asking us whether we want to terminate the work and was wondering if we have a case to claim anything back?
Thanks

That depends on the terms and conditions, however the card provider will push back at this stage as you have made no attempt to recover funds from the tradesman and have not even established a breach of contract yet. You appear to be jumping the gun at this stage and a S75 will almost certainly fail at this stage.

adamskix

The payments were made on credit card. The issue now is that he is saying the quote for the extension is now higher as we removed the windows for the existing property from the quote but said it would of been the same overall cost of the quote had we kept them? It is a really messy one. He has some horrendous reviews on other sites and he has lied about other things. We are convinced that he used the money we paid initially on other things but obviously very difficult to prove.
We have paid around 80% of the quote and we are not at 80% of the work done but he is now trying to say what we have already paid up at this stage.

eskbanker

You'll be on a hiding to nothing if you're trying to base decisions on unconfirmed suspicions and reviews from others, so need to stick to facts about what he has and hasn't done, relative to the contractual agreement between you.

adamskix

Yeah that's my point though. If he cannot provide receipts or any form of confirmation of ordering the windows that he took the money for and we have got messages confirming that is what the deposits on c/c were for them surely that goes against him??

MattMattMattUK

adamskix said:

Yeah that's my point though. If he cannot provide receipts or any form of confirmation of ordering the windows that he took the money for and we have got messages confirming that is what the deposits on c/c were for them surely that goes against him??

Not really no, the payments go against the total job. You have no rights to see receipts pr any other documentation from his suppliers.

What was the total cost of the project including the windows?
How much were the windows?
How much have you paid?
Have you added any other work?
How much work do you estimate has been completed?

Did he supply a quote or an estimate?
Is the quote or estimate itemised?
Did he supply terms and conditions?
Are the documents in his name or the name or an Ltd?
Did you pay him, an Ltd, or a third party?

Wonka_2

adamskix said:

The payments were made on credit card. 

And does this show on your credit card statement to him/his company or is it via one of the machine/credit providers (SumUp/Stripe etc) ? Fairly unusual for a builder to be accepting cards in their own right

retiredbanker1

OP You also need to tell us what the total sum for the extension is - if its over £30k and you have no separate invoices for windows etc you stand no chance  of making a S75 claim.

Grumpy_chap

adamskix said:

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has had any experience against claiming back money from a builder through section 75 and what is the best option to get money back?
We agreed a quote to have an extension done along with replacement windows for our existing property. 
We ended up paying quite a large sum of deposits before the building work started as the builder said he was going to order the windows straight away after he measured up.
We had our suspicions about him early on with delays and other excuses. When we did not believe that he had ordered any windows, we asked for some sort of confirmation or email, receipt etc which has never been able to provide.
So based on this we asked him to remove the windows from the quote in which he said it was not a problem which almost but confirms he had not ordered them as he would of said he/we would of lost the deposit. 
We have ended up having a big argument with him after we had emailed him to tell him we are claiming a section 75. 
He is now asking us whether we want to terminate the work and was wondering if we have a case to claim anything back?
Thanks

What exactly are you seeking to claim via S75 (or any other means)?
It is not obvious that, assuming the other criteria that might extend S75 protection are satisfied, you would even have a claim under that process.
It seems to be as though:

1. You ordered some work from a builder which included an extension plus windows.
2. You paid deposits towards the whole works.
3. You then changed your mind so reduced the value of the work by the windows.
4. The deposit remains against the extension.

If that is correct, then simple change of mind would not be covered by S75, so far as I understand it, while the sum paid simply gets reallocated to other works.  It would also really mean there is no claim or refund due from the builder.  You agreed work £X and paid deposit £a.  You now reduced the value of the work to £X - £Y (windows) meaning the total bill will come out at £Z.  The deposit paid remains at £a.  So long as £a is less than £Z, all that means is the future payments you owe when the work is complete will be less.

born_again

retiredbanker1 said:

OP You also need to tell us what the total sum for the extension is - if its over £30k and you have no separate invoices for windows etc you stand no chance  of making a S75 claim.

Most important part. Otherwise people are just wasting their time. 👍

This will also be the total cost of the extension, not each part.