Plumber won't give invoice receipt needed for insurance claim

boongywoongy

We had a leak from an immersion heater which caused significant damage to the two flats below. When it happened, we called out a plumber that we found on trustatrader.com and they came out and replaced the parts that caused the leak. We promptly transferred payment to their account and was asked to give Google feedback which we complied with. We are now in the process of applying for an insurance claim and they understandably want an invoice receipt which details what was fixed. The tradesman is giving excuses that their software isn't working and has only sent an email saying what was done and paid which the insurer is saying isn't enough.

What are my rights to force the tradesman to provide us a receipt? Without it, we will be facing huge expense to resolve all the problems for our neighbours.

eskbanker

That doesn't smell right - was VAT mentioned in your dealings with the plumber and is he acting as a sole trader or a limited company?

GrubbyGirl_2

I would tell him to hand write the receipt on his letterhead

DullGreyGuy

boongywoongy said:

We had a leak from an immersion heater which caused significant damage to the two flats below. When it happened, we called out a plumber that we found on trustatrader.com and they came out and replaced the parts that caused the leak. We promptly transferred payment to their account and was asked to give Google feedback which we complied with. We are now in the process of applying for an insurance claim and they understandably want an invoice receipt which details what was fixed. The tradesman is giving excuses that their software isn't working and has only sent an email saying what was done and paid which the insurer is saying isn't enough.

What are my rights to force the tradesman to provide us a receipt? Without it, we will be facing huge expense to resolve all the problems for our neighbours.

You have no legal right to a receipt/invoice, the only people that do are those that are VAT registered buying services from another VAT registered entity for business purposes.  After having paid and left feedback you have no leverage on them to get them to do it... clearly many reasonable people would any but you've already found they arent reasonable. 

Why are you having to fix problems for your neighbours? unless you were negligent their losses are their own to carry not for you to pay.

boongywoongy

DullGreyGuy said:

boongywoongy said:

We had a leak from an immersion heater which caused significant damage to the two flats below. When it happened, we called out a plumber that we found on trustatrader.com and they came out and replaced the parts that caused the leak. We promptly transferred payment to their account and was asked to give Google feedback which we complied with. We are now in the process of applying for an insurance claim and they understandably want an invoice receipt which details what was fixed. The tradesman is giving excuses that their software isn't working and has only sent an email saying what was done and paid which the insurer is saying isn't enough.

What are my rights to force the tradesman to provide us a receipt? Without it, we will be facing huge expense to resolve all the problems for our neighbours.

You have no legal right to a receipt/invoice, the only people that do are those that are VAT registered buying services from another VAT registered entity for business purposes.  After having paid and left feedback you have no leverage on them to get them to do it... clearly many reasonable people would any but you've already found they arent reasonable. 

Why are you having to fix problems for your neighbours? unless you were negligent their losses are their own to carry not for you to pay.

The damage to flats below came from our leak (both flats were away the entire weekend unfortunately, so the leak was ongoing a long time causing many problems)? Are we not liable for the repair costs?

sheramber

I think they are only wanting a recipt for the work to fix the leak.

A plumber wouldn't be fixing any damage  caused by the leak.

boongywoongy

eskbanker said:

That doesn't smell right - was VAT mentioned in your dealings with the plumber and is he acting as a sole trader or a limited company?

No VAT was mentioned. With water running downstairs, we just went on trustatrader.com immediately to get somebody over as soon as possible. The tradesman has a website with their mobile and email. There is no mention of VAT registration, just that they are Gas Safe registered and their experience and services etc. I suspect that they are a sole trader. That would still be ok for insurance purposes right?

Ms_Chocaholic

You only need to claim for your own leak and any damage through your own insurer.  If it wasn't negligent, ie you knew about the leak and didn't do anything about it which then caused damage to your neighbour's home then you are not liable for the damage to their home(s) and they need to claim on their own insurance.

eskbanker

boongywoongy said:

eskbanker said:

That doesn't smell right - was VAT mentioned in your dealings with the plumber and is he acting as a sole trader or a limited company?

No VAT was mentioned. With water running downstairs, we just went on trustatrader.com immediately to get somebody over as soon as possible. The tradesman has a website with their mobile and email. There is no mention of VAT registration, just that they are Gas Safe registered and their experience and services etc. I suspect that they are a sole trader. That would still be ok for insurance purposes right?

Yes, there's no obligation for someone in your position to use limited companies only for services like this, unless your insurer insists that they'll only reimburse work carried out by such businesses (not a particularly reasonable stance).

However, I was effectively just speculating about the fact that the trader is stalling on providing a proper receipt, and wondered if it might be to do with VAT registration, or lack thereof.... 

boongywoongy

Ms_Chocaholic said:

You only need to claim for your own leak and any damage through your own insurer.  If it wasn't negligent, ie you knew about the leak and didn't do anything about it which then caused damage to your neighbour's home then you are not liable for the damage to their home(s) and they need to claim on their own insurance.

After liasing with the block management company, the claim for the repairs will be on the buildings insurance. There is no damage to our flat that needs claiming, it's just for the two below us. So you think that their damage can be left just to them? I must admit that if it was the other way around, I would expect the property owner of the source of the leak to be liable. Anyone else confirm what has been stated above? We have not been negligent as far as I'm aware.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

boongywoongy said:

Ms_Chocaholic said:

You only need to claim for your own leak and any damage through your own insurer.  If it wasn't negligent, ie you knew about the leak and didn't do anything about it which then caused damage to your neighbour's home then you are not liable for the damage to their home(s) and they need to claim on their own insurance.

After liasing with the block management company, the claim for the repairs will be on the buildings insurance. There is no damage to our flat that needs claiming, it's just for the two below us. So you think that their damage can be left just to them? I must admit that if it was the other way around, I would expect the property owner of the source of the leak to be liable. Anyone else confirm what has been stated above? We have not been negligent as far as I'm aware.

From what I’ve read on the (MSE) housing board over the years you’d need to be negligent for the flats below to have a claim against a leak from a flat above. 

I know hindsight is 20/20 but next time ask for what you want/need before leaving a review, the review should be the very last thing to do after everything else is sorted