Plumber won't give invoice receipt needed for insurance claim

Jumblebumble

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.

Official complaint to insurance company followed by Ombudsman should attend to your difficulty

user1977

If the plumber has stated in writing what the work was and how much it cost, what exactly is it the insurers need over and above that? Does somebody need to scribble "invoice" at the top of it?

Brouts

Just ask them to write out a receipt for you.  Or surely they could do one on microsoft word or something.

The insurance will just want a report of what was done and the cost.  They might not be vat registered so you might not have had vat to pay.  

In the future, I wouldn't pay for something like this until you've been issued an invoice.

I hope you get it sorted.

born_again

Brouts said:

Just ask them to write out a receipt for you.  Or surely they could do one on microsoft word or something.

The insurance will just want a report of what was done and the cost.  They might not be vat registered so you might not have had vat to pay.  

In the future, I wouldn't pay for something like this until you've been issued an invoice.

I hope you get it sorted.

Poster has not been back on forum since Jul 23, 2025

sheramber

user1977 said:

If the plumber has stated in writing what the work was and how much it cost, what exactly is it the insurers need over and above that? Does somebody need to scribble "invoice" at the top of it?

They may want proof of the plumbers business such as headed paper/ invoice. . 

Anybody can send an email

user1977

sheramber said:

user1977 said:

If the plumber has stated in writing what the work was and how much it cost, what exactly is it the insurers need over and above that? Does somebody need to scribble "invoice" at the top of it?

They may want proof of the plumbers business such as headed paper/ invoice. . 

Anybody can send an email

Anybody can produce headed paper or an invoice. Legitimate ones these days are typically just a pdf attached to the email.

MattMattMattUK

user1977 said:

sheramber said:

user1977 said:

If the plumber has stated in writing what the work was and how much it cost, what exactly is it the insurers need over and above that? Does somebody need to scribble "invoice" at the top of it?

They may want proof of the plumbers business such as headed paper/ invoice. . 

Anybody can send an email

Anybody can produce headed paper or an invoice. Legitimate ones these days are typically just a pdf attached to the email.

Which is equally something that pretty much anybody could produce...

outtatune

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.

Negligence would be if for example you knew there was a leak which risked causing damage and failed to deal with it in a reasonable amount of time.

If you were not negligent, you are not liable for damages to other properties.

The other flat owners should be claiming anything not covered by the buildings insurance from their own insurance.

sheramber

user1977 said:

sheramber said:

user1977 said:

If the plumber has stated in writing what the work was and how much it cost, what exactly is it the insurers need over and above that? Does somebody need to scribble "invoice" at the top of it?

They may want proof of the plumbers business such as headed paper/ invoice. . 

Anybody can send an email

Anybody can produce headed paper or an invoice. Legitimate ones these days are typically just a pdf attached to the email.

Not so easy as just writing  an email. 

Provides an address  and contact details that can be checked , If nothing else