Building contractor problems

naomimims

I’ve had a dispute with the builders as they have done a terrible job. 

Long story short, in April I refused to pay half of the final invoice ( circa £15k ) until the work was completed and the property was handed over to me. 

After massive delays, they eventually abandoned site and refused to come back, but now are demanding money. 

Not only as he demanding the money that I held back, for the work he didn’t finish….

He has also decided to back charge me VAT (roughly 16k) on some finishes which he originally said he wasn’t going to charge me VAT as he would buy my finishes it through his company.

I wanted to understand if he is allowed to do this?

And if I do have to pay him, can I pay HMRC directly or can I somehow check he’s using the money to pay HMRC in the correct way and not just pocketing it?

do I need to consult a tax expert?

I’m feeling very bullied and under pressured by this company and I think they should be reported but I’m also unsure how to do this. 

Aylesbury_Duck

naomimims said:

I’ve had a dispute with the builders as they have done a terrible job. 

Long story short, in April I refused to pay half of the final invoice ( circa £15k ) until the work was completed and the property was handed over to me. 

After massive delays, they eventually abandoned site and refused to come back, but now are demanding money. 

Not only as he demanding the money that I held back, for the work he didn’t finish….

He has also decided to back charge me VAT (roughly 16k) on some finishes which he originally said he wasn’t going to charge me VAT as he would buy my finishes it through his company.

I wanted to understand if he is allowed to do this?

And if I do have to pay him, can I pay HMRC directly or can I somehow check he’s using the money to pay HMRC in the correct way and not just pocketing it?

do I need to consult a tax expert?

I’m feeling very bullied and under pressured by this company and I think they should be reported but I’m also unsure how to do this. 

What contracts and correspondence do you have for all of this?  The builder can demand what he likes, and ultimately could take you to court, but he'd have to show that you held back funds unreasonably, and you presumably can show that the work he was contracted to complete, wasn't completed.

The VAT situation is different.  Again, what correspondence do you have about it?  If he was up to something dodgy with VAT (and that is an 'if') then he'd be pretty silly to take you to court and put that on display if you have correspondence to show what you agreed.

Do you have legal cover with your home insurance?  Did you advise your insurer that the work was being carried out, because it's often a condition of your policy to do so?  I'd give them a call to get their support.