Building work - do I go to small claims?

2manyeyelashes

hi, I’ve joined in the hope I can get some advice. Incredibly long story short, builders came to do an extension and rennovation throughout. They were there almost a year and never finished. Over charged and left the house in a mess and we’ve now discovered problems with the bits they ‘finished’ too!

According to campanies house they have virtually no money. We paid mostly in cash but it is receipted. Is it worth pursuing? I feel like I can’t leave it. This was my husbands pension pay out and I have 3 kids whose lives have been effected so much by it all.

Really grateful for any advice.

Isthisforreal99

I'd always advise caution taking legal action against a Ltd with no assets. A CCJ won't really bother them, they just set up another company and move on and you are further out of pocket.

These boards are littered with those take legal action as a point of principle, win and still see no money.

Aylesbury_Duck

What are the sums involved here? Overall quote? Amount actually paid? Cost of putting right what's wrong?

Context is helpful in deciding whether to pursue legally (as per Isthisforreal99's advice) or whether to just get it fixed and move on.

Ectophile

By the sound of it, this isn't going to be classed as a small claim. So the cheap small claims procedure won't apply. By the time you've got lawyers involved, the cost of making this claim could run into thousands.

2manyeyelashes

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82147291#Comment_82147291

thank you. Original quote was £42,000. We paid £67,000. Cost of putting right and what’s been overcharged is about £25,000

Isthisforreal99

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82147392#Comment_82147392

Ouch, that rules out small claims. Do you have legal cover on your home insurance? If so, speak to them.

Aylesbury_Duck

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82147392#Comment_82147392

With those sums, I would see if a local solicitor will give you an initial free consultation (some do). And do some more digging into the company to see if taking legal action is likely to be worthwhile.

Quick question on those numbers first: You've been "overcharged" by £25k already. Are you saying it will cost another £25k to put things right?

What was the builder's justification for charging £67k against a quote of £42k?

lincroft1710

Why didn't they finish the job?

2manyeyelashes

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82147402#Comment_82147402

I’ve got legal cover on the home insurance. They initially said it wasn’t covered because it involved an extension which makes it exempt, but that are now reconsidering as the extension wasn’t the problem.

2manyeyelashes

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82147407#Comment_82147407

I started questioning the ‘extras’ which seemed to be duplicated and should have been included in the original quote. They knew they’d taken pretty much all the money we had, and we had nothing left. They should have finished for what we’d paid but they clearly wanted to charge more that we didn’t have.

2manyeyelashes

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82147406#Comment_82147406

sorry, £25k in total for putting right and overcharges. I followed citizens advice to the point of a letter before court action but a couple of solicitors I’ve spoken to say that they either won’t take the case on because of the lack of assets, or that they will bit it will cost £xxxx to determine if we have a case. Meanwhile my house still isn’t finished and that needs paying for..

The justification for the extra money was all ‘extras’ for which he did the work and then just added to the bill. No discussion.