Building work - do I go to small claims?

Aylesbury_Duck

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

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82147434#Comment_82147434

I'm still a bit lost. You have already paid the company £67k for work that was originally quoted as £42k, correct?

You seem to suggest that it will cost £25k to put things right, is that correct?

If so, what's the "£25k for putting right and overcharges"? I get the £25k to put things right, but you've already been charged £25k more than initially quoted. What are the "overcharges" you're mentioning, or am I getting confused by the coincidental sums? Do you mean there are things in the £67k that you were overcharged for and that those sums, plus the work needed to put things right, comes to £25k? e.g. in the £67k you've been charged £5k over the top for something, and there's £20k of corrective work required, which makes up the £25k.

On the recovery side, if solicitors are advising it's unwise to pursue it, and that to do so is unaffordable, then you'll have to see what the insurance company says and hope they will help.

lincroft1710

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82147426#Comment_82147426

So are you saying that the builders said they needed more money to finish the job, you said no, so the builders walked off the job

2manyeyelashes

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82147434#Comment_82147434

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82147440#Comment_82147440

sorry - I’m not explaining it very well! The £25k is made up of approx £8k that they overcharged and the rest is damage to the property, our neighbours’ property and redoing the bathroom and elements that were not done properly.

Aylesbury_Duck

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82147458#Comment_82147458

Understood! I was confusing myself because the £25k matched the £25k you'd paid above the original quote and I assumed there was overlap there.

2manyeyelashes

No not quite. They were charging more than we agreed for the same work.

Alderbank

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82147458#Comment_82147458

…and the rest is damage to the property [and] our neighbours’ property…

You should certainly be looking to your insurers to make good the damage to your own property. If they decide to recover that from the builder (or more likely, from the builder's insurer) they will be in a better position than you to do so.

Similarly, your neighbours should also be claiming from their insurers.

MyRealNameToo

You can not put a claim in the small claims court, instead you file a claim with the county court and a judge will decide which track it will go into. The decision is made on complexity and therefore how much court time the case will need however this is broadly proxied by the value of the claim.

Judges are instructed to put it in the lowest track appropriate but they have broad discretion and only have the ininitial claim forms and directions questionaire to go by. The ceiling for the Small track is £10k (for non-injuries) so you are well above that and the next tier is Fast Track which is £25k limit so you may well get into Intermediary track.

What track you are in determines what costs the loser has to pay, in either Fast or Intermediary track you are at risk of paying for their lawyers however its a fixed fee based on complexity and how far through the process it went. Whilst it is fixed costs it is possible for the fixed cost to exceed the actual value of the claim

So proceed if you wish but its much more risky as soon as you arent in the small track