Firm Messed Up Job In My Home

anoneemouse

Hi

A firm has messed up a job in my home - thankfully not a major "life and limb" (well - structure of house anyway) type job. Its a few hundred £s worth type job.

They know they have done this, the workman apologised at the time for some of the damage (I only realised about the rest after he had left). He made an offer at the time about rectifying the damage - but I have heard nothing further since. I have emailed them and asked for this to be sorted out urgently and listed the steps involved that are necessary to deal with this - but no reply yet.

I paid an initial deposit and owe a few hundred £ balance. I have calculated how much roughly it would cost for me to sort out the problem they have caused me and rectify this damage and it about matches what I owe them.

I do want this dealt with urgently - there is other work to get on with urgently in my house - and, beyond that, I want to "get my life back" and be able to forget about work on the house.

I am wondering whether the fact that the firm hasnt contacted me yet means they are also calculating how much it would cost to put the job right and deciding whether to make me some sort of "offer" - ie for me to take over putting their job right and in return they will let me off the balance of the money I owe them.

How long in law do I have to give the firm to put this right themselves before I am entitled to use that balance of money I owe them and get on and get it sorted myself please?

(I am thinking that the law must allow householders to keep monies necessary to rectify firms' bodge-ups and will have specified a reasonable time limit to allow the firm to deal with it themselves - I am guessing 3 months:eek: AAAGH - THAT long! I hope not).

Anyone know the legal position on this please?

jockettuk

anoneemouse wrote: »

Hi

A firm has messed up a job in my home - thankfully not a major "life and limb" (well - structure of house anyway) type job. Its a few hundred £s worth type job.

They know they have done this, the workman apologised at the time for some of the damage (I only realised about the rest after he had left). He made an offer at the time about rectifying the damage - but I have heard nothing further since. I have emailed them and asked for this to be sorted out urgently and listed the steps involved that are necessary to deal with this - but no reply yet.

I paid an initial deposit and owe a few hundred £ balance. I have calculated how much roughly it would cost for me to sort out the problem they have caused me and rectify this damage and it about matches what I owe them.

I do want this dealt with urgently - there is other work to get on with urgently in my house - and, beyond that, I want to "get my life back" and be able to forget about work on the house.

I am wondering whether the fact that the firm hasnt contacted me yet means they are also calculating how much it would cost to put the job right and deciding whether to make me some sort of "offer" - ie for me to take over putting their job right and in return they will let me off the balance of the money I owe them.

How long in law do I have to give the firm to put this right themselves before I am entitled to use that balance of money I owe them and get on and get it sorted myself please?

(I am thinking that the law must allow householders to keep monies necessary to rectify firms' bodge-ups and will have specified a reasonable time limit to allow the firm to deal with it themselves - I am guessing 3 months:eek: AAAGH - THAT long! I hope not).

Anyone know the legal position on this please?

not sure about how long but if i was you i would email, send copy in post recorded and then follow up with a phone call.. that way you have tried to rectify the situation.. if a local firm take a copy of the letter also by hand.. the more they have the less they have to ignore!

madeane

I got this from the trading standards website and it is related to threatening county court action. I would not threaten in the first instance but would use the following guidelines for your communication with them, especially the bit about what you expect to be done and the date you want it done by. Give them a date by which they have to respond to your communication by. Let them know that you are serious, go on trading standards website for heaps of info i have found it useful in the past, enough said!!



[FONT=Arial, Chicago]County Court Support Pack[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Chicago]Taking a small claims action in the County Court[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Chicago]A basic guide for claimants including sample documents[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Chicago][/FONT]Stage 1 - Letter Before Action

Before commencing any action in the County Court it is necessary to write to the trader (the proposed Defendant) a letter advising him/her of your intention to take action in the small claims track in the County Court.

Your letter should include :-

• The nature of complaint
• Details of how you want the matter resolved
• a time limit for a response i.e. 7 or 14 days
• indication of intention to pursue a claim in County Court

You should keep a copy of the letter together with proof of postage. A draft Letter Before Action is contained in this pack.

olly300

anoneemouse wrote: »

How long in law do I have to give the firm to put this right themselves before I am entitled to use that balance of money I owe them and get on and get it sorted myself please?

Your not entitled just not to pay them. However you can negotiate with them about how to rectify the problems.

anoneemouse wrote: »

(I am thinking that the law must allow householders to keep monies necessary to rectify firms' bodge-ups and will have specified a reasonable time limit to allow the firm to deal with it themselves - I am guessing 3 months:eek: AAAGH - THAT long! I hope not).

Firms have 6 years in which to chase people for debts. So the best course of action is to take photos of the problems and label them for your records, and send letters in the way Jockkett said. Make sure you keep copies of all correspondence and detail the way you delivered the letters.

I personally would wait 3 months unless the problem was urgent before rectifying the situation with the money owed. By urgent I mean the problem would put my life or anyone in my household's life in danger. (Workmen cause mess and can take a long time but it doesn't mean the matter is urgent. )

Only if they refuse to rectify the problems, which includes ignoring your letters until after your deadline, and try and make you pay do you threaten them with court action.

melb

this is just my persosnal opinion but I would write to them, recorded delivery, and ask them to reply within 14 days giving you a date when they will come to your home and rectify the problems they have created. I would also say that if you do not receive a reply within the 14 days you reserve the right to have the job done by someone else and use the outstanding money to pay them. (I would then give another couple of weeks and perhaps one more letter to give them time if they're away on holiday etc and then get on with approaching someone else). Get in touch with your local CAB and see what they suggest.

anoneemouse

Thanks very much all - you've certainly given me some useful suggestions:T . I like that idea of a recorded delivery letter giving them 14 days or I will pay someone else.

Right - I am thinking it was Monday they created the problem with the faulty work (after various initial hassle with doing things wrong before then!) - so I am now thinking that I will give them 2 weeks from Monday and if I still haven't heard from them - then down the recorded delivery/give them 14 days officially route and hope that sorts it.

Thanks again - it helps to get a clear head on these things (ie not mine - as I am upset by all this).