Making claim against cowboy builder...

[Feelingsilly]

Hi,

Am feeling a bit hopeless and would be grateful for any advice please. I hired a contractor to renovate our house. To cut a long story short we payed about £10,000 upfront (I know now that this was stupid!), very little work was done (maybe about £3000) and the contractor has gradually disappeared and stopped responding to emails, texts, calls and letters. One of his workers has said there are a few other customers in the same position.

I realise now that he trades under a limited company and I know pursuing this as a small claim would be useless as he’ll just fold the company. My question is whether we could pursue a claim against him as an individual?

We found him through MyBuilder and when he sent the quote and contract that we agreed there was no LTD or limited company on the paperwork just “Smith Building Services”. In the contract definitions it says:

‘ “contractor” means John Smith ((trading as Smith Building Services)) and any of their employees and/or agents.’

His website says “Smith Building Services” everywhere but no LTD or Limited company anywhere. There is no indication that he is a limited company looking at his website. Same for his social media business pages.

However, looking at the invoices which he sent it does say “Smith Building Services LTD”. I paid by bank transfer and don’t know how to tell if the account was personal or company.

Would it be worth pursuing a claim against him individually as at the time of agreeing the contract I did not know he was a Limited Company?

Thanks

[Willis]

I’m not the best one to give advice….see my post below regarding builders.

However I would urge you to contact MyBuilder who were very helpful to me. They interviewed my guy, suspended him and transcribed for me the interview with him. This showed how much he lied and continually changed his story.

Good luck. It’s a nightmare.

[Feelingsilly]

Thanks Willis have taken your advice and contacted MyBuilder. Sorry to hear you’re going through this too, it’s really stressful. Best of luck to you.

[ostell]

So your contract for the work is with the sole trader. This means you take action against him personally. However he may have arranged his affairs in such a way that there is no worth against his name. If you know his address have a look at the land registry records.

have you looked on Companies House to see if the limited company actually exists

[Feelingsilly]

Thanks Ostell. The limited company does exist on Companies House.

Would the court have expected me to check this prior to agreeing the quote/contract? Or to have questioned the appearance of the LTD after the trading name on the invoice?

Is it fraudulent not to make it really clear that he’s trading as a limited company?

I will check the land registry. I suspect I will never get the money back but wish to do all I possibly can to prevent him from doing this again.

[Willis]

Hi,

Am feeling a bit hopeless and would be grateful for any advice please. I hired a contractor to renovate our house. To cut a long story short we payed about £10,000 upfront (I know now that this was stupid!), very little work was done (maybe about £3000) and the contractor has gradually disappeared and stopped responding to emails, texts, calls and letters. One of his workers has said there are a few other customers in the same position.

I realise now that he trades under a limited company and I know pursuing this as a small claim would be useless as he’ll just fold the company. My question is whether we could pursue a claim against him as an individual?

We found him through MyBuilder and when he sent the quote and contract that we agreed there was no LTD or limited company on the paperwork just “Smith Building Services”. In the contract definitions it says:

‘ “contractor” means John Smith ((trading as Smith Building Services)) and any of their employees and/or agents.’

His website says “Smith Building Services” everywhere but no LTD or Limited company anywhere. There is no indication that he is a limited company looking at his website. Same for his social media business pages.

However, looking at the invoices which he sent it does say “Smith Building Services LTD”. I paid by bank transfer and don’t know how to tell if the account was personal or company.

Would it be worth pursuing a claim against him individually as at the time of agreeing the contract I did not know he was a Limited Company?

Thanks

Is it the company in Failsworth? If so they are within a spits throw of the company I had problems with. And no, they do not have LTD after their name.

[ostell]

You have checked that the company exists but is the data relevant, ie has he anything to do with the limited company

[des8]

If he is trading as a limited company ALL his paperwork (including adverts) has to carry certain information:

• the company’s registered number
• its registered office address
• where the company is registered (England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland)
• the fact that it’s a limited company

Report him to trading standards

[Feelingsilly]

Willis he’s not in Failsworth I’m afraid, we are in the South of England.

Ostell, he is registered as the only director of the limited company. The company is only 9 months old. He had a company prior to this that was dissolved after a year.

Des8, thanks that’s really useful, I will definitely report him to trading standards. Maybe they have already heard of him.

[ostell]

So is the company start date before or after your contract date?

[Feelingsilly]

The company was started before the contract start date. It seems like he just hasn’t put that it’s a limited company on any of the paperwork or website apart from the invoices. His company number isn’t on anything.

[ostell]

So, as before, your contract is with the sole trader

[Feelingsilly]

Just realised that when I asked for a copy of the insurance policy it did list his full company name including LTD. This was prior to agreeing the contract. Does this change things?

[des8]

If you have a copy of the contract that you signed which did not include his limited status, your contract was with him as a sole trader