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Question Re. Evidence of work not done

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  • Question Re. Evidence of work not done

    We got an estimate for a house improvement. We agreed a price and paid a deposit. Regrettably although we can prove we paid the money to him we have no paperwork to show what for. OTOH he wouldn't be able to show that he did any work in our house to justify the deposit. I've started the initial process of taking him to the small claims court by sending a letter before action but I'm wondering what our chances are of winning given the lack of paperwork?
    Some additional information, He runs a one man company from a small unit and this address is on the govt. companies register. We can find no home address for him and we can never find him at the unit but have sent a letter before action to this address and his email address. We know he is still working but cannot contact him apart from leaving a message as he no longer answers the phone to us.He has recently taken deposits from at least two other people and not done the work.
    We know we were daft not to get the job down in writing but he had already done some work for us and we trusted him. Lesson learned.
    Any advice will be gratefully received.
    Tags: None

  • #2
    Hi BRADGATE

    Lodge a complaint with Trading Standards via CAB. If you do that with the other 2 people plus, your complaints will carry more weight.

    How did you pay him? If you have his full name, you can use 192 website to track his home address. Check social media for activity.
    MyBuilder.com etc.

    Essentially it becomes his word against yours, but then you are aware of others who has been 'scammed' by the builder.

    Comment


    • #3
      Thanks for the advice. I gave him fourteen days to respond to my letter before action. Should I continue with that as well as contact CAB? Would it cause a problem that I've sent a letter before action but not proceeded with it.
      Regarding the two others he has scammed I have no way of contacting one of the two and the other who I have been in contact with has probably already started their court action. I wish I had found this forum before as I asked the question on a non law related forum and their advice was go to the small claims court. I can see now that although that was good advice I perhaps should have tried CAB first.
      I should also point out that I can prove that I have left messages asking him to contact us urgently and its now several months with no contact from him so a court would know that he has been totally unreasonable as if he had done the work he would have obviously replied to say so. IOW he has given us no opportunity to resolve this amicably.
      Thanks again.

      Comment


      • #4
        just a question - are there no addresses for directors on Companies house?

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by islandgirl View Post
          just a question - are there no addresses for directors on Companies house?
          He is the sole director now although there was another up until a couple of years ago. The only address given though is his unit on a small industrial estate.
          He seems to rarely go there.

          Comment


          • #6
            So the company address and the directors address are the same? Did you pay and download any info to see if there are any clues in it? I seem to remember you can order accounts etc.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Bradgate View Post
              Thanks for the advice. I gave him fourteen days to respond to my letter before action. Should I continue with that as well as contact CAB? Would it cause a problem that I've sent a letter before action but not proceeded with it.
              Regarding the two others he has scammed I have no way of contacting one of the two and the other who I have been in contact with has probably already started their court action. I wish I had found this forum before as I asked the question on a non law related forum and their advice was go to the small claims court. I can see now that although that was good advice I perhaps should have tried CAB first.
              I should also point out that I can prove that I have left messages asking him to contact us urgently and its now several months with no contact from him so a court would know that he has been totally unreasonable as if he had done the work he would have obviously replied to say so. IOW he has given us no opportunity to resolve this amicably.
              Thanks again.
              It's not a problem, providing you are taking other steps to resolve the matter, Trading Standards etc. But if you send an LBA you should go through with it.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by islandgirl View Post
                So the company address and the directors address are the same? Did you pay and download any info to see if there are any clues in it? I seem to remember you can order accounts etc.
                I had another look. There are accounts you can download which are free but they all still just state the company address.
                I've also tried 192 as Echat11 suggested but I would have to pay £15.99 and I think it may just come up with his company address.
                Thanks for your help.
                Edit to say that if I click on his name it gives a correspondence address which is the same as the company address.
                Last edited by Bradgate; 2nd February 2022, 12:54:PM.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by echat11 View Post

                  It's not a problem, providing you are taking other steps to resolve the matter, Trading Standards etc. But if you send an LBA you should go through with it.
                  That's very helpful. Thank you. I will contact CAB..

                  Comment

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