Need advice regarding a cowboy builder

[Darren w]

Hi. I really need advice as making a court claim is completely new territory for me.
We have basically been the victim of a cowboy builder who has fraudulently taken £17k from us. We hired him to put a new roof on our holiday home. He took a sizeable deposit of £11k before the job started. Three weeks into the work an dthere didn't really seem too much evidence of progree although he seemed to be contacting us every few days asking for more money for materials or finding additional jobs. I feel very naive and foolish now but I trusted him and even when I started to sense things weren't right I let it go on for too long. Eventually my very good neighbours started to contact me to tell me they were really worried about what he was doing and so I got him off the site to have it inspected (he had been staying in the house whilst working). When I got competent roofers to inspect it they were all a aghast at what he had done. Everything needed strippi g off and starting again. He had done far more damage than good. It wasn't just bad workmanship it pretty much amounted to fraud. Just as an example, he had charged me £2500 for a new resin roof to the shed and I discovered he had just painted the old felt with floor paint! I have reported him to action fraud and trading standards but now I want to see if I can recoup some of the money. To be honest I'm not that bothered about the money (even though its a huge amount) as I just want to move on. However, I feel I have a moral obligation nit to let him get away with this. His next victim could be financial crippled if he does this to them.

I have 2 concerns. 1. I dont want to throw food money after bad and spend another £10,000 on solicitors and legal fees. 2. I am unsure that even if I win a court case (I am virtually 100% sure I would have an excellent case and I'm not really sure how he could possibly defend himself) that I would ever see a penny as I don't k ow whether he would actuary part with any money.

I really need advice. I was thinking possible small claims court. I know its a maximum of £10k but I was thi ki g of breaking the claim up (eg. Claim for materials he charged me for but never bought, claim for damage to property, claim for work that needs to be redone) however. If I won any claim what would be the chance of him paying... He's clearly dishonest and lacks any integrity and no doubt knows how all this works better than me.

I do believe he owns. A property but I'm not 100%

As I said I'm not bothered about seeing any of the money in my own pocket. I have half thought of donating any money to those that have lost their homes in the Ukraine as watching what was happening to those poor people helped me keep a sense of reality and perspective whilst this was happening to me.

Any advice would be welcome please.

[scouse1me]

Hi really sympathise with you, i have had a bad incomplete kitchen done and they are sending debt collectors to me as i have not paid final installment! anyway what i was going to advise is if contact your home insurance - if you have legal cover they may take the case to a solicitor. They werent interested in mine as it is less than 10k but may be worth a try in yours. You need a proper surveyors report outlining whats wrong with your property and also evidence of what you have paid together with what it would cost to put right. You can only put one claim in for the 10k for small claims court.