Building Dispute for Unfinished work (Delayed for 6 months!)

[Bob121]

My builder ( a Limited company) has failed to finish the agreed work and approx £25,000 worth of work remains outstanding at my home. He has already been paid this money. I tried resolving this with the FMB dispute resolution service, without success.
If I want to get another builder to come in and finish the job and then claim back the money for this work from the defaulting builder, I was wondering if there is any Legal stipulation on how many quotations I need to obtain first ? Also, can I choose my preferred quotation rather than just the cheapest or should I strike an average and claim for that figure? I would aim to claim using the MCOL (Govt's Money Claim Online) service.
Many Thanks.
Bob

[2222]

Is this a substantial company you're going to be suing? How did you finance/make the payments? If you used finance even for part of the payment, you may have a claim against the finance company.

As a rule of thumb, you should proceed on the basis that you will not be paid by the old builder. So, yes, you should get several quotes. Three would be normal. Then choose one to do the work and sue for that amount. If you choose one of the more expensive quotes you should be prepared to justify that on objective grounds.

Can I ask how the stage payments got so far ahead of the work done? Also, using a solicitor may provide an independent viewpoint on your chances of success in court AND being paid.