Had the builders in since Sept 2023 to do renocations to our house. Basically, new roof , new kitchen , and a new front porch. They were a nightmare from the start , either not turning up for weeks on end or they were delayed on another job. In May this year I had finally had enough and confronted him about when the work would be finished. I had an unfinished roof, porch and kitchen. By this time he had already been paid almost £50, 000 ( labour only, we paid for all materials ). I asked him for schedule for finishing it all off and he got stroppy, told me I was being abusive and walked off. Packed up.his van and left. I discovered afterwards that he"d also packed some of our tools from the garage with his own . We've sent several e-mails asking for them to returned and he's admitted that that they probably packed them up with his tools by mistake and got stroppy again saying I was accusing them of being thieves. Not returned any of it yet. We are wondering if it's worth getting the police involved ?
I'm looking at options to recover some of the costs for work he"d been paid for but not done but have been advised by a solitor that even if we took him to court and win , he may not have any assets to cover the cost of getting the work finished. We'd then be stuck with solicitors costs.
Any advice would be welcome