How do you come to terms with being screwed out of £60,000?!!

[greatbritishknee]

I have posted about this before under a different user name - just in case anyone recognises the story - things have progressed further now though.

I am genuinely looking for any wise words that might help me see this whole situation in a more positive light or just help me navigate a way forward.

We had an extension built earlier this year - and I know that to own a house and be doing an extension already makes me someone who has been incredibly lucky in the general lottery of life.

We borrowed 50K from the bank which was the max we could (on top of our mortgage) according to our salaries so there is no possibility of borrowing more for a long time.

Throughout the build the relationship with the builder broke down completely as he got furious with us for ever questioning or complaining about anything. At the end of of the build he sent us a final invoice but we sent back a snagging list and also the requirement for the final building control inspection (having found out he had not organised any of the interval inspections with building control in spite of telling us he had both verbally and it was in his contract to do so).

He went mad at us and started making threats if we don't pay him all the money and has carried out some of these threats including contacting my place of work and telling them I am mentally unstable and have post natal depression and am aggressive and volatile (our second child was born prematurely during the build and we also have a just turned 2 year old), he contacted social services and told them the same, that we were a risk to our children and my husband is abusive. He contacted the GMC and told them I was not safe to see patients (I am a doctor). He has threatened to contact my husband employers with similar and also my Dad's. He has threatened to send bailiffs round. He has told us he wants us to lose everything including our home. Just for the record there is absolutely no basis to any of his assertions about our character.

It was hell. Eventually we got the police involved and the harassment side of things has now stopped. Nothing has come of any of his accusations as they are all baseless but it was a terrifying time - never knowing what his next move might be.

Now he has backed off but cut a long story short it turns out he did a terrible job of the build - to the extent that it will have to be knocked down and re-built. No part of it complies with building regs not least the foundations are not deep enough. He told us he was getting building control in but he wasn't. Quotes for the re-build are coming in at £60,000 plus but we won't be able to afford to this for a long time - this means we are tied to the house and the area until we can which was not our plan.

I know we will eventually cobble the money together through a few years of hard saving and contributions from family and we are incredibly lucky to be in the position to do that. But I can't get my head round all the other things we could have done with that money - not least for our children. I can't believe how hard he went after us - and me in particular - having recently given birth - and all along he had completely screwed the whole thing up. We will have to change the way we live for the next few years to save the money.

The reason I am posting today is because we finally found out for sure there is no point in pursuing him for the money - he is personally liable but doesn't seem to have any assets - so we would win in court but never actually get the money.

Can anyone help me frame this in a more positive light? I know I am so fortunate in SO many ways - I just need to get my head around this so I can move on. Anyone got any stories of having been though similar and come out the other side?

I'll provide you with an alibi. You were round at mine drinking tea and eating biscuits!

Do CCJ him at the least !

@Bbang

He doesnt own his house, he rents. That's what we found out today hence the realisation that we probably wont get any money from him as we thought at the very least we could claim the money against his house. Ie force him to release equity or in worst case scenario, sell (although in spite of everything he's said and done I'm not sure I'd have wanted to do that anyway)

If you paid even £100 on a credit card the card company should be held as equally liable as him for the whole amount, look under Martin Lewis money saving expert. Might be worth a try even if you purchased any materials directly on a card. It's not a new thing this year as we used it good three years ago and that was for a service rather than a product so try and push them
:)

@CorBlimeyGovenor

thanks for the light relief!

I cannot understand how builders are not held to account and given prison sentences for literally stealing people’s money, you see it week in week out on programmes like Watchdog yet nothing ever happens to these traders they just hide their assets and start up a new company to rip yet more people off, it’s criminal behaviour and should be treated as such. You have my sympathies OP.

@OhTheRoses

We got 3 formal quotes for the original work. One other in the same ball park as this guy and one that was 10k more!

We have had two quotes so far for the rebuild but planning to get more. Both in low 60's so far (this does seem v expensive)

Op this all sounds horrific.

In terms of practical steps I would look at claiming via the courts, and contacting trading standard for advice. You can also contact consumer programmes, they might take this on.

I'm not sure if you are a member of a particular Facebook group for doctor mums? If so, you would find a wealth of support there, if you haven't already posted.

Can you live with the extension? Even if it doesn't comply with building regs, if you can still use it then that is something. If staying put then what about leaving as is?

Even if selling, a lot of houses do sell with dodgy extensions, that are not signed off with building regs. It's very common.

Take him to court anyway: there is a chance of it causing him some inconvenience and difficulty. And (though ask your lawyers' advice on this first) how about going to the proleporn mags or even the Daily Mail with a name-and-shame story? They might even pay you for some sadface pictures. I'm so sorry this happened.

I have unfortunately experienced being ripped off for £13,500 by a rogue builder. Because we had paid for part of the work using a credit card we were able to recoup the whole lot via the credit card company by making a section 75 claim which covers you for breach of contract. I had to put together all of the paperwork myself and prove my own case that he had breached the contract. It wasn’t easy, if took a lot of effort by me to set out our case. The credit card company didn’t help me. But I got all of our money back so it was worth the effort. It sounds to me like you have a claim so the first step - if you did pay any part by a credit card - would be to contact your credit card company. Good luck.

OP your builders are an absolute disgrace!!! I'm so sorry you have been through this. I too had an horrendous builder, who took liberties, did a shoddy job, took 5 x longer than quoted. But he was due to do four separate jobs on my property, and I had the jobs broken down to cost of each, and stipulated that one job had to be finished before the next started. I ended up sacking him before the end of the first job, and got another contractor in to finish the last piece. We were so burnt by the experience that we had one of the other jobs completed by a recommendation from three people, and haven't had the rest of the work completed 18 months later. You aren't the first or sadly the last person to deal with shoddy builders.

As for revenge, we didn't seek any per se, but we both have our own businesses and lots of friends and acquaintances locally, who would naturally ask how our build was progressing, just from saying that we dont recommend the builder, and explaining why, the builder has lost out on 4-5 big projects.

In your situation I would personally pursue through the courts, it might come to nothing, but it might also bring some closure.

I'd also look into a company who underpin. Underpin and make good have a very good reputation.

You may be able to dig down the side of your footings and have them filled etc to the right depth, which may make your structure more sound and not leaning etc.

Curiously, your builder wasn't Chris S?

@user1471522343

No credit card payments unfortunately. We did pay him by direct bank transfer though. Any idea if there is any recourse to reclaim in that case?

I’m not sure about bank transfers, I’m pretty sure it’s just credit card payments that are covered. I found out about S57 via trading standards so perhaps you should go to them first got advice. Go back to your original contract too. Sometimes that are backed up by an independent trade body who provide you with some additional layer of insurance or guarantee.

OMG, I feel for you. We went through something similar but not in the UK, we built a house 'that jack built', we have had to completely renovate, undo and re do, demolish and rebuild, a brand new house to the tune of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The architect /builder left the country, he had allowed his insurance to lapse, so we have no recourse from that front. We have debt that we would never in our lives have even contemplated having.

We are still pursuing a court case against him, costing us thousands in legal fees, (hubby wants to pursue it, I don't) our marriage almost collapsed. 5 years later we are coming out of the woods, we do have an amazing home, but at double what it should have cost and have lived in an unfinished home for all that time.

I have no real advice, but the sick feeling, anger and upset does eventually dissipate and you move on albeit with a very sour taste in your mouth.

Sorru, I'm not much help

Funnily enough i was discussing building extensions with someone earlier. You entrust major modifications to your home and have no real comeback if it goes wrong!

A builder could do something terribly wrong and your house could collapse,,what would you do?

Surely there is some kind of indemnity policy you can take out to guard against a failed build?

As a minimum you should inform your insurance co of any building plans and also ensure the builder has public liability insurance

@scittlescatter

I am a member of that fb group hut haven't posted but have lots of support privately from colleagues, thanks. The GMC were actually lovely about it! He wrote to the CEO of the hospital I work in and she was lovely too!

I have heard about people selling houses without bc approval for work done but usually for work done a long time ago. Also we have had the damning surveyors report which we would need to disclose surely? It did occur to me that if the lack of certification cost less than how much of a hit the house price would take it might not be worth it. Too many unknowns though.

It's not unsafe and we can use it(apart from the fact the roof windows leak and he has glued them shut trying unsuccessfully to fix them!). The building inspector said no rush to fix it. If someone was happy to buy it as is great but it's a gamble. I wouldn't want to deceive anyone.

Your situation is very similar to the nightmare we find ourselves in now. 11 days it's been and £27500.00 pounds is what we paid so far. So about 80 percent of the full works were paid for.
The builder got very angry every time we pointed out some shoddy work and 11 days ago he failed to turn off the mains water supply and so the next morning the whole house was flooded with water pouring down through the light bulbs as well.
Turns out the work he has done isn't upto building control requirements so will need to be ripped out and redone as well as all the water damage, electrics and so on. Plus costs of completing the works.
I am 3 weeks from giving birth and find myself sobbing out of control at the littlest of things. Worst thing is the feeling that I have deprived my children of holidays and luxuries for years saving for this work only for some scumbag builder to benefit from my savings instead!
My only comfort is that I keep telling myself that my new dormer extension would have been a potential death trap and I'd rather face a huge financial loss than the death or injury to my girls who would have been sleeping and studying up there.
We intend to report him to trading standards and HMRC for tax evasion as some of the payments were naively made in cash upon his insistance.
I'm sorry for taking over your thread.

Sorry replies becoming less coherent due to tiredness and

It's so scary how easily this can happen. So sorry OP

Is he a sole trader or a Ltd Company? And who was your contract with? It’d worth searching Companies House database for his name and/or company name as it may lead you to other directors eg spouse, other addresses etc. I know a builder who lived until recently ina HA property but owned several buy to lets.

I’m guessing you don’t want to name him here for privacy reasons but the collective ‘we’ could do some digging for you.

@Betaboo and @Sh05

my heart goes out to you both - both sound like utterly horrendous situations!

Sh05 to you especially as it's happening right now and you are heavily pregnant. Honestly what is wrong with people?

@GingerKittenHuman

He's a sole trader and would be personally liable. I'd love (love LOVE) to name and shame but I think it's probably not advisable til we've definitely exhausted our legal options.

@Sh05

The initials aren't JPH are they? Just sounds so similar!

Surely you could claim on your household insurance for ummm wilful damage or something?

If it makes you feel any better we were recently blackmailed for 25K in cash to get our own land back after an "oversight"
My advice would be avoid courts and litigation and let it go. My mantra has been it could be worse and it's only money.

Congratulations on your new baby; can't put a monetary value on that so you are a winner already

If he’s a sole trader then a CCJ will definitely be bad for him.
He is personally liable. And this is no longer about the money. That’s done.
This is about the principle