Buyer ripped my new vinyl

[SecretNameforMN]

For context, I am a single lady house owner, retired, so on a moderate income.

Just 8 weeks after I had new vinyl laid in my kitchen a local man came to my house to collect something I sold him on eBay for £50. There was a piece of furniture in the way of him carrying the purchased item out of the house, and without asking me or waiting for me to help lift it and move it, he took it upon himself to drag the piece across the vinyl, stretching it and tearing a jagged hole 40cm long and 20cm wide. He was suitably apologetic and said to let him know how much the repair cost, and left.

Flooring man came back and tried his level best to make an invisible mend but because the vinyl had been rucked up and stretched as well as ripped, it was impossible. He glued it down so it wasn't a trip hazard but it looked horrible. He did not charge me.

I tried to live with it for a couple of weeks but it's in a most prominent and brightly-lit spot in the middle of the room. The only solution was to re-buy the whole sheet and pay the fitter again. It cost £350. I messaged the man who did it and he flatly refuses to reimburse me, saying that is a ridiculous amount to pay for his innocent mistake.

And so I am £350 out of pocket, entirely because of him!

AIBU to think that he should reimburse me?

That’s what your house insurance is for surely?

What's the excess on your insurance?
Could he pay a contribution, say, £50-100? This would cover some of the excess.

Oh come on, @Gettingfitorbust, that’s totally unfair. It was this bloke’s fault, totally, and he should pay. Why should op lose her no claims bonus and have to pay the excess??

I agree with PP that asking him for all/ half of the insurance excess sounds fair. But if he refuses to pay, I don’t really think there’s anything you can do.

Letter before action, followed by small claims court.

This is typical of men when they’re with a single woman. Do you happen to have any written conversation from him which makes it obvious he did the damage? Also, do you have legal cover on your insurance? If yes to both, sue the barsteward.

The excess is £300.

The excess is £300. If I claim I would lose my no claims bonus built up over 20 years.

No he said it all verbally at the time. Owned it completely and was very very apologetic, to the point of being mortified at what he'd done. We did message after talking about it but he didn't reiterate what he'd done or his apology.

Small claims court

It's £300, but I would imagine that it would put up next year's premium by at least the other £50 and for years and years into the future. I've never made a claim in 20 years.

300 is a lot for an excess.

This.

Give him one last chance with a final message:

E.g., Just following up regarding the damage to my vinyl flooring caused when you collected the furniture. You saw the extent of the damage at the time and assured me you would cover the repair cost. However, I was surprised when I contacted you on xx-date and you responded that you wouldn't be paying although you did acknowledge on this message that it was your mistake. I want to give you one final opportunity to resolve this fairly before I consider pursuing the matter through legal channels. Please let me know how you wish to proceed.

If he still refuses to reach an agreement then proceed straight to small claims.

I misremembered. I just got out the policy and it's actually £350. See image.

Could it be obvious what he was messaging about tho? I’d seriously speak to your legal team at your insurance. I think it comes down to the law of probability. That’s a lot of money to find, I’d be livid.

I think if the OP does this the man will figure out what she’s up to and not reply…but it’s worth a shot I suppose

Surely you don’t know where he lives though. All you have is his number, possibly name? Not sure how it works with small claims court but assume you’d need his address?

I don't actually know his name but he works in a nearby shop owned by his father so there must be a way of getting his name and I can use the shop for correspondence.

Unless you have the time and the tenacity and strong mindedness to stay on top of it, I think the stress of chasing it up would be higher than the cost of chalking it up to experience. At least it would be for me but I’d be paranoid he might be a nutter or something.

I might be wrong, but I would have assumed that this would be claimed on your contents insurance, not the buildings.

This is your buildings insurance, not your contents.

I would pursue it through small claims court. Once you serve the papers, he might well cough up!

Sorry. you are right; however, the contents is also £350.. here it is attached

Completely get your frustration. I would however declutter my home and try to sell things on eBay/vinted/car boot sales to raise the money…

If you try to get him to pay, he may just counter that your floor was excessively fragile.

Honestly, this is why I only sell things after moving them outside or at least to my garage. Then I do not help them load their vehicle as painfully rude as that can feel.