Over charged by a tradesman - help

[Worz]

Hi there, help please!!

I had an electrician do some work in my house, he quoted me (verbally) a price (£1000 + a part) and when the bill came in it was about £500 more than I thought. My partner phoned him, he admitted he made a mistake with the bill and issued another one. The revised bill is still about £250 more than I expected.

What do I do, he is threatening me with Small Claims Court. Can he do this?

If it was a quote the price he gave you was binding and he cannot charge any more than that. However, if it was an estimate the final charge can be higher. There is also the question of whether the bill is reasonable for the work that was carried out.

The main weakness in your position is that you only got a verbal quote. He can therefore deny the conversation or claim that you misunderstood. However, if the bill is not reasonable you are in a stronger position.

Too late now but you should always get quotes in writing to avoid future disputes.

He seemed a nice bloke and came recommended. When he first came round to do the quote I asked him to confirm it in writing, I did give him my email address but the quote was not forthcoming.

I did make it clear to him that I didn't have an endless pot of money and I couldn't afford anymore than £1000 and if it meant going without a couple of sockets then so be it.

I have written note I took whilst on the phone to him discussing the part and he said that I was not to worry about the cost as the bill would come in less, as there would be less labour due to the fact he was sick one day (he had a helper who to be honest did most of the work anyway!).

Can he take me to court? I admit that my weakness was not getting a written quote, but does that not work two ways, he is meant to be the professional surely it would be in his interest to give written quotes....

I would stand your ground and let him go to the Small Claims court if he wants to but even if he does it's his word agaist yours. He's already admitted to making a mistake once on the bill. I hope you kept it.

What I thought I might do is pay him what I think is correct. He has already had £1000 which he asked for halfway through the job, so I think I will send him a cheque for the part which is £250 and say that it is in full and final settlement and then see what happens. I think I am correct in saying that if he pays that cheque into his account then he has accepted it as a final payment.

If he still wants more (about another £250/£300) then I will have to think. Yep I did keep the incorrect bill and I have written to him asking him to break the bill down into parts and labour so that I can try to understand how he came to the high figure.

Am I being fair? I need a reality check, am I getting this all out of proportion? I know my blood pressure is up just thinking about it!

I'm no lawyer but I think what you have suggested is very reasonable. going to the Small Claims court will be a gamble for him as the agreement was a verbal one and it will be clear that you have done your best to compromise. I bet you don't hear from him again once he gets your £250.

Yes he can take you to court. Whether or not he will succeed is, of course, another matter. In my view you are being fair in your approach to trying to resolve this issue. The fact that he has not broken the bill down into parts and labour certainly won't help him if he does take you to court.

Keep copies of all correspondence and make a note of any telephone conversations.

Thanks guys, I have put the cheque in the post stating that it is in full and final settlement and if he cashes I think that means he has accepted it as final.

Fingers crossed, I will let you know what happens.

Hi Guys

Just a little update for you. I sent the cheque to him for £250 on Friday like I said. The same day I received a letter from him which I know it is silly, but I was too scared to open it, I just filed it with the other correspondene.

Today I have received a letter from him thanking be for the £250 as a part payment but he still plans to take me to court. He is going to file online with the court on Monday if he doesn't get the remaining £215. He also states that the letter (which I didn't open) gives a full breakdown of costs - that letter apparently is dated 17th I recd it after I sent the cheque. It is a shame that he didn't provide that back in November when he sent me the first bill (which was wrong anyway). He says that I will have to pay all his court costs etc

What do I do next. Should I stick by my principles? No way would I have ever agreed for him to do the work if I thought it was going to cost £1500 - he says that my inability to budget would not be a defense in law! I'll be honest I am blimming scared now! Help!

He's trying to scare you. He'll have a look on Monday and realise that it'll cost him too much to try and claim £215 via moneyclaimonline, especially if you don't pay. If he's banked the other monies, then he's accepted your offer. Now open his letter and see what it says. Never good to stick your head in the sand with stuff like this.

You were given a verbal quote. If the work was going to cost more, he should have informed you in writing that it would and asked for your acceptance. In future, never let a tradesman start work until you have had a written quote.

If it does go to court your position is that he gave you a verbal quote for the work and you have paid the quoted amount. There is no guarantee you will win as that will depend on who the court believes. However, if you are clear, say that you wouldn't have agreed the work if you had known the cost and stick to your guns you will have a reasonable chance.

You will, of course, only have to pay his costs if he wins and there are strict limits on the costs for small claims like this. The court fee will be £25 or £30 depending on whether or not he files online.

hi Worz, I had a similar situation a while ago and ended up having to involve the police as the guy was threatening me

in my case he claimed my verbal quote didn't include VAT.

I ended up getting advice from a solicitor on here and in real life who both said the same thing.
the verbal quote stands, tho is harder to prove.
You have every right to query it, and not to pay over what you were quoted. if he made a mistake that's his own fault

if he banks the cheque then that is him "accepting" your payment, which you should say is in full and final settlement of the bill.

he CAN take you to court, but to be honest it's unlikely he actually will. so stay strong!!!

oh and he also can't try and force you to pay by monday unless his terms and conditions say "payment must be within 7 days" or whatever. so he is just trying it on i think!

Thanks for all your comments, I have opened his letter and it is just another bill with a covering letter stating that I have till Monday to pay it etc. He also says that he will charge me costs and that court action will affect my credit rating and that of my partners.

The letter I had today confirming receipt of the £250 cheque refers to it as a part payment, he has not paid it in yet, although the first chance he would have had of paying it is was only yesterday.

His terms, well if you can call them that, are at the bottom of the letter stating payment must be received withing 14 days. His first bill took him a month to do, and it was wrong, the second bill also took a month (the current bill) I admit I was slow in replying to him but he was not that speedy either.

When we got the first incorrect bill we asked him for a full breakdown of his costs etc, the second bill does not state this nor does his latest more threathening bill.

Surely if he is going to take me to court he should at least be able to list each part he used and how much they were etc.

I said in my letter that I had not budgeted for a bill of that size and he reckons that my poor budgeting is no defense in law! If he had said that it was going to cost me £1500 I would have said that I couldn't afford it - doh I am not stupid I would have only agreed to what I could afford.

I am nervous about letting him take me to court, but I fed up with being trampled on, I am an honest person, never not paid a bill, if I find a wallet I pick it up and hand it in to the cop shop - maybe I am too honest.....

Sorry to let of steam guys but this is really upsetting me

He quoted you £1,000 plus a part. What was the part? It would be a pretty big 'part' to cost more than £250, so I reckon you've paid him enough.

I would write to say that 'my cheque was issued in full and final settlement, not as a part payment'. Not sure where that would stand legally, but I'd put it in writing. I would also say that the way in which this situation has been handled is totally unprofessional - a month at a time to get an invoice raised, and not giving the breakdown asked for.

Is he a member of NICEIC or a similar trade body?

He's trying to put the frighteners on you - get bolshy back.

worz, have a look up of solicitors in your area.

I looked up free consultations in my area and came up with a firm. I e-mailed them and asked if I needed an appt to see them and how it worked ad the guy was happy enough to just give me answers via e-mail free of charge.
obviously if I had gone down the court route I'd have ended up paying them for their time, but he was quite happy to let me explain the situation and give some free advice on what to do next

Hi guys

Another update. I sent the £250 cheque of stating full and final settlement. On Monday I got a letter from him thanking me for my part payment and that £215 was still outstanding etc.

He said that he still intends to take me to court and I will have to pay the fee, lost of earnings and statutory interest etc.

I then send him an email followed up by a letter stating that it was not a part payment. He got that email yesterday lunchtime and he would have got the letter today. I checked with my bank yesterday and the cheque was not pending however it did come out of my bank today. He has cashed that cheque thinking it was part payment whereas I made it a full and final settlement.

I got an email from him this morning stating that he was not accepting my payment as an offer and if I had spoken to him he would have considered staged payments - funny how he never mention after I sent him a letter in January. He finished his email stating that the 10th day was up tomorrow and that is when he was going to file for the order online (originally he said he would do it monday) he also typing in capital letters which I consider as being classed as rude/shouting!

Now what should I do, I am getting worried ......

Sorry I forgot to add that he is not a member of NICEIC, not that he ever said he was.

I have tried a free advice clinic at the solicitors and they would take on a case which is so small

Many home insurance policies include a access to a free legal helpline, or you may even have cover for legal fees too.

If he's not NICEIC then check with that organisation but I think it might be a criminal offence to either do work, or have work done and not have it checked.

Thanks for your advice again. I replied to his latest email suggesting that if he wanted to make me an offer then I woulld be happy to consider it etc, he emailed back and said it was up to me to make an offer and see you in court. He claims that he never gives quotes for work, he only ever gives estimates ..... well his website says different - 'free quotes given' so it goes without saying that I have printed that off and stuck it in my file.

Do you know, the more this has gone on the more I am going to stick to my guns, I am not stupid (not need to comment) I know what he said, I knew how much he quoted and I don't see why I should pay him a penny more. If he sues and I lost then I guess I will have to pay the £25 court fee and statutory interest which I think he thinks it will be a kings ransom, but I have worked it out to about £12, I don't think he will get legal fees so if I lose it could cost me £40 ish. If I win though ........

I'll let you know when the court papers arrive, apparantly he was filing them saturday/monday.

By the way I do have legal cover on my house insurance, they suggested I asked him to make an offer......

Re NICEIC, I will do some more digging - thanks for the tip off

byee

If you have legal cover you should make a claim under that. Don't bank on getting much legal advice, but they'll help you prepare your statement and pay for a junior barrister to represent you at final hearing.