If I need to take somebody to small claims, is my contact with the main trader

[Fran92]

Hi,

Am I right in thinking that my ‘contract’ is with person A, let’s call them main trader, I reached out to them for some work to be done, agreed work to be done, costs, initial deposit and then subsequent monies. When the time came for the work to be done They had, unbeknown to us ‘subbed’ the work out to another trader Person B, who was new to the trade and couldn’t complete it fully, but we were ok with it not being completed but now the work is failing and person A has asked us to contact person B to deal with it. person A carries a 10 year guarantee which is why we went with them, for reference is been less than 6 months and it’s failing.

So, am I correct in that I need to chase Person A if person B doesn’t respond etc, I believe they were the person I was dealing with and paid etc?
Thanks

The person you pursue is the person you had a written or oral contract with.

if you paid A that his who your contract is with.

A has a contract with B

so A should sort your problem out.

A will have to pursue B for any loss he suffers as the result of the problem.

you are being fobbed off.

send A a letter before action telling him this and what he needs to do to rectify the problem, advising failure to respond will result in legal action.

Did A send you terms and conditions? Anything in there about the possibility that work would be subcontracted out?

If you are issuing a small claim ensure you get the name of the individual or company 100% correct.
If its a limited company you cannot name an individual.

You can have Fred Bloggs t/a Bloggs Plumbers if he is just trading as himself under a trading name.

Yes your contract is with the trader you paid, if he choses to sub contract thats up to him

We bought a new house years ago and the central heating pipe leaked under the floor ruining carpets, the builder wanted us to claim either from the plumber who was a sub contractor or from our house insurance. We'd only been living in the house a few weeks and told the builders (after getting legal advice) we paid you for the house our contract is with you, they paid for new carpets.

You paid A and the contract is between seller 'A' and purchaser 'you', so your dispute is with them.

You did not pay B so your contract is not with them, and you didn't agree for A to subcontract the work to B anyway.

The fact that they outsourced the work to their subcontractor is irrelevant and has nothing to do with it. They are fobbing you off. You paid A for the work, and the person they sent did not do it properly.

Your contract is clearly with A. You don't have a claim against B.

Thanks all, I thought so but then started to doubt myself and didn’t want to threaten that if it wasn’t correct. Anyway I’ve threatened and funnily enough they are coming to rectify the issue! Why that couldn’t have happened straight away I don’t know. Let’s hope they turn up to fix it when they say they will!

This is invaluable advice.

So they’ve come back and ‘fixed’ the issue, essentially spent 2 hours doing a quick touch up however in the mean time not prepared anywhere properly and damaged some fixtures and fittings. Where do I go from here? It should have been an easy, general trade requirement and honestly made it look worse as it’s half hearted effort. I’ve not said anything yet and felt uncomfortable being in home alone with the trades person so didn’t want to say anything verbally.

can I still take to small claims?!

Ring the citizens advice helpline before you do anything. I had to do the same today.

Yes, you can still take to small claims, but you do have to give them reasonable opportunity to put it right. So your first thing is to complain to them about the further damage and poor quality of their work. The courts will look unfavourably on you if you don't give them opportunity to remedy.

Thank you, will speak to CAB today.

Ive read online under consumer rights act you only have to give them one chance to put right, which I’ve effectively done and they’ve made it worse so I’ve lost all confidence with them. I’ll speak to CAB but I’m thinking of gathering the evidence of it being wrong and damaged and ask them for financial redress and see what happens, without them literally starting from scratch again I can’t see how they’ll fix the issue, just poor poor standard of work

The guy I spoke to at CAB gave me a letter template and important phrases to use-
Works done without reasonable care and skill
Loss of faith in him to rectify it

I send the letter, give 14 days to respond then call CAB again.

I need to collect as much evidence as possible in the mean time.

What if the quote was sent by the builder and they failed to state they were a limited company on either the quote or subsequent emails?

What if the quote was sent by the builder and they failed to state they were a limited company on either the quote or subsequent emails

Did you check with Companies House before taking out the claim?

You can ask for the name to be amended. I think the fee is currently over £300.

Thank you for your reply. I’m not the owner of the company, but basically, we are taking a builder to court who it turns out is a limited company but his quote or business card didn’t say this. Papers have already been lodged.

My suggestion might be to take everyone to court as jointly and severally liable. In that case you have more targets for recovery

In that case your claim is against the individual not the company

What sort of work did you have done?

If its Gas or Electrical then you may be able to complain to the relevant standards bodies

Thank you.
Alas, the work he did was more general, sorry don’t want to be more specific. But, thank you for confirming that it’s him personally. He is using in his defence that he is a limited company and that therefore I have no case!

Also depends if his invoices (if any paid) show his company details or his personal details.

Think carefully before issuing in small claims. If you've lost faith in A sorting, get quotes from someone else to remedy it - at least 2-3 if you're going to use in court. Take pics of damage if you haven't already.

The risk with issuing is that if A is an unprincipled twat, you spend more money on court fees, get a piece of paper saying he owes you money - then guess what, he's an unprincipled twat, so he won't pay up. You could pay extra to get enforcement (bailiffs, secure a charge against property owned by whichever legal entity you contracted with).

So it matters quite a lot how much value of claim is, if it's a grand and you spend £300 or so on court fees, but still don't get any money back, you'll be even more pissed off.

If it's £10k then court costs look more reasonable and it might be worth trying to enforce an unpaid debt.

Check your home, car, life insurance etc to see if you have legal expenses insurance. They might handle the claim for you.