Last week I had a gas engineer come to do a minor repair of my boiler. The boiler is housed in a tall kitchen cabinet, and he decided he needed to remove the door of the cabinet to access it (it's not the most easily accessible boiler, though no previous engineer has felt this necessary to do their job).
He seemed in a rush, and instead of taking the time to carefully unclip the the hinges, he was quite rough and ready with tools to yank them off, which may have done some structural damage to the hinges (there were certainly visible marks on the metal). When it came to putting the door back on, he was clearly struggling, and I wanted him to stop and leave it to me for later (which I could've done carefully with my partner), because he'd generally been careless with a lot of things and I was worried about more damage. But he continued trying to force it in, and then started unscrewing the hinges from the door and cabinet even though I asked him not to.
Anyway, the result was that he buggered up my cabinet door on the inside by unscrewing part of the hinge and forcing it back in where it shouldn't be. It has damaged the inside finish, and also caused the actual door material to buckle, so the edge is no longer straight. He also caused cosmetic damage to the white gloss finish on the front (which I pointed out to him at the time, and he said "you've got to be kidding! I take no responsibility for that").
I had a joiner round to assess the damage, and he agreed that the guy had made a mess of it, and advised that I go back to the original kitchen manufacturer to see if they can replace or repair. I am waiting on the kitchen manufacturer to let me know if they still have this particular style available (and I'm quite nervous that they won't, because it was put in about 7 years ago).
I want the engineer to take responsibility for the damage, and am wondering how best to go about this. I was thinking of sending a polite message (on WhatsApp, as I don't see an email address on his website) to make the following points: I had a professional opinion on the condition of the door and was advised that it is structurally (and cosmetically) damaged and will need repair or replacement; I was advised that I would be best going to the original kitchen manufacturer for this; I am waiting on the kitchen manufacturer to let me know the options (as they have to contact their suppliers); I'd like his insurance details, so I can claim for the repair/replacement.
I don't actually know if he has insurance (or what kind of insurance it should be), but I thought that I could message with the assumption that he has it, and if he doesn't then it's up to him to offer another solution.
I'm a bit worried about how he is going to take it, but at the same time, I don't think I should have to deal with the expense of the door replacement on top of all the stress and wasted time this has caused. He did say he wouldn't invoice me for the work, but sorting out the cupboard is going to cost a fair bit more than the work he did (not to mention all the wasted time and energy). Can anyone advise?