WWYD - taking a builder to small claims court

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Just looking for advice on Small Claims Court. Has anyone taken a dodgy builder and been successful? Have you then been successful getting your money back?

Very briefly, the story is: We bought and renovated a house last year. We contracted Builder A to do the work but he ended up being a very ineffectual project manager and brought in separate teams to do the work (ie plumbers, electrician, decorators, etc). The project was really mismanaged, and went months over which was very stressful as we were living there and I was pregnant. Had to put a hold on everything when baby came in November and they picked up again in December, but then Buider A moved away.

The electrician ("Builder B") has caused us no end of problems (including not being registered to sign off work for building regs despite assuring us he was) and unfortunately Builder A got him to do our kitchen as well. Every single shortcut possible was taken, and the kitchen has literally fallen to pieces around us. (Backsplash behind the range fell off the wall bonking my poor mum in the head, wall unit fell off the wall, plinth just propped into place so that too has fallen down, etc etc.) The worktop was cut incorrectly and the latest is that the upstand is coming up too. There are a dozen other problems I could list... Anyway, we tried to withhold a £350 till these issues were sorted but he snuck onto the property and ripped out our fuse box and held it ransom. We felt physically threatened and what with a small baby (and, not related, but the heating was out too) just felt like we didn't have any option other than to pay the remaining fee to the Builder B.

I'm just so angry because the workmanship is so so crappy and we are now going to have to get someone else to come in and fix it, which will cost as much as the original fitting, if not more (having to replace things like the worktop and the extractor fan which broke when the wall cabinet fell).

Can we sue Builder B directly? Our "contract" was with Builder A, but he's moved away and sort of left us to deal with this mess and stopped returning calls, etc.

Also, apparently there is an online court??? "Money Claim Online" - has anyone used that?

The Small claims court costs will be c10% of money you are claiming back.I did this with a large hol company but tried first to negotiate (we wanted 50% back as flights etc were ok but accom was A NIGHTMARE) they refused so i took proceedings: their lawyer sent us the money PLUS COSTS STRAIGHTAWAY. You need to do a credit check or sth on builders as some are in debt so even if you win they may not pay

I would imagine you go for the guy you had original contract with: there are subcontrctors involved but all go under one umbrella -the kitchen? Shows how careful you hae to be-best to go on recommendation.

Haven't sued builder but have successfully sued letting agent - 3 times!

Did it all online and it was pretty easy (think that was Money Claim Online but was quite a while ago so not sure)
Had to actually go to court once but it was quite informal (in a room not a courtroom)
Your court costs are included as part of the process.

I think if you have details of builder A - address, phone number then that will be enough.

Put together your case in rough with as much evidence as possible - dates, emails, quotes, etc before you do anything more formal so you are clear about what happened and what you want compensation for. If Builder A or B see this they may cough up without it going any further as they will see how serious you are.

Hope that helps.
Go for it, it will make you feel better about it all
Good luck.

Annoyingly, I did choose Builder A based on a recommendation. We got four reference, and went to visit two of the houses he worked on. We didn't however vet Builder B at all -- not sure how we could have as we didn't know he would be working on the house independantly of Builder A.

The problem with taking Builder A to court is that now he has now moved away. I think we would need to appear in court at the court closest to him, no? That's a ten hour drive away so not sure we can do that. I wonder if he hasn't shut down his business here and we can use this court based on that address. On the other hand, before Builder B rippped out the fuses, when I tried to reason that my contract was with Builder A and that we were trying to get him to rectify the work, Builder B insisted that I needed to deal with him directly and Builder A had moved away. We did end up paying Builder B (and C, D, E and F...) directly so not sure if that affects anything.

Think I may need to get in touch with CAB, though I've heard mixed reports as to how useless useful they can be...

I don't think you need to appear in the court nearest to him, I think it is up to him to defend himself at court of your choosing (unless rules have changed), however, if he won, you would be liable for his travel expenses.

For the record, I took a plumber to small claims court, he never defended himself so I "won" but he never paid, his missus simply denied that he lived there when the bailiffs went round and so I only had the satisfaction that his credit record would be terrible for forseeable. Bit of a pyrrhic victory.

IMO, you should sue Builder A as he was ultimately responsible for recruiting subcontractors and checking the quality of their work.

OOoo what a mess
Firstly you're going to need a pretty big paper trail...it sounds like a catalogue of disasters and for that you're going to need all the proof you can lay your hands in. If you've paid it all in cash and bought the materials yourself then tbh you've probably not got much chance...it'll be VERY hard.

If you've paid Builder B - then you can sue him. If you've paid Builder A then you can sue him too. Did you have a contract with either of them? If so - then head for the small print. If not, then it's going to be a difficult fight. Have you written to either of them at anytime outlining your dissatisfaction with the work? This will help and if they've responded then this also helps. I think it may affect your standing, having paid them both. Letting Builder B work in your home technically without a contract could be a problem...unless Builder A has something in that contract that says you've agreed to another party coming in and finishing off the work. DH is a builder and contracts are something worth arguing about at the start of the job....not at the end.

Someone on MN (on this message board) managed to sue successfully but he had zero money. She won...but she didn't

So, as someone said earlier....see if you can find out if he's even credit worthy. Run his name through Companies House just to see if he crops up. Also if you know the name of some of the suppliers he used then give them a call....they'll soon let you know if he owes them money too.

Good luck...sounds like you've been through hell. Just gather up as much evidence as you can, cheques, bank transfers etc....you'll need it all. hth

Do you have legal cover with your house insurance? If so it might be worth giving them a call.

We had problems with a roof repair. Within 10 months it was leaking again. Dh phoned the company and they refused to come out unless we agreed to it being a new job. We called our insurer and spoke to a solicitor (I think), who helped draft a letter to the builder which we sent recorded delivery. Our roof was repaired (again) quite speedily after being threatened with court action.

I have to admit that I was very reluctant to have the same company out again, I would rather have got a new company and sent them the bill but we were advised that we had to give them the opportunity to rectify it.

If he entered your property illegally and stole the consumer unit, it is the police you should be talking to. They cannot remove anything in this manner, even if payment is disputed.

We did call the police and they said it was a civil matter and they couldn't get involved but that if he came on the property again to call them and they'd have our notes on file.