Last year's building works dangerous and damaged property. What to do if builder has gone

[Justasconfusedwithnumber2]

So we had work done in our property last year by a local checkatrade approved builder. Last night (without outing myself with the details) the shit hit the fan and our house flooded. We've had repair people in who have said that the work was seriously unsafe and no doubt caused the problem. We now want to chase the builder for a refund to cover costs of damages but his website has gone, no longer on checkatrade and not picking up his phone. We have his address that the company was advertised as but I sense now he's gone. We've been advised by citizens advice to write a letter to the address threatening legal action if he doesn't refund what we need to fix it. But this is just going to fall on deaf ears isn't it??

What can I do??

He may or may not have been insured. Do you have insurance? Does it cover the damage because they may seek to recover any costs they have incurred from him (or in reality, his insurers).

Did you sign any sort of contract? You should write to him and ask for details of his insurers. I would also threaten him with legal action. You could offer him the opportunity to repair the damage too.

You want to put your efforts into finding out if he was insured. You might also want to check whether he owns the property you have the address for - you can do a Land Registry search. If he owns the house, you know he has sufficient assets to pay for the damage.

My friend had this happen recently and the architect disappeared into thin air. It's a really crap thing to happen.

Did he have a limited company? Can you check on companies house whether that company still exists or if he has set up any new ones?

I would also be getting your insurers in. I think that the water damage would normally be covered, but repairing the plumbing wouldn't be.

Agree with you. The actual contract works probably won't be covered but damage is likely to be. If the costs are significant enough, the insurer will take steps to recover it from him / his insurer.

It was a limited company. I've checked company's house and can't see any sign of it on there. We've spoken to our insurance company and the plumbing isn't covered. We have a £550 excess on water damage. We need a new bathroom installed (macerator) and two new floors. We'd only be covered for the floors by insurance.

I am chasing the builder with advice from citizens advise but suspect it won't go anywhere

Basically the builder installed bathroom completely wrong which has flooded our house.

We believe he owns his own house but of course don't know if hes moved on as it was 8 months ago.

We do have a contract, and an invoice.

If it was a limited company it would be on companies house whether it's been dissolved or not. Have you checked his name under the 'officers' section? How much do you think the damage and repairs will come to?

What sort of contract was it? Does it make any reference to insurance provisions?

OK maybe I need to look harder but there are 144k+ results for his name under officers.

It should also say his Occupation which should help you narrow it down and also you'll have a rough idea of where he lives.

I have searched via his postcode and there is no company to that address. His company was advertised through yell and checkatrade

Contact checkatrade, they take copies of contractors' insurance so they can advertise through them. If you have his insurance policy then I'd make a claim directly to them even if he's gone AWOL.

Then it won't have been a limited company although that could be a good thing as it means he's a sole trader and if he has insurance, you can go against him and his personal assets. If he traded through a limited company, you could only go for its assets which, if it's dissolved, probably means none.

How much do you think the damage is going to cost to repair?

OK good. I think around 2k although we are waiting for quotes

He's no longer on checkatrade so I guess they won't tell me anything

And presumably I can only go against him if he still lives there

I would still try phoning check a trade - you used him because he was on their site at the time, they might still have details. (I had to contact them once about a complaint and they were very helpful).

I don't know anything about checkatrade but you need to find out if he still lives where you think he did. It's a lot of time and effort for £2k but I can't see why checkatrade can't disclose his insurance info especially as you have a contract.

I think you need to explore these potential avenues before ruling them out.

If he owned the house you know he used to live in (even if he moved) you could do a search of sold house prices on that street, see if he put it up for sale and moved after selling. If someone else is living there, check with land registry see if he still owns it but has rented it out.

The invoice should have a company number if it was registered.

But as others have said, if it wasn't done through a company then you could stand a better chance of getting money back.

Thanks all. It doesn't appear his business is an ltd. There is no number on the invoice. We've started having quotes come back and it looks like it's coming in much higher than I thought and until we rip the floor up we can't be sure how far the damage has spread. We need to pursue it, as quite frankly we can't afford not to. I'm on Mat leave with a 4 week old.

As an update I tried checkatrade. They confirmed he's been pulled off their site. If I had the name of his insurer I could make a claim directly, but now I am caught in a data protection loop as no-one seems to be able to tell me!!

Then you go via your insurers. Ask them to help trace his insurers.