Plumber didn’t do job

[Lily27]

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do regarding a plumber who didn’t do his job. We hired a plumber to put in some new bathroom units for us. He suggested he could buy them from a wholesaler and then install them in our house. However after a series of excuses we realised that he never bought the units and stopped responding to our messages. He pocketed the £1200 we gave him. Does anyone have recommendations on what to do next. We are sending him a letter demanding the money but Do I need a solicitor to begin a formal process? Thanks so much in advance

Might be one for small claims court (google it). Fairly easy - DH had to us it for some non-suppliers at work.

Was also going to recommend small claims court

Thanks, so we go straight to small claims court? I will look into it. We were advised to send the plumber a letter asking for the money to be paid in full in 7 days. So if he doesn’t respond you think we go straight to small claims court? I heard that evevn of court rules in our favour it’s very hard to get tradesmen to pay up. Was this your experience?

Most cases are settled out if court. In a worst case scenario where you don't get your money at least you wreck their credit score.

It's good practice to send what is known as a letter before claim basically setting out to the person why they owe you the money and giving a deadline for payment as it shows you have attempted to resolve the issue without resorting to court.

But in a clear cut case like yours I'd give them 7 days maximum then go to Small Claims.

Thanks, super helpful. We will do just that.