Please help! Being threatened with court summons over extra costs that were not agreed!

[Hatemybuilder]

Can anyone offer any advice please?!

We started work on our property last July and were told the job would take 4 months to complete. We are now a year on and our job is still not complete - he keeps telling us jobs will be done each week but they never are. He always has an excuse, blames others etc and also tells me things have been done but when I go to check, I can see that they haven't. From speaking to his workers I also know that they are all owed money from him and thats why they aren't finishing the job - he tells us that they are fully booked elsewhere.

We have now paid £74k out of £75k to be paid before completion and had agreed to leave £10k and extras until the end of the job. The state of the property is still so bad that we do not even have running water or electricity but the builder has now asked us for payment for extras despite the job being far from finished.

None of the prices for these extras were quoted or agreed in advance and he has even stuck on charges for things that we did not expect to be charged for! We tried to negotiate the prices down to something that we felt was fair but told him that we would not pay for them until the end as agreed, or at least until the work that was supposed to be done by now had been completed. He agreed to this last week but has now told us that he will be stopping work now and that if we don't pay him the extras he will take us to court!

We were given a contract on headed paper outlining the work but it wasn't signed by either party and did not have a completion date on it! :/ Also was given a payment schedule, again not signed. We negotiated different terms to this schedule but despite constant nagging, the builder never gave us a new copy so we only have this old one. I do have a text from him though agreeing to the changes,

I'm so stressed - I have 2 young children and we are currently living out of a suitcase at my parents house! Does he have a case against us?? Is he just bluffing and if so how can I catch him out?

I think the problem is that you have paid for stuff before the work was completed. I din’t think he has a case but you should just cut your losses and find someone else to finish the work.

I would agree with @Notcontent - If you have paid builder £74k out of £75k and don't have electricity or water - my guess he is taking the piss .
If contract has not been signed by either party then is it a contract ?

I would try to have a meeting and if he will not move on then I think this may be a lesson learned and get someone to fix it. ( never ideal to have a 2nd builder another one.

Not quite sure what original builder is taking you to court for - surely without a proper contract you could just say do £1k ( i.e. between 74 and 75 more work and then bugger off.

Thanks for your replies! We were paying in increments and he kept saying this bit was almost done and then asking for the next payment to pay for supplies for the next bit etc :/. Only later realised that it was much further behind and that he'd been lying about work so we told him no more payments until work was finished and thats when he slapped us with the bill for extras!

@BasiliskStare we had a meeting with him to try and negotiate costs for after certain jobs had been completed and he agreed at the time in person, but then wrote to us afterwards saying he will take us to court! :/
I just want him out of our life now but I don't know what he can actually use against us if he follows through on his threat! :(

I can't see that he can do anything to you, apart from just not complete the job. He's just threatening you needlessly over £1k which makes his actions even worse.

I think you are going to have to come up with another plan as to exactly how far along he is for the money you have spent, cut your losses and employ another builder to sort it all out.

You should have been paying staged payments throughout and not have given him £74k for work that is not finished. He sounds absolutely vile and coupled with not paying his workforce he is in financial trouble so this is not going to end well is it?

Don't be intimidated by him. Anyone can sue anyone for anything; winning is a whole new ballgame!

If you have a written contract you've both been working from, even unsigned, then I suspect this would hold some water.

However, if he's claiming extras then he has to have some evidence this was agreed to. Does he or is it his word against yours?

The important point is you've paid him for almost the whole project and it seems he's nowhere near finished. It's you that should be suing him!

In the future I recommend if you have work done you agree to it in verifiable stages. AND STICK TO IT. I had my plumber pleading with me for a payment as he had to pay his mortgage. 'You can trust me, mate.' etc etc. A very firm NO and he pulled his socks up and finished the work in time for the mortgage payment - amazing eh?

Thank you @friendlycat and @TobyHouseMan!

Yes we did have an agreed 'staged payment' agreement but he kind of went off plan and so confused us. As soon as we started refusing to pay any more until the rest of the work was done he became nasty!! Definitely a lesson learnt!

There is no proof of extras being agreed - the first we heard of them when they were sent to us last month! That gives me some peace of mind - hopefully he was just bluffing then? But don't really know how to proceed. Should I just fire him and ignore any threats?!

I really wouldn't be afraid of whether he can sue you or not. Anyone can sue or threaten to sue for any random reason. For your part, I would at least act like you too are prepared to sue. Go through the unsigned contract and other unsigned documents e.g schedules / bill of works, to understand the precise wording and what the obligations are vs what has been done. If from your careful reading, he has not completed the work to a reasonable standard then you are in a strong position.

I would take a lot of pictures of absolutely everything and write a detailed list of the status of each piece of work vs what the pictures show has been done. E.g if the job quoted was to fit a sink but it is fitted without sealant or with no running water or it leaks, then the job is not complete to a reasonable standard. The pictures should show the tap on but no water and no sealant etc. Then think of a very rough estimate of what it would take to complete it. E.g. person to apply sealant and fix leak- 60 pounds. You have to be precise and not use only generic phrases like 'it isn't usable' or 'wasn't fitted well' to describe the status of work done.

I would send the pictures, the list and a monetary estimate of how much it would take to complete the jobs you have already paid 74k for and ask him to send you payment by cash or cheque for the outstanding amount to complete the jobs within 7 working days from the receipt of your email. Also give him the option to return to site to complete the outstanding jobs within a specified number of days, e.g 14 working days from the date of the email/letter.

I wouldn't fire him, as he should be given a chance to complete the work you have documented is outstanding, unless you can show he is incompetent. I think if you fire him now, you could give him a case against you for preventing him from completing the work.

I would also not mention any extras not contained in a contract at all at this stage. Since there is no contract, whether signed or unsigned, it's entirely up to him to prove you asked for extras, agreed to pay for the extras, agreed a price for the extras and also show that he has delivered each of the extras to a professional standard.

A lot of people/builders rely on the fact that people will shy away from conflict but in truth, no one really wants to go through the bother of court proceedings, particularly if they have been paid as much of the contractual amount as you have already handed over. Most people act like they are, to see who will blink first. Remember, it's your hard earned after tax pounds at stake, not his. Good luck.

@Hatemybuilder - I think @angelicfaces has written a blinder of a post there - I know it is stressful but I would take her advice.

I do not see how he can sue you when you have paid him more than he has delivered

I think - if you can bring yourself to , do as Angelic says & also to concur - make it very very very specific ( to the level of detail she references )

It may not work & this may be a lesson , but I think it is worth a shot.

He won't want to spend money suing you. It's a very expensive process. I'd put my big girl pants up and pay Hardball here. Some great suggestions already advised . Try that and report him on professional bodies etc..

I’d get a couple of estimates to complete the work and say you are prepared to counterclaim or even issue your own claim.

he is probably about to go out of business, esp if you attempt to sue him.