Anyone sued a builder in Small Claims Court?

[Tabitha1960]

I'm just about to go online and begin the dreaded process of suing my builder in the Small Claims Court.

I have been told by a woman I met online recently that she tried and he ignored the summons, failed to show up in court and although she won the case by default he did not pay and apparently told the court or the bailiffs, whoever, that he has no assets. I have myself discovered that when he married recently he moved into a house already owned by his new wife so it seems that he's claiming he has no assets.

Despite this people have told me that as I have lost £5k and I am going to have to pay £7.5k to have his poor work re-done, I might as well pay the extra £115 to issue proceedings against him, even if he never pays he will end up with another CCJ.

I've never taken anyone to court before.

If you have, can you please tell me.

Once I have submitted my claim online how long before the court case?

Do I have to attend, and if so what is it like?

Do I have to explain it all verbally to a judge? Show them pictures of the terrible work?

Is it true that when he does not attend I automatically win?

We had this around 4 years ago with an electrician. Left our house dangerous with £2.5k and he was demanding another £1K.
We applied, just uploaded all evidence and photos on to the claim. It got accepted, they sent a letter out to him. He didn't respond so it went straight to court. We didn't have to attend at all. I believe he never showed up and ignored all letters so he ended up with a CCJ. However, he was a 70ish year old so I doubt it would have effected him at all.
We haven't heard anything since 😞
If it does go in your favour and they do pay you the money, the court fee's will also be included 😊
Goodluck!

Bump

Even if he doesn’t turn up, a CCJ on his record may disrupt his future, but doubt you will see any money refunded.

Are you able to claim against your home insurance for poor workmanship or for personal legal expenses? Worth checking.
Small claims process is quite slow and you might not get a penny unless as you say he has some actual assets. Find out where he lives and do a land registry search online, costs £3, you’ll only need the title register not the plan to see if the property is in joint names. You’ll likely have to go through court mediation first and if that fails to resolve the issue then onto a court hearing which are now via teams. Like any court case you need evidence to be relied upon in court. There will be an additional court hearing fee to pay however if the case is ruled in your favour you’ll get costs and interest. Doesn’t mean he’ll pay up but having a CCJ will affect his credit rating.

Thanks for the replies.

He definitely owns no property.

He is 60 years old so maybe he does not care about CCJs or bad reviews as he is nearly at retirement. He married a much younger woman who already owned her own house which they now live in and she has a great job plenty of money so I guess he does not even care about CCJs.

I wish I could send him to prison

Exactly the same. It was a roofer, CCJ the whole thing. He ignored it. Never saw a penny. Also don't waste money on bailiffs if the builders were cowboys they know how to play this system. (in our experience).