Ripped off and lost, what should I do?

[The Samaritan]

@cdbe

What I said, ie check if it is worth chasing him as most are like what you have stated.
You see a lot of this on those bailiff/Sherrif programmes. Most change the company name or claim everything belongs to the cat, ex, lover, step mummy, step dad, sibling.

Best route as I said before, contact the council surveyors and ask them questions and see what needs to be done to ensure the works can be kept, validated, etc
Thanks

 

[denso13]

contact the council surveyors

No, don't do that. As mentioned it would nullify any future indemnity policy.

 

[jeds]

Sadly, cdbe has a good point. What sort of 'builder' was this? An established company with an office, advertising etc. or a one man band down the pub type. It's no excuse either way - there are plenty of very good one man bands and plenty of poor builders with offices - but in terms of pursuing them it makes a big difference. The first call I would advise making is trading standards, just to find out of this is a known bandit or a one-off. If he's left a trail of chaos behind him trading standards may already have him on their radar and might want to know the details of your situation.

PS, Denso is correct about building control. Contacting them won't be of any benefit and will void any possibility of an indemnity later - should you need one.

 

[ozasco]

@cdbe
If in wife's name, then wouldn't it still be an eligible asset? I thought it could.
Nonetheless, I got your main point, and it makes sense. As well as the other things you said.
It was really helpful to hear from someone who experienced a similar situation.
I will definitely do DIY as much as possible. But I still haven't decided if I will proceed to go to court or not, probably I will, but with low or no expectation.

 

[motorbiking]

Yes, plus at least 1 month of rent that I needed to pay because he was late in the agreement and I had to extend my tenancy agreement a bit.


I will definitely send him the pre-action letter suggested, but I think I'd better avoid telling him which evidence I have on my hands.

I will also call this trading standards thing, which I wasn't aware of.


Poor, during the time he was doing his job, I was learning and doing DIY on the rest of the house, so I ended up getting sufficient knowledge to know that it was poor.
I had to remediate many things myself.


Definitely. The agreement was that he would provide the material, but I noticed a lot of waste, which was bad for him. I always noticed some labouring waste. He also wasted the door and window that he removed, which I was hoping to reuse to convert my garage.
I was too inexperienced, new in the country, I was trying to rush to stop paying rent and move in quickly, etc. But yes, the signs were there in front of me all the time, and I feel too dumb now to have let this situation go up to this point.


Online. I brought 3 builders found nearby on Google and also talked to 2 recommendations from colleagues I made here. The problem is that the trustworthy ones are probably the ones that I rejected due to them being unavailable in the short term (I was trying to rush). The troublesome one had more than 60 reviews on Google, 5 stars on almost all of them.

I will denounce him on the internet and everything at some point, but first I need to take the legal measures and get some legal advice. So that I can avoid him ripping off even more people.

Regarding the claim for extra rent - You won't have a claim unless you made the contract time of the essence. i.e. the work must be completed by date x. I suspect you don't have that in your agreement. There is also a defence of "as we got in to it we realised it was more work, or the client changed what they wanted etc."

It is safe to share what you will be relying on. In court you have to share everything in advance or it can be ruled inadmissible. So there is nothing to be gained in hiding your hand.

With regard to trashing his rep.. the point of suing someone is to get compensation. Not easy if the guy isn't working. Or perhaps busy suing you for repetitional damages.

Much of the power in a threat of legal action is the fear of a CCJ. Two things have to be well written:

- The letter before action - needs to look like you have taken legal advice. referring to things like the pre-action protocol for civil procedures and knowing the costs and fees help show you've done your work.
- the wording of the summons, It is essentially a self service on-line form. check spelling, use clear language, do your research. It will come with all the stamps and court logos on and usually sh1ts up the receiver to offer a payment.

 

[The Samaritan]

Did you contact the council and if so what they say??

Btw - if you feel he owns you thousands - the property he lives at - pay a few quid for the titles to the deeds about 3/4 quid i think and that will tell you if it owns it and any mortgage on it.