Theses are the necessary steps to meet legal requirements, remove the trader from your site and start to move on.
Take a Breath – Don’t Panic
Don’t agree to pay anything straight away. Take some time to understand what’s going on and who is owed what.
A trustworthy trader won’t mind giving you a few days and answering your questions.
You have the right to take your time – don’t let anyone pressure you into a rushed decision.
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Step 1: Check your Facts
Take time to check any contract or quote you have received for what is included and not included.
This is a good time to review the scope (all the work that was agreed) and the timescale it was agreed to be completed in.
Remember:
- If it’s a quote it is a fixed price for the job and they should not be charging you more money, unless you have asked for them to do extra work or they have uncovered a problem while undertaking the work.
- If they uncovered a problem and extra work is required, they needed to provide you with a written quote. This applies to all work valued over £42.
- They also needed to receive your written agreement to the extra cost and work before undertaking that work.
- They need to offer you a 14 day cooling off period.
- If you had asked them to undertake extra work you would need to put this in writing to them. Then follow steps 2-4 as above.
- Any change in timescales should also have been communicated in writing by the trader as part of the quote.
If you are going to terminate your contract with your trader, you need to do so legally, so follow the steps below to ensure you are complying the law. If you need to take your trader to court, this will work in your favour.
Resources:
Consumer Contracts Regulations (2013): https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-contracts-regulations-ajWHC8m21cAk
The Consumer Rights Act (2015)https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act-aKJYx8n5KiSl
Top tips:
- From here on in, make sure everything you do is written, preferably by email, if not available, then text/WhatsApp message.
- Ensure you screen shot or download the messages exchanged between you and the contractor, they can disappear!
Step 2: Document the Site
Take photos of how your home has been left, take photos of everything the contractor has done and a video if you can.
Top tips:
- Doing this on a smart phone will ensure that they have a date and timestamp on your photos/video.
- Recording direct to the cloud means that if your phone is lost, stolen or damaged the video is still safe.
Step 3: Make it Formal
Remember:
- You have to, by law, give them a chance to come back and fix what they have not done or is not right.
- Write a letter (if a letter is not possible then send what you would put in a letter by text or WhatsApp) outlining the issue and what you want them to do about it, give them 14 or 21 days to respond.
- To close out the contract you will need to refer back you the original agreement or contract which should state
- what you wanted
- for what cost
- in what timescale
If you can demonstrate that the trader has failed on one or more of these elements you may be able to remove them from site with breach of contract. Check your circumstances with Citizen’s Advice to ensure you get the wording right and can close the contract legally.
Resources:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/template-letters/letters
Top tips:
Use Citizen’s Advice letter templates to make life easy for you. If you prefer not to then you will need to:
- Include your name and address and theirs if you have it.
- Date the letter
- Include details of the original quote and scope of work, what they have done so far and what they have not done or what is not complete or to standard.
- Ask them to rectify it by a specific date.
- Tell them if they don’t rectify you will have to
- ask another contractor to rectify the work and you will be seeking to recoup that cost from them via a court if necessary.
- Close the contract.
Step 4: Find a New Trader
If they do not respond or refuse to return after the 14/21 days have elapsed then you have the right to get someone else to complete the job/put right the poor workmanship.
You will need to obtain a couple (preferably 3) of written quotes from new traders.
If this costs you more than the quote from the original trader then you can try to reclaim the money from the original trader.
Remember:
You will need to obtain written quotations, if you want to try and reclaim money from the original contractor, these will need to detail the price and work to be undertaken.
Top Tips:
- Use CAST’s checklist to ensure your next trader is better!
- 3 quotes will help in trying to claim back costs from the original contractor
- Ensuring they are written with details of the job to be completed will help if you need to take your contractor to court to reclaim costs.
Step 5: Expert Evaluations
Consider the need for an expert witness report or a defects list.
These are reports that are completed by RICS Chartered Surveyors and detail the work that has been undertaken, the quality of the work undertaken and can look at the costs of the work and assess if there has been an under or overpayment/underpayment for the work. They can also look at the contract between yourselves and the contractor.
They are useful where you have had a large project completed with lots of complexity. For example, a single storey extension.
Resources:
https://www.rics.org/surveyor-careers/surveying/what-is-a-chartered-surveyor
Top tips
- A RICS Chartered Surveyors report can be a useful tool, if you unfortunately need to resolve your issue through the courts.
- If you are planning to go to court then you will need a Chartered Surveyor’s expert witness report.
- They can also be a useful tool for resolving a dispute over costs with a contractor.
- They provide an independent assessment of the work and are not biased to either party.
- It’s a good idea to write to your trader and say that you are going to get an Chartered Surveyor’s report to try to resolve the dispute and offer them the opportunity to take part in this. This shows willing on your part and can help in a future court case.
Summary
If your trader refuses to return to site to complete the work, you will need to get someone else to complete the work and then decide how you wish to try and recoup your additional costs, if the new trader has cost more. You have 6 years to do this, so don’t rush. Gather all your facts together.
Before you do any work, do consider the need for a RICS Chartered Surveyor, this will give you an expert witness report that is independent, if you do need to go to court. It can also give you an independent assessment of what has been done/not done.
Write to the trader (a letter is preferable, if you do not have their address, then send a screenshot of the letter to them or send it via WhatsApp or email) and tell them you have had someone else complete the work.
Be sure that the contract (even if it was a verbal contract) is closed and they have no valid reason to return to your site.
Give details of the additional cost you have incurred; you can include the quotation and copy of the invoice you have paid.
Ask the trader to refund you the difference between their original quote and the new quote that you have paid.
Tell the trader that if you cannot recoup the additional costs directly from them, then you will be left with no option than to go through the courts to refund your money.
Give them 14 or 21 days to respond to your letter.
If they are still refusing to settle with you, then you have the option of completing paperwork to take them to court.
If the value of the work is less than £10,000 you can use money claims online or the small claims court system. If the value of the work is over £10,000 then you will need to use the county court system.
Useful Link:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/template-letters/letters
Top tips:
- Include your name and address and theirs if you have it.
- Date the letter
- Include details of the original quote and scope of work, what they have done so far and what they have not done or what is not complete or to standard.
- Give them details of what it has cost you to rectify the work and/or what it has cost you to complete the job.
- Ask them to refund you the difference
- Tell them that you will take them to court if this cannot be resolved.
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