Cowboy builder

[kenwood]

I'm seriously considering suing a cowboy kitchen fitter for what he has done.

 

I dont want to put too much detail here as there is a chance he will read it, who knows.

He is a cowboy and he knows it.

 

However, I keep hearing there is no point in suing someone if he doesnt have money.

 

If this type of fitter is charging people say £200 per day then there is money coming in.

 

As far as I'm aware he is self employed and the name he trades under is not a limited company.

 

I'm in no doubt whatsoever that I would win the judgement, I have reams of proof and photographic evidence.

 

My only concern is, given how devious he is, he must have a way to hide his income.

 

Surely we do not live in a world where a halfwitted builder can outsmart the legal system?!!

 

How would I overcome this?

 

 

Advice appreciated.

Edited March 13, 2018 by dx100uk
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[kenwood]

Thank you steampowered, I have his address and am willing to go through with the above. Bailiffs and bankruptcy petition will do it!

[kenwood]

Hi, i have another question. Is it true that I should leave the faulty work as it is until the case goes to court?

[kenwood]

Thank you

[kenwood]

Hi again, I

sent a letter before action 2 weeks ago to the builder and he sent 2 nasty emails to me with a list of lies and said he would sue me for non-payment.

 

I've never started a court action and am worried about the case being thrown out on a technicality, especially given that it is such an expensive process and the outcome isnt guaranteed.

 

I want to make a claim against this guy on three points relating to wasting time and non-performance whilst charging me weekly, for getting the order wrong and for miscalculating the seriousness of an obstruction if indeed he even noticed it.

 

I've paid the guy around £2,300 and am receiving quotes for about £3900 to redo and complete the work.

 

Furthermore I purchased about £700 of panels that are useless based on his order.

 

Will also need new items and possibly a stud wall to overcome the obstruction he missed.

 

What he has done already is bodged.

 

Can you please advise me as to what procedure I should follow?

 

Having looked at Claims on line, my statement and enclosures are way too long for that method.

 

Also do I really have to try harder to "mediate" with him given that he has gone off with so much money and will not respond to my emails?

 

I'm finding it all a bit daunting but I believe I have a strong claim.

 

Advice appreciated.

Edited March 13, 2018 by dx100uk
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[kenwood]

Thank you for your advice.

 

There is a lawyer in my office who is a Corporate lawyer, he keeps telling me to see a Consumer lawyer to assess my case.

Is it really vital to do so?

 

Having spoken to CAB, they say my claim would fall under the terms of Goods and Services Act.

 

Given what you have said above, it's easier for me to work through this on a contractual basis as it is more logical/ black and white. His estimate has been deliberately written in a way to trip up the customer, eg by asking for staged payments.

 

Is there any point is stating in my claim that this is "onerous" or whatever the word is to describe that it deliberately seeks to exploit the customer or is it too late for that?

 

The other issue he keeps going on about is that he has (deliberately) listed ceramic tiles whereas I have bought non-ceramic tiles so he feels I owe him for that.

 

However he hasnt even tiled the walls so why bother to mention it?!!

 

The guy is really a nasty piece of work and there is no depth he wouldnt stoop to!

 

He hasnt even returned my keys.

 

He says he has posted them but they havent arrived.

 

I'm going to add the cost of new locks to my claim.

 

I have received hundreds of items in the post without even one being lost but amazingly his parcel was lost in the post supposedly.

Edited March 13, 2018 by dx100uk
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[kenwood]

Good luck

 

I have had run ins with builders before

One thing that may be useful (it is in Scotland, don't know about the rest of the UK).

If he is a landlord (many builders are) you can go for a rent attachment order. If you have a court decree you can use this. It makes it an offence for a tenant or letting agent to pass on rental income to the landlord without satisfying the debt

 

I doubt that he is that sophisticated and no mention was made but how would I find out if he owns other property?

[kenwood]

Thank you Steampowered.

 

With the payments at least I can prove I maintained my end of the bargain.

The drivel in his emails was aimed to sidetrack me into thinking he is in a position where he can counter claim.

 

There is a lot of drivel about his "contract" being on the basis that I would order the units from a particular supplier but in his earlier emails he says something like

 

"I've created a plan for you so that you can order the items on line or at any outlet"

but there is absolutely no mention of supplier 'a' in the estimate.

 

Also given that he did do some of the work with the cabinets,

doesnt it imply that it was acceptable to him that I ordered the items from supplier 'b' instead of supplier 'a'?

 

My understanding is that is that if the items were materially different he should not have commenced the work.

 

Another area where I think I can trip him up is in his letter/estimate there is a paragraph saying

"We have priced for a total works therefore any aspect of works not required will be deducted from the overall estimate".

 

My point would be can this be applied retrospectively?

He is placing a lot of emphasis on the things he hasnt done.

 

He didnt even make a start on the second side because he was pretending a door from an oven housing is missing and he could not proceed without it, thereby deliberately wasting time.

 

He only brought this to my attention on Thursday evening saying he needs it for Monday.

 

I chased the supplier and the door was present all the time.

He didnt even turn up on Monday.

 

When I tried to pin him down to do the agreed work for the agreed amount he did not come back because of course he was in a favourable position of having taken about 90% of the money but having performed less than 50% of the work.

 

in that respect the staged payments were not in line with the amount of work he had actually carried out.

Edited March 13, 2018 by dx100uk
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[kenwood]

Hi Steampowered, there are a few twists to this.

 

The fitter was in constant touch with me by email prior to starting work.

He couldnt wait to get his foot in the door.

 

As at 18th I hadnt even placed my order and said something like

"I'm more or less ready to place my order"

 

So he immediately booked himself in to start on the 25th with some story about a last minute cancellation.

 

I didnt place the order till 21st and there were delays in the delivery arriving which ultimately meant he was in my flat for 2 weeks instead of 1 before the kitchen units arrived.

 

In those 2 weeks all they did was lay the floor tiles, and skim the ceiling and the tops of the walls that would be visible and strip just one side of the kitchen.

 

None of the preliminary electrical or plumbing work was done and he left the side where the appliances are till the last minute.

 

He pretended he was doing this so that I would not be left without the use of the appliances but I didnt care, progress was more important than having the use of the appliances.

 

Furthermore, he sent his son to my home most days in those two weeks to make a presence and collect a cheque at the end of the week, while apparently he was fitting out someone else's bathroom.

 

I did switch suppliers because the second one was going to deliver sooner than the first one.

 

He is pretending his contract was based on me ordering the kitchen from the first supplier and now is trying to blame all the shortcomings with the wrong panels etc on the fact that I switched suppliers.

 

The truth is he didnt specify the correct panels.

 

As at 20th I had emailed him asking him to clarify the panels but I didnt even get a response.

 

So that also was a contributory factor in the delay of me ordering the kitchen.

 

I ordered the same brand but from a different supplier.

It's not like I changed from say Poggenpohl to Ikea.

 

He's trying very hard to blame outside factors.

 

at the end of the third week he stated categorically there is a door missing and he cannot proceed.

 

He didnt even bother to come in on Monday but the door was here all along.

 

At that point it really hit home that he is messing me around so I asked him to take a break until the missing doors arrive.

 

The supplier did not send the missing doors so the fitter used that as an excuse not to come back even though he has left me in the lurch like this.

 

He could have finished the kitchen minus a missing door

- that is what we had agreed on but he did 3 no shows in a row and did not come back after that. Hope that makes sense!

 

Thank you - I've tried, there is a clause about not covering work by workmen that has gone wrong.

 

My statement of claim is about 6 pages long - is that too long?

Trading standards have not helped at all.

 

Builder is not registered with any body as far as I'm aware.

 

He is not VAT registered and I paid a combination of cash and cheques which he receipted.

[kenwood]

Wow - that's fantastic thank you! Hope it works. The names used are fictitious

Edited June 11, 2013 by kenwood

[kenwood]

Hi Steampowered, thank you so much - this is amazing. It exactly the kind of clarification I was hoping for as I feel a bit lost in the world of litigation! I realise now that I have combined the POC and Witness Statement and of course the POC needs to be more formal and to the point. I will put this to use immediately! I'm feeling a bit paranoid about the possibility that the fitter might look at this site. Would you mind if I take the attachment off?

Thanks again and best wishes.

Edited June 13, 2013 by kenwood

[kenwood]

Yes thats true - and of course given his performance so far, he'll just come up with yet more lies! Thank you, I feel like I have my work cut out for me as preparing a formal legal document is alien to me. I will follow your template diligently and maybe post it up again after the weekend!

All the best.

[kenwood]

Hi Steampowered

Hope you've had a good weekend. Am I on the right track with this? I havent listed all the items on the estimate - just the ones that are relevant.

[kenwood]

Thanks again steampowered, looks like I'm on the right track. The other bits needed are the statement of truth at the end and formatting of the top section and back page which I can manage!

[kenwood]

I had a cowboy kitchen fitter in my home last year who conned me out of over £2k for doing very little work. It has taken me a year to get my kitchen sorted out because no other fitter was willing to touch it and it has cost me a further £5k at least.

Anyway, I was planning to take the first guy to court and I have my POC and bundles ready to go. Having done an internet search for this person to find negative feedback, I discovered he has been bailed and due to be going to court as part of a gang who have fleeced elderly people out of £250k. They will also be charged for money laundering.

Now that this information has come to light, I dont know whether I should proceed with my court action. If I go ahead and win my case, is there any way I can become an interested party to the other case or be able to have some form of garnishee order on what, presumably, the courts would aim to recoup?

Is there any way this could work in my favour or would all his cash be taken away by the courts? Also what would happen if I start proceedings and he is imprisoned before the court hearing comes up?

[kenwood]

It's a criminal prosecution following an extensive investigation by the Economic Crime Unit of the Police in that county. I've been in touch with the metropolitan police, the fraud department of the police, the relevant court and the relevant police force - none of them were interested. My case would be civil so I wanted to check if there is any possibility of crossover. The fraud police told me to speak to Trading Standards and get them to ask the fraud police to follow up but by the time I did this and got back to them again they didnt want to know! I've just been shoved around. It's quite shocking that this type of behaviour is not criminalised until it reaches epic proportions.

[kenwood]

Thanks, this is what I'm thinking too. But assuming I go ahead with the action and win the case and then present him with a stat demand threatening bankruptcy - what would happen?

I was really hoping I could somehow get involved with the other prosecution but the court told me because my incident took place in a different time and place I could not join the other action.

Is there really no way I could somehow sequester from what is recovered from the other action?

[kenwood]

Thanks Fletch - yes its beginning to look that way. Is there absolutely nothing I can do?

I really hope he ends up in jail - its the best place for him.

[kenwood]

Thanks for your advice Ash and Steampowered. I'm sure such a devious person will have his house in his wife's name and his assets in a suitcase under his bed.

Thanks for the info Rebel - I hope the police do manage to seize his assets and the courts put him in jail! However, that means I wouldnt get anything!

[kenwood]

Hi,

 

I had a disaster with a kitchen fitter and have started court proceedings against him.

 

He put in a Defence with a whole lot of lies.

 

The court sent Directions last September and the hearing date was due in February.

 

I followed the Directions to the letter and sent quite a substantial witness statement with all the emails and evidence I could find to substantiate my claim.

 

I sent the bundle to the cowboy 2nd class recorded delivery therefore the date that it was received has been logged on the PO site.

 

The cowboy has written to the court stating that the bundle arrived 3 days later than it did, ie after the 2 weeks prior to the hearing date!

 

He has asked for the hearing date to be adjourned on the basis that he needs time to address the issues I've raised in my bundle.

 

He's claiming they were not listed in my POC.

 

on top of that, he has a google listing for his "business" and

 

there is bad feedback on it,

 

so I submitted a printout of this in my bundle.

 

Not sure if this is admissible.

 

I just looked at that listing again thinking he must have closed it down,

 

when instead I saw that he has superimposed my name as a life coach with my family address (with whom I do not live)

and a strange telephone number.

 

The odd thing is that the map still shows his address rather than mine and the name of his business.

 

This has really made me angry.

 

I dont understand whether it is a covert threat or a stupid joke.

 

It was suggested to me perhaps he intends to lure customers in my name and defraud them so that he can make trouble for me.

 

I dont know what to do about this.

 

Should I bring it to the attention of the judge?

 

On top of this the guy is connected to a gang who defrauded elderly victims out of over £250k and were put on trial recently.

 

tHe money laundered some of the proceeds and was taken to court and pleaded guilty and is currently serving a 6 months sentence suspended for 2 years.

 

Apparently this information is not admissible because it is unrelated and because it is a criminal matter rather than a civil matter.

 

Please can someone advise me how much of this information is admissible

 

as I feel the judge should be aware.

 

How can I land him in the dirt without overstepping the mark?

[kenwood]

If I put the bad feedback that I found on the internet relating to this person in my bundle of supporting evidence, is this admissible?

 

 

Also since my claim was for breach of contract and negligence and the Directions have asked for "a list of works complained of"

and I have written about things like the units being crooked,

the shelves being crooked,

drawers not opening properly

but these were not all literally itemised in my POC,

I have said that it was done so badly that it needed to be done again.

 

 

There were so many huge fundamental errors that little details like this are lost believe me.

 

 

The guy failed to noticed some obstructions and I was forced to buy narrower units for another £600,

I had to buy more tiles as he had cut what he did so badly.

I bought £700 worth of panels because they were listed by the guy on his purchase list

but he did not even allow space for those panels in his plan.

The guy was a complete goofball.

 

 

I have to redact my POC of personal details and will try to post it tomorrow as it is already late.

 

 

At this stage I really want to expose the cowboy's lies and this issue with his google page.

Am I allowed to advise the judge that this guy's currently serving a suspended sentence?

[kenwood]

Dear Steampowered

Thank you for your response. I feel so much better. I just called the court and they had not even received the defendant's letter and mentioned that if he wants to adjourn the hearing he needs to pay £50 to do so. It looks like the hearing is going ahead as planned. I wonder if he has just sent the letter to me (and not to the court) in the hope that I wouldnt turn up on the day!

I take your point that the judge doesnt need to decide whether the guy is nice or not! This is something to remember.

I will write to the court about the Google page incident and his misrepresentation of the arrival date of my bundle.

Thank you again for your clear and relevant response.

[kenwood]

Another development.

 

 

I dont want to divulge too much here but now the moron has contacted members of my family and I think he is trying to blackmail them.

 

 

He has discovered something he considers to be an impropriety and is asking the family connection

 

 

what shall I do with this piece of information - shall I send it to HMRC.

 

 

The family connection is ignoring him as there is no issue but where is this going to end?

[kenwood]

Hi, I would like to report following the court hearing.

 

 

We werent even asked to take oaths.

The cowboy turned up and lied from start to finish.

 

 

The judge mainly listened to him even though he had absolutely no evidence to substantiate anything he said.

The judge treated me as if I was an idiot who had misunderstood the cowboy.

 

 

In the end the judge found in my favour only on the "breach of contract" element but for a very small amount

which was just half of the refitting cost of my kitchen plus the court costs.

 

 

The judge didnt even award me half the cost but half the estimate which was even lower than half what I paid.

I am in complete shock as to how a judge can be like that given it was my claim

- the judge just let him talk non-stop as if he was the claimant.

 

 

In the end when he heard the judgement he got huffy and did not accept it and said he wanted to appeal.

I wonder if he will or if he does, it might be better for me too.

 

 

Are all judges so blinkered - I thought they were supposed to be highly intelligent?

 

From that day he started his covert blackmailing routine again, writing to my family.

The wording is so twisted that I'm not sure what he is saying.

 

 

He is half threatening not to appeal and half threatening along the lines that he will expose this supposed irregularity

if I go forward with enforcement.

 

 

I have told the police and they came over to speak to me so at least it is on record if this escalates.

 

Even though I had a very strong case and all the evidence necessary I was awarded about a third of my claim.

In retrospect it might have been worth using a solicitor to speak for me or are judges supposed to take the middle line?

[kenwood]

Thank you for your support and comments! If I hear of an appeal will keep you posted! I dont envisage he will give up without trying.