Rogue builder

[Claire8803]

Hi everyone,

Last year, a member of my family hired someone from Checkatrade to build the roof of our extension.

They have made a contract, and the builder asked for £2000 deposit, which was paid to a personal account (in the builder’s name).
After that, the guy vanished. We have tried several times to get in touch, but to no avail.

After posting on Facebook about it, we have found out that he conned several other persons from our area. Some of them went to small claims court, some to the police, but nothing happened.
The estimated sum he got off with is about £14500.

He was polish or romanian, and we suspect he went back to his country.

Realistically, is there any chance of solving this situation?
The family was speaking of extradition using a EAW.

Thank you

 

[japancool]

For £14,500, I doubt the police will be interested.

You might consider taking it up with Checkatrade.

 

[Thermodynamic Man]

For £14,500, I doubt the police will be interested.

You might consider taking it up with Checkatrade.

I doubt Checkatrade would care either. Whilst in the home improvement industry we saw a lot of these so called companies set up to help you check out a tradesman before you take them on. Whilst the glossy pages say that they vet all tradesman and visit work they have done previously and get the views of the customers they have worked for. Total rubbish. And this was the word from the Checkatrade rep himself. All they, and the rest, are interested in is getting the membership fees from the tradesman, Nothing more. If you are going to get into some major building works then my advice is go local and get references, Then you visit these references personally and get their views and view the work done. Otherwise it's simply Buyer Beware

 

[Mark T Jones]

How much time/effort/money do you want to throw at this.

If there is an effective group eady to chase it might be worth joining them.

If you have free time & cash you might want to create such a group or simply do it yourself on a matter of principle.

In the absence of these, frankly, learn the lesson & move on.

 

[intheTRADE]

Hi everyone,

Last year, a member of my family hired someone from Checkatrade to build the roof of our extension.

They have made a contract, and the builder asked for £2000 deposit, which was paid to a personal account (in the builder’s name).
After that, the guy vanished. We have tried several times to get in touch, but to no avail.

After posting on Facebook about it, we have found out that he conned several other persons from our area. Some of them went to small claims court, some to the police, but nothing happened.
The estimated sum he got off with is about £14500.

He was polish or romanian, and we suspect he went back to his country.

Realistically, is there any chance of solving this situation?
The family was speaking of extradition using a EAW.

Thank you

Drop me a PM with the traders details and I will send it over to my contacts at Checkatrade who will be able to help you

 

[intheTRADE]

I doubt Checkatrade would care either. Whilst in the home improvement industry we saw a lot of these so called companies set up to help you check out a tradesman before you take them on. Whilst the glossy pages say that they vet all tradesman and visit work they have done previously and get the views of the customers they have worked for. Total rubbish. And this was the word from the Checkatrade rep himself. All they, and the rest, are interested in is getting the membership fees from the tradesman, Nothing more. If you are going to get into some major building works then my advice is go local and get references, Then you visit these references personally and get their views and view the work done. Otherwise it's simply Buyer Beware

Can't speak for other services but every trades person goes through the same vetting process (around 8 different steps) with Checkatrade before they are allowed to be listed on the site]

I find it hard to believe a rep would say that considering every day the reps lose commission because of the trades that are declined to join

 

[Thermodynamic Man]

Just telling you how it was. Nothing more. Nothing less

 

[Claire8803]

Can't speak for other services but every trades person goes through the same vetting process (around 8 different steps) with Checkatrade before they are allowed to be listed on the site]

I find it hard to believe a rep would say that considering every day the reps lose commission because of the trades that are declined to join

Thanks for the reply, but he immediately shut down the checkatrade page he had, this is about 11 months ago.

 

[Claire8803]

Drop me a PM with the traders details and I will send it over to my contacts at Checkatrade who will be able to help you

Thanks for the reply, but the builder immediately shut down his Checkatrade page afterwards. We are talking 11 months or so ago…

 

[intheTRADE]

Thanks for the reply, but the builder immediately shut down his Checkatrade page afterwards. We are talking 11 months or so ago…

Ah ok, that's a long time passed to try do anything about it

I would still call Checkatrade if I were you. Page's can't be instantly shut down for this very reason so I can only assume he was already under investigation by them and they have kicked him off the site

Also check with them as you might be covered by their https://www.checkatrade.com/guaranteed-terms

 

[eteb3]

extradition using a EAW

1. You'll have to get the police to treat it as a criminal matter.
2. They'll have to convince the CPS that he's likely to be found guilty of an offence with a max sentence of 12 months or more.
3. You'll have to persuade them that EAW (now "surrender") is "necessary and proportionate taking into account the rights of the subject [to live as a free man until convicted] and the victim [it's only £2k, after all] and having regard to the seriousness of the act [trivial in extraditable crime terms] and the likely penalty that would be imposed [community service], as well as the possibility that the subject is likely to face long periods of pre-trial detention [crim courts backlog is at record levels I think?]"
4. You will have to convince them to battle the new post-Brexit bureaucracy on surrender.

TLDR, I'm afraid they may just laugh you out of the station. Which is no comfort, of course, nor is it your £2k refund.

 

[Gyumri]

Also check with them as you might be covered by their https://www.checkatrade.com/guaranteed-terms

Not covered:

• where the Tradesperson absconds or goes out of business before the work commences;

 

[intheTRADE]

A reputable contractor would not ask for money upfront for materials, they will have accounts at building suppliers.

I would disagree with this statement - there a huge % of rogue customers out there so trade and home businesses are well within reason to ask for a deposit. That does not make them non reputable in anyway.

They are covering their own back for in a situation of a non-paying customer

 

[MBE2017]

Hi Claire, I work for a claims management company and we come a cross cases like yours, everyday. I just put a post on Facebook and thought I would share it, plus if you wish to talk to me about your issue, if its not resolved. you are welcome.

The number of problems people are having with rogue traders is growing and will get worse as times get tougher financially. I work for a claims management company and would like to give a few words of advice, before you appoint a contractor.
Under UK law you are not protected if you pay cash, bank transfer or debit card.
Always use a contractor that will accept credit cards, if you put a minimum of £100.00 on a credit card, this will protect you up to £30,000.
A reputable contractor would not ask for money upfront for materials, they will have accounts at building suppliers.
Ask for details of previous work they have carried out, so you can get a review directly.
Always look at a contract of works with details of staged payments, never step outside those and accept excuses like my van needs repair, the cost has gone up etc.
We are getting feedback from customers that even though contractors are members of "professional" bodies or trade directories when things go wrong, they are not interested and offer no assistance in getting things resolved.
The Police will say its a civil matter, we even have a client where the Police were pursing a contractor charged with fraud, dropped the case because " we have more important things to deal with"
So protect yourself in the beginning, yes it maybe more expensive, yes you may have to wait longer to have the work done, but it will be worth it in the long run.
We deal with these cases day in and day out, and we are constantly surprised at how many £1000's are handed over, with no due diligence.

Agree with most of the above apart from.....A reputable contractor would not ask for money upfront for materials, they will have accounts at building suppliers.

Plenty of decent tradespeople will ask for some money up front as a way to protect themselves from non paying clients, just as big an issue as a tradesperson not turning up.

Down to both to decide if they are happy to do so, personally I have never had a problem doing advance payments, but then again I check out the tradespeople, word of mouth, references, address etc.

Apart from that, all sensible advice.

Edit, I see intheTrade beat me to the point.

 

[fisicx]

When we get work done the traders often ask for stage payments. For example, we paid for about 8 pallets of paving once it had been delivered and for installation on completion.

 

[DontAsk]

We just paid a deposit for a stone worktop because it would be difficult to reuse the materials once cutting starts.

For normal building work, I don't think any decent builder with a stable business should ask for a deposit, for reasons already stated, as most materials will just get moved onto the next job if the job is cancelled before it starts. Our (family friend) builder issues invoices at month end for materials used and work done. This allows him to settle his supplier accounts and lets us pay in stages.

 

[The Resolver]

Page's can't be instantly shut down for this very reason so I can only assume he was already under investigation by them and they have kicked him off the site

If, prior to the OP 's family member sending the deposit, Checkatrade had received a series of similar complaints and did not suspend him for investigation then there just may be a possibility of a valid claim against Checkatrade.

I though tthese platforms held the deposits in escrow. That is a far safer way to run such a business linked to an independent dispute resolution service. PeoplePerHour does that I think albeit the last time I looked their DRS was not independent.

 

[estwig]

For normal building work, I don't think any decent builder with a stable business should ask for a deposit, for reasons already stated, as most materials will just get moved onto the next job if the job is cancelled before it starts. Our (family friend) builder issues invoices at month end for materials used and work done. This allows him to settle his supplier accounts and lets us pay in stages.

Materials aren't universal, bricks, roof tiles, kitchens, doors, windows, tiles, etc, they can't just be moved onto another job. If a client cancels at the last minute, the builder is out of pocket, a deposit is perfectly reasonable.