Small claims court

General Chat Chat / Discussions
1

I’m not sure where to put this thread so putting it here until it gets moved.

Basically I want to know how to take my plumber to the small claims court as the recent work he did for me was shoddy & unacceptable.

The consumer help line say I must first send him a ‘signed for’ letter to give him the chance to put it right or request a part refund to pay for somebody else to put it right.

If he doesn’t respond within 14 days I must threaten further action. ie small claims court.

I know nothing about this procedure & wondered if anyone on here can help me?
It frightens me a bit.

2

No need to be frightened @carol , you can do it all online these days and you’ll never see the inside of a courtroom! Here’s the link to all the information that you need…

It’s a great service, so good luck with your claim.

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3

this may help

4

I went through this with a so called qualified gas fitter who put a boiler in for me . I must tell you I took it almost to the end and decided not to actually go to court as I knew I wouldnt get it as he went bust

Firstly age UK will give you help and guidance as will consumer advice via the council . ( the people we make complaints to re bad workmen and cowboys )

3 signed for letters need to be sent . Always make copies.
A form from the court which is free is easy to fill in
The costs were £50 for the court , I never paid because I pulled out .
It’s not scarey it’s quite straight forward but takes about a year

I was claiming £250 but as he was a limited company and went bust it was a waste of time pursuing.

5

What worries me is: Who will the court believe?

I have given this person a bad but truthful review on ‘My Builder’ but he has replied making me sound like liar who has made the story up…

6

Hi

I have a somewhat different view.

One of my Carers is owed £20k by someone who closed the Company.

They did not close it properly.

I have just paid £280 in Court Fees for my Carer to reopen that Company and seize any assets it had.

She may not get all her money back.

However I will be getting my £280 back.

7

Carol the court will see the pictures you’ve taken . If the worst happens and he gets away with this shoddy job I think all you pay is his court cost of £50 .

8

Aren’t tradesmen in the UK required to be licenced and insured? Can’t you go through the (equivalent of) Dept of Fair Trading or the Trades Licencing board? Court should be the last option.

9

You would think so but so many are cowboys and rip of artists and they nearly always take advantage of dealing with women .

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10

I always check if tradesmen are licenced, the easiest way is to check on the Dept of Fair Trading web site or just ask the tradie for his licence number.

https://www.onegov.nsw.gov.au/publicregister/#/publicregister/search/Trades

11

They should have a “gas safe” certificate Bruce if working on a gas boiler,or gas appliance, just doing plumbing anyone with a blowtorch and hammer can do it as there are no checks/regs that I know of

12

Have a read of this, Carol. It’s about reporting to Trading Standards.

13

Just to add , when I chose my gas boiler fitter I checked if he was CORGI registered. He showed me his card it said on his van .

Guess what after the job was done and it was badly fitted I rang CORGI . They told me his membership had lapsed years before .

14

Oh goodness, that’s dreadful Susan.
What a lying toe rag.

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15

I think they can get fined for that alone.