Renovation ruined by cowboy builder
A COUPLE paid builders £98,000 for extensions to their house, but have been left with an unsafe, barely habitable ruin.
Devastated Andrew Clarke and his wife now face having to pay thousands of pounds more to put it right and possibly having debts hanging over them for years.
They have little hope either of justice or redress for what has been done to them.
“We have been wronged,” says Andrew bitterly. “The system allows rogue traders to get away with it.”
He thought he had done the right checks when in March last year he gave the go-ahead to a firm calling itself E P Contracts building renovations experts.
There is no trace of this firm on Companies House and is unconnected to any other business with a similar name.
Run by a Mike Parr and believed to have been based in Grantham, Lincolnshire, the work for Andrew was for porch and rear extensions plus a loft conversion.
“We met the contractor numerous times and visited an address in Stamford where they had done work,” he explains. “I spoke to a woman customer and she said she was happy.”
He signed a contract paying £33,881 up front and then a series of £16,035 monthly instalments. The money went first to an HSBC account and then to a NatWest one after he was told by the builder to redirect them.
“At first all
Andrew. “But became more went well,” says then the work irregular as we approached full
Then it all ceased.
“The scaffolding and temporary site toilet were removed. My understanding was they had not been paid for. E P Contracts seemed to disappear. I was fobbed off and then found them impossible to contact.”
Andrew came to Crusader after he says he asked the banks to help refund him. “I was sent around in circles and then told it wasn’t possible,” he adds.
When he asked his home insurer about getting legal assistance he says he was turned down.
An independent chartered surveyor’s report he commissioned confirms that only 33 per cent of the value of the work has been completed, but the poor quality poses safety risks. It suggests legal payment time. action under
Premises Act.
The contract Andrew signed is believed to be an out-of-date one, once issued by reputable trade organisation the Federation of Master Builders. It has constantly called for tighter regulation of building contractors.
Crusader tried unsuccessfully to contact E P Contracts.
We also asked the banks if they could help Andrew. NatWest was unable to as he was not their customer. So far HSBC has not responded. the
Defective
For others who may spend time during the lockdown planning home improvements: check a business is listed on Companies House and is genuinely a member of a trade body.