COUPLE’S IVF DREAMS AT RISK OVER FIRM’S £5K UNPAID BILL
PLANS SHATTERED AFTER COMPANY ‘REFUSES TO PAY FOR WORK’
A COUPLE who have been trying for a baby for ten years say their IVF dreams have been shattered after they claim a company refused to pay for work amounting to almost £5,000.
Will Else, who owns Else Electrical, carried out two weeks of work, worth just under £5,000 – but five months later he says has still not been paid for it.
Mr Else, 32, claims he was hired for the job at a property in Doncaster by Bransholme-based New Leaf Developments (Hull) Ltd, run by director Macaulay Dunham.
The electrician, of Barton, took his claim to court, which awarded him judgment in default, because New Leaf Developments did not respond.
A judgment was sent to the defendant, ordering the firm to pay £4,938, which includes the amount owed for the electrical work and £185 court costs.
However, despite the court judgment, New Leaf Developments strongly denies the accusations, saying the firm is not “responsible” for the invoice, and has therefore refused to pay.
Since the judgment was sent in December, Mr Else and his wife, Natasha, have made several attempts to get the money back, and even instructed bailiffs, but to no avail.
Mrs Else, 34, said: “I just thought the people of Hull and the surrounding areas should be aware of how this company operates. This has had a huge detrimental effect on me and my family emotionally and mentally.
“That money was going towards the egg donation IVF treatment we need. We have been saving towards this treatment for over two years, this will take us longer to now get.
“I have many health issues that the sooner it is done, the better and the better chances we will have of successful treatment.
“My husband has worked hard to build up his business from the ground since leaving the military. I work hard as a key worker at a school.
“We always treat people how we would wish to be treated. So this has just knocked us for six.”
Mrs Else, a teaching assistant, said she and her husband have been trying for a baby for ten years, and have already tried
IVF twice. She now fears time is running out.
She said: “I’ve text Macaulay to say ‘I just don’t think you realise what you have done to us,’ but he just replies and says he does not have the money, but it’s just not good enough.”
Director Mr Dunahm, who lists himself on social media as also a director at R&M Maintenance Ltd and a Chairman at Capere Enterprises, strongly denies the company owing the money to Mr Else.
He told Hull Live the unpaid invoices were not the firm’s responsibility to pay, stating New Leaf Developments was “merely” a sub-contractor for the job, and that the responsibility to pay the invoice lies with the main overall principal contractor.
Mr Dunham said: “Firstly, the work carried out for the invoices of said unpaid balance wasn’t exactly our responsibility to pay.
“I don’t know if you have much knowledge of how sites run regarding roles; designer, principal contractor, sub contractor et cetera.
“However, we were merely sub-contractors on this job, the lowest on the chain you could say.
“Two of these unvoices are for site set-up costs, one being temporary lighting. The other a temporary power supply to the welfare unit to reduce diesel costs.
“This is all something the principal contractor should facilitate and cover the cost of. The main part of the court judgment is for the first fix electrical work. Again, we didn’t ask him to do this.
“After leaving the job I received the invoices from Will, which I couldn’t pay the first two due to having low funds. He proceeded to take these further and went to Advocate debt recovery.
“After receiving a letter from them, I replied, I am happy to pay the first two, but will have to be on a payment plan basis.
“Regarding the third, we didn’t agree to this work being carried out, and also never paid ourselves from it. So this wasn’t our invoice to pay.”
Mr Dunham, 21, said he did not
This has had a huge detrimental effect on me and my family emotionally and mentally Natasha Else
attend the court hearing to defend his firm, because he “wasn’t in a good place”. He added: “I didn’t attend, to be honest it was the last thing on my mind.
“After having a bad year work wise due to coronavirus and this being the last job of the year, I wasn’t in a good place.
“My businesses had crumbled, I lost good friends and employees so wasn’t in a frame of mind to debate why I couldn’t pay these.
“I thought it had all blown over until a couple of days ago when Will’s wife Natasha commented on one of my Facebook posts.
“I then received a text message a day or two later from them, again I replied to this with no further response.
“It appears they aren’t looking to help solve the situation, just cause more hassle and drama.”