What if the tradesman or contractor doesn’t turn up? What if they don’t do a good job? What if they damage your property? What if they don’t finish, and leave you high and dry?

Although these risks can unfortunately be very real, you are protected by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 which requires services to be provided with reasonable skill and care, as well as protecting the sale of goods and supply of services. This means that if any of the above risks become a reality, you have the right to rectify them.

How to sue a contractor

Sometimes, the threat of legal action is enough to encourage the contractor or company to resolve any problems, so you may be able to fix the issues by contacting the contractor who completed the work.

If you chose your retailer or installer wisely, they may be affiliated with a trade body who is responsible for upholding standards in their industry. For example, the KBSA (the Kitchen Bathroom and Bedroom Specialist Association) has a code of conduct and offers its members’ customers a deposit protection scheme and financial recompense against sub-standard workmanship.

In other cases, it can be necessary to look at alternative resolution methods, as we’ve all heard the horror stories about contractors failing to answer calls, avoiding any contact, and faking a number of scenarios to get off the hook.

To pursue legal action, you will need to initiate a court case by submitting a claim. It’s advisable to seek legal support to ensure that this process is done correctly and with the right evidence to support your claim. You will need to be able to demonstrate the following in order to sue a contractor or tradesman:

• There was a valid, written contract between you and the contractor.
• The contractor breached the terms of the contract or displayed professional negligence. This could be failing to complete the work within the agreed timeframe or completing the work to an unsatisfactory standard. It’s beneficial to get a written report on the problems encountered by a surveyor or other professional third party to use as evidence of a breach of contract.
• You suffered damages and can provide evidence of the harm or losses you have incurred as a result of the contractor’s breach, such as the costs of hiring another contractor to finish or rectify the work, or the loss of value to your property.

Depending on the problem at hand, you can choose to claim a specific implementation of the contract, where the court can order the individual or company to complete the work as they were contracted for. In other scenarios, you can sue the contractor for the cost of putting any problems right, awarding you with the necessary funds to have the work completed by another contractor or company.

If you’re forced into legal action in order to rectify the problem, be sure to report the contractor or company to the local trading standards office.

Is it worth suing a contractor?

For larger problems, winning the claim can be the only solution that results in unsatisfactory works being fixed and completed, so legal proceedings shouldn’t be looked over. However, court processes can be slow and expensive and many people choose to write off these types of disasters to experience and drop the legal proceedings after getting nowhere.

Prevention is always better than cure. Here are some tips to help reduce the risk of finding yourself in a difficult situation with a contractor:

• Be careful when selecting a contractor. Get recommendations from trusted friends and family and check online reviews to ensure that the company is reputable. Look into previous work that the company has completed.
• Be clear about the work at hand and put everything into writing. This doesn’t necessarily need to be in a formal signed contract, but can be through letters, emails or WhatsApp. Detail any timescales, costs, materials, stages or progress, final looks and quality.
• Do not pay the full amount in advance. If the company is confident of its work and performance, it should accept a payment arrangement that keeps a good proportion of funds in your hands until satisfactory completion. There is no law to say payment must be made in advance, so if the contractor will not agree to staged payments, find someone else.

If you need to take legal action against a contractor, contact a solicitor to assist you throughout the process.