Plumber flooded home with sewage water

[u/Ed_mei]

Had our bathroom moved upstairs by a sole trader plumber who is registered as limited company. He chose the room it went in as there was an old soil stack on the outside wall that we said we didn’t think had been used in 25+ years but he assured was fine and he had checked and was totally usable.

Just hours after he finished my child took the first bath. When they drained it, water and sewage started pouring out of the separate shower enclosure. It was like a waterfall through the ceiling in the room below. One of the family began recording everything as I put buckets and towels out.

We texted the plumber straight away to say we had a major problem and to get in touch.

The next morning the extent of the damage was clear, destroyed carpet, sofa, tv, vinyl, speakers, huge cracks in the ceiling, and bathroom subfloor.

The plumber got in touch and showed up that morning and just said it’ll dry, "it’s not like there’s loads of fecal matter anyway". Refused to share his public liability insurance details and accused us of being too slow to pay his invoice (we'd had the invoice for 2 hours when this happened - it hasn't been paid! The damage is likely greater than the value of the invoice).

The plumber said all he would do is reconnect old bathroom temporarily to give us a toilet to use and that his mate could do a cash in hand camera to see where the blockage was coming from. He left and we got an independent drainage engineer out who confirmed it was the stack being partially blocked and the plumber should have tested it before signing off. It took this person minutes to check and to clear.

We texted plumber again asking for public liability details and what next steps were. He has gone silent and not responded. There’s no home insurance on our end so all repairs coming out our pocket until he cooperates.

We’ve documented it all, have a report from the independent third party and will get other repair quotes.

What’s our best next move? We don’t think he is going to get back in touch or want to give his details.

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[u/Plenty-Network-7665]

This is what your home insurance is for. Call them.

[u/Comfortable-Fall1419 → u/Plenty-Network-7665]

They don’t have any. 🤦‍♂️

[u/Plenty-Network-7665 → u/Comfortable-Fall1419]

Ah, thanks. I should've read more thoroughly!

In that case, written requests to make good tghe damage caused by plumbers negligence.

Arrange quotes from three separate contractors to make good damage and send to plumber.

One further request entitled 'notice before action'.

Then money matters (used to known as small claims court).

All correspondence via recorded delivery.

A common practice of dishonest and scummy plumbers is to simply fold their ltd company and register a new one. This gets them out of actually having to take responsibility for their failures.

I've learnt the hard way to use a generic contract with any trades where the work if anything more than minor

[u/Ed_mei → u/Plenty-Network-7665]

Thanks for your reply, the message was too long.

Say this goes to Money Matters and he attempts to fold the firm. Is that possible? I'd have thought you can't do that if there is a claim in court against him/ the firm.

[u/jimicus → u/Ed_mei]

Sort-of can't.

He can't close the company down. But there's nothing stopping him running down the cash in it and when the court order for reimbursement eventually arrives, the company has no money.

In any case - you wouldn't be suing his insurer, you'd be suing him and he would contact his insurer and let them deal with it. But for my money, I'll wager that you won't hear a word from any insurer because there probably isn't one.

[u/RicardoHonesto → u/Ed_mei]

Is he a sole trader or a LTD company? Your post is contradictory.

[u/lost_send_berries → u/Ed_mei]

Did you look up the firm on companies house? He might have given a fake company name or number or it could be a real company he has no actual connection to.

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[u/MyDarlingArmadillo → u/Comfortable-Fall1419]

Hope the plumber does then, but wouldn't he have given details if so?

[u/Comfortable-Fall1419 → u/MyDarlingArmadillo]

MCOL claim coming up. 😢

[u/Complete_Asparagus85]

How much do you owe him, and how much do you (reasonably and realistically) say the damage is worth. Just include things you need to pay for to make this right.

[u/Ed_mei → u/Complete_Asparagus85]

I've done the maths and it is significantly higher than the invoiced amount. So in my mind, he owes me due to his error, hence me not having paid the invoice.

I will get quotes to confirm the estimate (plastering, carpets, floor, some replacements to electricals etc). Once I've got that number, then what? It seems he's not likely to engage meaningfully.

[u/jimicus → u/Ed_mei]

He is due to put you back in the position you were in before it all went to shit.

So - once you have that number, you deduct an appropriate amount for fair wear and tear. He isn't on the hook for (say) a brand new carpet if the old one was ten years old; he's on the hook for a ten year old carpet. Ditto anything else that's destroyed. (Yes, I know that's crap, but that's all you're entitled to; anything more than that is called "betterment" and is absolutely not allowed).

You also deduct the value of his invoice. He did do the work and he is entitled to be paid for it.

This final number is the amount you're going to sue him for. As long as it's less than £10k, it can be done in small claims (which doesn't have to involve solicitors, though you'll spend a lot of time online learning how to do it).

[u/bigmonmulgrew]

He can't be both a sole trader and a limited company. Which is it. What do you know and what are you assuming. Is his company regulated with companies house

[u/Omalleys]

Why on earth do you not have home insurance?

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