Hi all I have a bit of a problem …………..

Bear with me as this is a long one !!

As you are aware we rent our house out and in December the boiler packed up and the letting agent sent in their recommended plumber to have a look at the boiler.

I didnt here anything from the letting agent so contacted the plumber direct and he told me the boiler needed replacing and if we went with him direct he wouldnt charge me for the call out to look at the broken boiler.

I also managed to knock a couple of hundred quid of his price as he said he would do it off the books and not charge me the vat….

anyway as we arent near the house any more I got my father in law to go round with the cash when it was done.

At the time (middle of december) he told my father in law that his apprentice had accidently knocked his burner over on the carpet but they had sorted it out, so my father in law said ok and paid up.

Fast forward to today and we have managed to kick our problem tenants out and so we have had a look at the house and spotted this on the landing outside the cupboard with the boiler in straight away…………….

on further on ivestigation it seems a big section of the carpet has been cut out and replaced from a piece out of another cupboard……

in the cupboard i found the burnt piece……..

so this tool instead of phoning me and admitting it has cut a section out of the carpet and replaced it with a piece from the cupboard carpet and tried to hide it

Ive contacted the contracter today and he has basically said that as my father in law said ok and paid up then he isnt bothered and wont pay for a replacement or anything!!!!

what should i do !!

I should state that my father in law didnt tell me at the time and only remembered it toady after we said about the carpet!!

Always seem to happen to you doesn’t it…

I also managed to knock a couple of hundred quid of his price as he said he would do it off the books and not charge me the vat….

I’d say that’s where you are out of luck….

Well you’ve saved the VAT and defrauded the tax man by doing it ‘off the books’ so I reckon you haven’t a leg to stand on.

Use that couple of hundred quid to pay for the carpet.

By not doing it on the books he’ll be avoiding income tax as well, so I’d have been looking for a hell of a lot more that £200 off.

Report him to the tax man.

surely it was the plumber who defrauded the tax man by saying he would do it off the books and cheaper???

no receipt, no proof he was there, you’ll have to take it out of the money you saved by having it done on the side

surely it was the plumber who defrauded the tax man by saying he would do it off the books and cheaper???

you really do want your cake & to eat it don’t you? It’s people like you that stop me doing favours due to the comebacks, I regularly get asked to look at this or that in my job, which I used to be happy to do, for free, but in the past someone complained to my boss about the time it took for me to carry out this “favour” so now I don’t bother. Luckily my boss saw it for what it was & wasn’t to worried about it, but it could have been much worse.

You both got something out of it, time to bite the bullet & take it for what it is.

renton – Member
surely it was the plumber who defrauded the tax man by saying he would do it off the books and cheaper???

So – you were an accessory to defrauding the Inland Revenue?

Might be worth getting this thread deleted…..

…. just in case they’re watching you.

Yes but you were complicite in the arrangement. Dodgy ground if you were thinking of ‘dobbing in’ the plumber.

Nothing you can do unless you fancy small claims court

I do not understand myself why you are still using this agent – once again they have let you down.

nope, takes two to tango, you could and should be done as well, if he’s getting done.

surely it was the plumber who defrauded the tax man by saying he would do it off the books and

So you said no to the deal then?

No thought not.

You can’t have it both ways.

You have a new boiler installed and dont get a receipt!!!! is he gas safe registered if your renting property out dont you have to have all the paperwork for gas and stuff.

Father in Law messed up as he seems to have seen it – though could easily have missed it. You’re relying on the honesty of the tradesman but seeing as you knew that he’s happy to avoid VAT you could work out he might not be so honest. Maybe threaten to grass his VAT avoidance up?!

okay, so what would be your answer if i hadnt said anything about the vat ??

Tough luck, you win some, you loose some!

Under legitimate circumstance, fight it all the way, under those/yours circumstances, refer to my opening line.

postierich he has done all the relevant paperwork and he is gas safe registered.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFcipARBJb8[/video]

Mike speaks the truth.

Well you’ve saved the VAT and defrauded the tax man by doing it ‘off the books’ so I reckon you haven’t a leg to stand on.

And saved £200 with the cowboy.
Peanuts, monkeys, you got.

Renton

If the plumber is not going to ‘play’ you really have to put this down to experience. Is it really worth escalating the dispute over a bit of carpet?

no receipt?
Then how are you going to claim for the boiler to offset against the income from the rent, in order to minimise the tax you are paying..
You are declaring the income, aren’t you?

Its so easy to knock a flame gun over, theyre still hot even when switched off and easily melt the cheaper carpets.

At least he didnt burn the house down, some plumbers have.

Oh and get rid of what seems to be a totally useless agent.

vinnyeh………… yes i am thanks

dazz

Couldn’t agree more, likewise

OTTOMH FIL saw it?…and authorised it by agency?

As above tho, £200 off, not worth the hassle of suing IMO.

hold up dazz it wasnt like it was the cheapest quote i got.

he said the only way he could do it cheaper was to do it off the books.

I still paid this chap 2k and he cant even have the professional decency to sort out his mistake…………

He didnt even contact me to tell me what had happened

If you had a minor piece of damaged carpet, the easiest and best way to get it repaired is to find a piece that isn’t used and cut a square out the exact same size and replace it. Best if you get some double sided tape and glue them both to each other, if done tidily then it would be just fine. Carpets are glued together over big runs all the time, a small square being repaired this way isn’t the greatest sin in the world.

Get some decent double sided carpet tape, get it taped down together and tidy up threads that are hanging out, it’ll all be good.

renton – Member
He didnt even contact me to tell me what had happened

He told your dad though?

postierich he has done all the relevant paperwork and he is gas safe registered.

then you have a piece of paper to prove he has been in the property, there is no payment from you on his books/business account. tell him you will shop him to HMRC as he instigated the cash payment not you.

you hold all the cards, now play them.

if it was going to be £2200 Inc VAT it should have been about £1834 if he “saved” you the VAT. Sounds like he’s done you up like a kipper I’m afraid.

Perhaps you could sue your father-in-law, just sue everyone.

smell_it……………. I dont want to sue anyone, would just like my carpet put back to how it was before he damaged it !!

Renton it won’t be happening, get the bit of carpet stuck down and get your next lot of tenants in. Then we can hear how bad your next load of problems are!

Put a mat/plant pot/umbrella stand/bin/stuffed dead pet over it.

you pay cash then you have no comeback.

Learn from it and move on.

I also managed to knock a couple of hundred quid of his price as he said he would do it off the books and not charge me the vat….

I can’t believe you’re the same guy who complained that your tenants had “lied” to you about not being smokers – iirc someone saw them smoking outside.

.

there is no payment from you on his books/business account. tell him you will shop him to HMRC as he instigated the cash payment not you.

you hold all the cards, now play them.

How does he hold all the cards ? It seems to me that the plumber can now demand that renton pays him.

He’s already paid the plumber ernie but wants money back to pay for the damaged carpet.

I like this thread, it makes people who live in a black-and-white world confused.