Hi everyone, My mum needed her roof done asap and I was away so we contracted someone from Checkatrade to do the works. It all checked out, references, reviews etc so we had drafted an agreement and paid that guy £8000 as deposit for materials etc. This happened 4 weeks ago, since then he has vanished and no trace of him. Went to his last known adress and I have been told he permanently moved to Poland. Is there any real chance of recovering anything and is it worth to chase him there? cheers
Yes, they have suspended his account and everything but they advised that if he left the country its very unlikely I can do anything. I have paid via bank transfer but I am not sure that helps in any way. He is not in the UK anymore as far as I know.
exactly who did you pay? the builder personally or a UK based company. if the latter you might have a chance. if the former then trying to chase a debt internationally is not easy. was payment via credit card or bank transfre?
I have paid via bank transfer straight to the builder’s bank account. I have been in touch with the bank and they have suspended his account - my bank got in touch with his - but all his funds were withdrawn.
i presume his personal bank account? i would also guess he's got no assets left in the UK (car/van/house). in which case looks like its going to be hard/impossible to recover
Hi and thanks for the reply, Unfortunately I do no possess this information but I have been told he sent most of his stuff back to his country. I have no idea about house - i assume he rented - so not sure if he has any assets.
You really need to move fast, dig up all the dirt and investigate whether taking him through the courts will yield anything.
Technically it is theft and the police informed. Can you find any forwarding details - or can your bank?
i have full name and an adress. however im not sure police can arrest him outside UK. I have been told by friends I should wait for his return in Uk
UK police cannot, but they can put a case to Polish Police and then have him extradited. Will he ever return to teh UK? And if so, the police need to know everything now and can then be tipped off when he does come back.
I don’t know if he will return; and in regards to extradition, I haven’t inquired yet but I will - even though it’s basically theft, most people told me that the chances are very slim.
Is there anyway that Check-at-rade could be held partially responsible? Or don't they check the trades people out? Need a banner somewhere to stop this sort of thing.