Refusal to settle builder’s account - construction and renovation project

The Client

Commercial and private building company.

Value of Dispute

£75,000

The Commercial Dispute

The case originated from a residential construction and renovation project that the building company (our client) was carrying out on the defendant’s home. In August 2021, the project stalled following a refusal to settle the builder’s latest interim account, which was for the sum of £76,000. Budgeting concerns were cited by the defendant as their reason for non-payment.

Our client sought at length to agree a compromise in order to allow the project to continue, including an offer to accept a significant reduction circa £12,500 on the account. However, no progress was made, and the client had to cease work on the project altogether and vacate the site.

After the builder had left the site, the defendants began to cite differing accounts of allegedly poor workmanship by the client to justify their non-payment, which they failed to evidence.

How Escalate Resolved – Services Used

Escalate were instructed by the client in October 2021, and a letter before action was issued the same month, with court proceedings then issued on 29th December 2021.

We subsequently settled the matter for the sum of £75,000 inclusive of costs, in July 2022, prior to the first Costs and Case Management Conference. The sum was collected in full from the defendants.