Earlier this year, an Observer consumer piece highlighted the story of a Seaford couple who paid a local home improvement firm well over £2,500 towards the end of 2015 as a deposit on a conservatory.
The company owner promised to take the measurements for the home improvement early in 2016, but never showed up.
Soon afterwards, the customers saw him on a local BBC news programme saying he had closed the company and was now running it under a different name.
The couple’s money was taken after the company owner had applied to Companies House for his firm to be dissolved. Emails were referred directly to an insolvency business.
While the original website claimed deposits were secured by the Independent Warranty Association, the customers hadn’t received a certificate, so their money was unprotected.
Sadly, they were not alone in receiving shoddy treatment at the hands of this business. At least 30 householders were left out of pocket, and two had structures built so poorly they were dangerous.
A loophole in trading law means anyone can establish a limited firm, naming themselves as director, and then dodge liabilities if it collapses. Afterwards, it’s easy to set up a new limited company with a different name, and start over. Even being struck off as company director is no bar – you just appoint a family member instead.
This particular individual had set up no fewer than six home improvement companies over the past decade.
To make matters worse, the customers’ payment was made by bank transfer. Had they used a credit card instead, they would at least have enjoyed the protection of the Consumer Credit Act. Even debit cards have some protection if a trader breaches contract.
This couple will almost certainly not see their hard-earned cash again. All they can do is report the owner of the company in the hope that he may be disqualified as a company director.
What’s more, the company hadn’t paid premiums to the IWA, another reason these customers weren’t covered.
At Worthing Windows, we’ve been going for over a quarter of a century, so we’re a long-established provider you can trust. Our work is fully guaranteed and comprehensively insured, we’ve had hundreds of satisfied customers and have plenty of professional accreditations with the likes of Checkatrade.
Talk to us today about conservatories and replacement windows and doors, across our area from Ferring to Shoreham.