Damage caused by handyman company

Questioner

An official contractor drilled through the water main and is billing me for the hours and materials used to repair (cut out, repair, fill). He says I agreed to the repair when they reported the incident. But what should I have done then....What is my legal position? Thank you.

Lawyer

Have you also held the company liable (in writing) for the damage caused?

Questioner

No, not directly. I recently received an invoice and responded that I disagreed with it due to this incident and because another part of the work performed was not done properly (leaking toilet). They then sent another (reduced) invoice. I then responded that I still did not agree with it, and made a proposal for a further reduction. They did not agree with that. They certainly say that I agreed to the repair... So materials and hours are not credited. There is more going on. And that is that they left the work without notice because there was a disagreement with fellow residents of the apartment building. And after that no more contact to finish the work. That caused me a lot of misery to find another company (deadline) because other tenants would move in within 4 days. Also they did not return received keys. Thank you for advice

Lawyer

The advice is then to send a registered letter in which you complain about the work performed and hold the other party liable for the damage suffered. Before you hire another company, you should summon the other party to finish the work (including repairing the damage). If the other party does not compensate for the damage and/or does not finish the work, a next step could be a procedure in which an attempt is made to force the other party. Under certain conditions, another company can also be hired to finish the work.

Questioner

Thanks for the answer. The work has already been completed by someone else. An unusable bathroom and toilet made this necessary because other tenants would move in within 5 days. Now the main thing is that they want to invoice for the repair of the damage and not for a deduction due to the repair of the leaking toilet that they installed. By the way, no general terms and conditions were sent to me either. They claim to have had 16 hours of work, but there is no accountability for hours. What is the case law in this case that a company causes damage or does substandard work? Are they always liable to repair? I want to pay part of the invoice and do not want any collection agencies or bailiffs to visit me. Thank you,

Lawyer

Please feel free to contact me without any obligation to discuss your case further.