Plumber with no insurance

plumbproblem

Hello,

I recently got some work done on a house including a bathroom renovation. The builder hired a plumber. Since the work was completed there has been a leak from the sink which damaged the ceiling. I have contacted the plumber looking for his insurance details and he has informed me that he has no insurance. He has since got another plumber to fix the leak.

What are my options with regard to fixing the ceiling?

nick 56

if your builder subcontracted work to the plumber the builder should pay. Is the plumber qualified, registered ect. Who paid him you or the builder?

Egass13

nick 56 wrote: »

if your builder subcontracted work to the plumber the builder should pay. Is the plumber qualified, registered ect. Who paid him you or the builder?

I would think the same , you didn't hire him , the builder did , so his insurance should cover it or his wallet should.

plumbproblem

Thanks for your response

I paid the builder and he paid the plumber.

As far as I know the plumber is qualified but he doesn't work for himself he was doing a job 'on the side'

anthonyos

I think you could go down the road of the small claims court

plumbproblem

who would I pursue in the small claims court and what is the likely outcome?

scudo2

Egass13 wrote: »

I would think the same , you didn't hire him , the builder did , so his insurance should cover it or his wallet should.

I agree also.
It was the builders contract to compleat the job and insure the same.

Forget the court option unless you get a negatave responce.
Your contract was only with the builder.

Cycling Dumbasses

Builder is 100% liable for this situation, it is his responsibility that all his sub contractors are fully tax compliant and a registered business, dont think small court is necessary, solicitors letter to builder will be suffice, if op is friends with builder that could make situation awkward but needs must.

liveandnetural

Cycling Dumbasses wrote: »

Builder is 100% liable for this situation, it is his responsibility that all his sub contractors are fully tax compliant and a registered business, dont think small court is necessary, solicitors letter to builder will be suffice, if op is friends with builder that could make situation awkward but needs must.

+1 on that

In the wind

2020 post all previous posts are from 2013.

I'm about to engage a Plumber, Carpenter & perhaps Electrician for a few jobs in our home. The Carpenter & Plumber have surveyed the work & provided casually written quotations on email - no headed paper or quotation reference number or the like. Both lump sum quotations without details on Time, Material, reinstatement, waste disposal, VAT, Guarantee or insurance cover.

I'm contacting them today to request formal line item quotations with cost figures broken our line by line. What is the insurance I should be requesting verification of? I'm thinking professional indemnity & accident insurance. Does this sound right? Will requesting a detailed quote like described above get their back up? I'm coming at this from a position of inexperience so please be gentle.

Thanks Folks.

Dtp1979

In the wind wrote: »

2020 post all previous posts are from 2013.

I'm about to engage a Plumber, Carpenter & perhaps Electrician for a few jobs in our home. The Carpenter & Plumber have surveyed the work & provided casually written quotations on email - no headed paper or quotation reference number or the like. Both lump sum quotations without details on Time, Material, reinstatement, waste disposal, VAT, Guarantee or insurance cover.

I'm contacting them today to request formal line item quotations with cost figures broken our line by line. What is the insurance I should be requesting verification of? I'm thinking professional indemnity & accident insurance. Does this sound right? Will requesting a detailed quote like described above get their back up? I'm coming at this from a position of inexperience so please be gentle.

Thanks Folks.

If a customer asked me for a line by line breakdown of all costs and THEN asked for insurance details, I’d run a mile. Seriously can’t stand customers like that.
Just to be clear, I’m fully insured.

Sleeper12

I rarely do huge jobs. I'll quote for the overall job and list everything supplied but I don't give a blow by blow breakdown. Giving a breakdown of what everything costs encourages some to search online for what they believe to be the same at a cheaper price. Then you get told you supply xyz and I'll supply abc. At this point I'm expected to stand over materials bought from a supplier I've never seen before and may not even be in the same country.

My quote is the quote. There is no job in the world worth the hassle of breaking everything down in a quote. I'd rather not do the job at all then have that sort of messing around. Insurance is a different matter. Nothing wrong with asking for proof of insurance at the time of asking for a quote. I wouldn't expect proof of insurance supplied without asking. We're in close to 1000 homes per year and only get asked about insurance once every two years or so.

In the wind

Thanks DTP,
would it be correct to say that such requests predict a troublesome customer in your experience?

I have quite a bit of work to be done in different areas, say for the Plumber for example...there is a leak that must be located and addressed as a priority. The other plumber jobs I may choose to spread out over time - hence the line by line T&M requests.

Regarding the insurance is this an unreasonable question? I'm not biting back here - just trying to understand if it is an unreasonable question?
Should I assume he is insured or perhaps select a Plumber off the approved Plumbers / Tradesman's list , if there is such a list.

appreciate the advice. I'm trying t avoid ambiguity or headaches down the road for both the tradesmen & me.
Cheers.

In the wind

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Insurance is a different matter. Nothing wrong with asking for proof of insurance at the time of asking for a quote. I wouldn't expect proof of insurance supplied without asking. We're in close to 1000 homes per year and only get asked about insurance once every two years or so.

So the Insurance request is reasonable then I guess. You're obviously running a quite large Enterprise if your doing 1,000 per annum. Would it be fair to say that the jobs you do are large contracts with other Tradesmen or developers rather than Home Owners?

Thanks for the inputs earlier.

Sleeper12

In the wind wrote:

So the Insurance request is reasonable then I guess. You're obviously running a quite large Enterprise if your doing 1,000 per annum. Would it be fair to say that the jobs you do are large contracts with other Tradesmen or developers rather than Home Owners?

No. We do shower repair and installation. We deal mostly with the homeowner, landlords and letting agents. We have been contracted in by builders, maintenance company's etc but we also contract in plumbers and electricians on certain jobs.

I know the thread is years old but to be honest there was excuse for the plumber in the opening post. Even with full insurance I'd never dream of letting it get that far. Plumber made a mistake and ceiling needed painting after leak was resolved. This costs a few hundred euros. I'd pay that out of my own pocket rather than claim from my insurance. I'm my mind my insurance is in case of a massive error. Whole house flooded or something like that. Original plumber should have paid for the ceiling to be painted insured or not. Obviously the builder was ultimately responsible though

meercat

In the wind wrote: »

You're obviously running a quite large Enterprise if your doing 1,000 per annum. Would it be fair to say that the jobs you do are large contracts with other Tradesmen or developers rather than Home Owners?
.

If a tradesman is doing smaller jobs and is in 3-4 different houses per day then that’d be 1,000 per annum

I’ve no problem producing my public liability insurance before starting a job

Generally I’ll give a quote for entire job without a breakdown,otherwise it’s too time consuming.

Dtp1979

There’s no problem asking for insurance. It just creates an untrusting vibe tbh. If you do a little research and find a plumber registered with Seai or RGI then you’ll know they’re insured as that’s a must with those crowds

In the wind

Dtp1979 wrote: »

There’s no problem asking for insurance. It just creates an untrusting vibe tbh. If you do a little research and find a plumber registered with Seai or RGI then you’ll know they’re insured as that’s a must with those crowds

Excellent info - thanks. I'll do that.:)