The job's done. So is your ceiling.
A trade is paid to leave your home better, not with new damage. Whether it's the plumber's leak, the roofer's boot through the ceiling or the scratches on the new floor, a letter before action puts the repair cost and a date in writing. Written free, today.
Said vs got
Alongside the money itself, courts may award simple interest on money you have been kept out of — commonly 8% a year under the County Courts Act 1984 — and the court fee is typically added to a successful claim. Interest is discretionary. The letter sets this out so the other side can see what ignoring it costs.
How people describe it when they reach us
The sorts of things people tell us. Illustrative, based on patterns in the cases that reach us.
Your legal rights when a trade damages your property
In England and Wales a trade owes you both a contractual duty to do the work with reasonable care and skill (Consumer Rights Act 2015) and a general duty not to carelessly damage your property. Either route usually leads to the same place: the cost of putting it right.
ActConsumer Rights Act 2015, s.49A paid-for service must generally be performed with reasonable care and skill.
Where a consumer pays a trader for a service, section 49 usually implies a term that it will be performed with reasonable care and skill. Work that fails, has to be redone, or is left in a worse state than before may be treated as a breach, depending on the facts.
Read it on legislation.gov.uk ↗Case lawNegligence — damage to propertyCarelessly damaging someone else's property may give rise to a claim.
Where a person owes a duty to take reasonable care and damage results from a failure to do so, the owner may recover the cost of repair or the value lost. Courts typically ask whether the damage was foreseeable and whether reasonable care was taken.
ActConsumer Rights Act 2015, s.54If a service isn't done properly, the usual remedies are repeat performance or a price reduction.
Section 54 generally sets out the consumer's remedies where a service breaches the statutory terms: the right to require repeat performance, and, where that is impossible or not done in a reasonable time, the right to a price reduction. Courts may also consider damages for loss caused, depending on the circumstances.
Read it on legislation.gov.uk ↗Case lawContract law — breach of contractFailing to do what was paid for may amount to breach of contract.
A job, a purchase or a loan is typically analysed as a contract. If one side does not perform a central promise — work not done, money not repaid, goods not handed over — a court may find a breach and will then consider what loss flowed from it. The measure is normally the money you are out of pocket, proved with evidence.
This is general information about the law in England and Wales, not advice about your case. Which provisions apply, and how, depends on the facts.
Four things you'll hear. None of them end it.
Then the photos decide. Before-and-after pictures, dated, are the evidence. A trade who didn't note pre-existing damage at the start has a harder argument.
Their insurance is between them and their insurer. The responsibility is theirs. The letter asks them for the cost; how they fund it is their business.
Damage is never 'in the quote'. The law implies a term that the work is done with reasonable care and skill; damage from carelessness is a breach whatever the quote says.
Your contract is with the trade you hired. Who they sent is their arrangement. The letter goes to the business you paid.
Five things worth gathering now
The letter first. Court only if they ignore it.
Your side, your words
What happened, what was agreed, what you are out of pocket. We ask what a court would ask, so the letter says what a court would need to hear.
Written for you, free
A formal letter before action with a 14-day deadline, setting out what is owed and why. You see it at no charge. Posting it by tracked mail and watching the deadline is £15.
Court claim, prepared
If the deadline passes: one tap turns the letter into a small claim, drafted, checked and filed. The £15 comes off our fee. The decision is the court's.
What JustClaim is: we prepare and file the paperwork for your claim, for a fixed price shown before you pay. We're not a law firm, this isn't legal advice, and no outcome is ever guaranteed — what you get is the strongest honest version of your case, properly made.
Questions people in this exact spot ask
The contractor says the damage was already there. What can I do?
Photos from before the job started, or the absence of any note of existing damage on their side, usually settle it. The letter sets out the evidence and the repair cost.
Do I claim from them or their insurer?
From them. Their insurance is their arrangement; your claim is against the business you hired. If their insurer pays, fine — the letter asks the business for the cost by a date.
Can I refuse to pay the balance of the job instead?
You can set the damage against what's owed, but do it in writing with the figures — the letter does exactly that — rather than simply withholding, which invites a claim the other way.
The trade was a sole trader, not a company.
Then the letter goes to the individual, trading as whatever name they use, at their address. That is who you contracted with.
How much does it cost if it goes further?
If the letter is ignored, a court claim has a court fee set by the amount: £35 up to £300, £50 up to £500, £70 up to £1,000, £115 up to £3,000. If you win, the fee is normally added to what the other side is ordered to pay. Our fixed price is shown before you pay anything.
Is the letter really free?
Yes. Tell us what happened and the letter before action is written and shown to you at no charge. If you want us to post it by tracked mail and watch the 14-day deadline, that is £15, shown before you pay — and it comes off our fee if it later becomes a court claim.
Damage they won't own?
Tell us what happened. The letter before action is written free and shown to you today; posting it and watching the deadline is £15.
Write the letter — free →