Browse Forums General Discussion 1 May 27, 2011 5:05 pm Hi there, We finished building a house last year and made the final progress payment in June, along with a payment for some "extras" at that time. We moved in July and have been there ever since. However we had an issue with a fault from one of the sub-contractors which resulted in an insurance claim which the builder handled and we were then due a reimbursement of $4000 from the insurance which has now come through to the builder. The builder has now said however that we actually owed them another $8,000 from some work that was done on the house that they didn't charge us for in the final payments - whereas we had thought it was all covered in the final extras payment . The way it has been worded was probably not very specific enough for either party in hindsight as it was just a list at the high level and didn't detail specifics. Anyway, they are trying to use the amount we are owed from insurance to offset this $8000 but still saying we owe them $4000 for this other work and can we pay them this $4000. We had thought we were getting a $4000 payment but now to be told we owe $4000 - we are $8000 worse off than what we thought! We honestly believed that it was all done and dusted, the building contract from a payment side of things was all closed off etc, and find it strange that now - nearly a year later - this other amount has been raised as an amount owing right at the time they are meant to be giving us the insurance money Any advice or opinions would be HUGELY appreciated!!! Thanks in advance Re: House Finished - Builder wants more money - HELP! 2May 27, 2011 5:21 pm Assuming that you don't owe them any money THAT WAS IN THE CONTRACT OR A SIGNED VARIATION, tell them they have 7 days to make payment or you will lodge a claim against them to the MBA or other such bodies. If in Victoria, you can use VCAT. sanda Hi there, We finished building a house last year and made the final progress payment in June, along with a payment for some "extras" at that time. We moved in July and have been there ever since. However we had an issue with a fault from one of the sub-contractors which resulted in an insurance claim which the builder handled and we were then due a reimbursement of $4000 from the insurance which has now come through to the builder. The builder has now said however that we actually owed them another $8,000 from some work that was done on the house that they didn't charge us for in the final payments - whereas we had thought it was all covered in the final extras payment . The way it has been worded was probably not very specific enough for either party in hindsight as it was just a list at the high level and didn't detail specifics. Anyway, they are trying to use the amount we are owed from insurance to offset this $8000 but still saying we owe them $4000 for this other work and can we pay them this $4000. We had thought we were getting a $4000 payment but now to be told we owe $4000 - we are $8000 worse off than what we thought! We honestly believed that it was all done and dusted, the building contract from a payment side of things was all closed off etc, and find it strange that now - nearly a year later - this other amount has been raised as an amount owing right at the time they are meant to be giving us the insurance money Any advice or opinions would be HUGELY appreciated!!! Thanks in advance Re: House Finished - Builder wants more money - HELP! 4May 28, 2011 11:22 pm Do as per the advise above and see how the builder reacts. Can you also contact the insurance company and request the hold the payment till the issue is resolved. Re: House Finished - Builder wants more money - HELP! 7May 28, 2011 11:39 pm Another quick thought it sounds like the builder may wish you to settle with just letting them keep the $4000. So i would holt the payment as a first action. Then let the builder know you will not be moved. The insurance company will be happy to hold the money for as long as you need. If it has already been paid you may need to get some legal advise to recover the $4000. Re: House Finished - Builder wants more money - HELP! 8May 28, 2011 11:42 pm Get a solicitor ... give a copy of the contract to the solicitor and then tell the builder to go see the solicitor. Advise the solicitor that you do not want to pay another cent ... and nor should you. The builder can deal with the solicitor directly. Just make sure the solicitor is not billing you for the time that they spend with the builder. Having to see a solicitor may discourage the builder all together. My feeling is that many builder rely on their inside knowledge of their industry and the ignorance of their clients to get away with as much as they can. Re: House Finished - Builder wants more money - HELP! 9May 30, 2011 12:32 pm I would move forward with claiming the money back from the builder, but also tell them that they can try giving a more convincing explanation of why you owe them money, if they want to. There's 2 options here - they honestly missed out $8000 worth of work and waited until they got the insurance money before telling you, so they would have the upper hand in negotiations. Or the other option is they are trying to rip you off, and they waited for the insurance money so they would have the upper hand. In either case, claiming back the money will give you the upper hand again. And that's what you need to get this resolved, whether it was an honest mistake or not. This is how I would approach it if it were me. Metricon Riva 33 - http://herlihy-riva.blogspot.com Site start 15/03/2010 - Handover 23/12/2010 9 months and 8 days (284 calendar days) from site start to handover Re: House Finished - Builder wants more money - HELP! 10May 30, 2011 5:57 pm 3timesbuilda Assuming that you don't owe them any money THAT WAS IN THE CONTRACT OR A SIGNED VARIATION, tell them they have 7 days to make payment or you will lodge a claim against them to the MBA or other such bodies. If in Victoria, you can use VCAT. +1. You can get some free general advice from VCAT(or your local equivalent) . Based on that you can decide if you need a solicitor. Good luck. As a tradesmen get a private inspector although I don't think there worth it in their profession themselves the reminder they serve to the tradesmen doing the work is… 3 22362 2 23037 Hi, I contracted a Builder to do a Garage to Bedroom + ensuite conversion (Class 1a), the Builder engaged the Certifier and Engineer and received BDA from the Certifier… 0 1980 |