Sub Contractor Guarantee

[paoloh]

Employed a damp specialist to tank a clients property.
The company offers a 30 year guarantee and this was our main reason for choosing them.
Just after them completing the works, the owner died.
His wife is now chasing us for payment but has no idea about the guarantee and states that the guarantee died with her husband.

I obviously want to pay the bill but don't want to be burdened with the 30 year guarantee liability to my client.

The bill is in the region of £6500

Any opinions please guys?

[petemurphy]

paoloh said:

Employed a damp specialist to tank a clients property.
The company offers a 30 year guarantee and this was our main reason for choosing them.
Just after them completing the works, the owner died.
His wife is now chasing us for payment but has no idea about the guarantee and states that the guarantee died with her husband.

I obviously want to pay the bill but don't want to be burdened with the 30 year guarantee liability to my client.

The bill is in the region of £6500

Any opinions please guys?

has the company died with the husband? i had similar guarantee from a 1 man band who legged it when it went tits grrrr

chum runs www.subcontractorsupport.co.uk u could ping him a mail. if its a one man band that guarentee is worthless imho

[paoloh]

petemurphy said:

paoloh said:

Employed a damp specialist to tank a clients property.
The company offers a 30 year guarantee and this was our main reason for choosing them.
Just after them completing the works, the owner died.
His wife is now chasing us for payment but has no idea about the guarantee and states that the guarantee died with her husband.

I obviously want to pay the bill but don't want to be burdened with the 30 year guarantee liability to my client.

The bill is in the region of £6500

Any opinions please guys?

has the company died with the husband? i had similar guarantee from a 1 man band who legged it when it went tits grrrr

chum runs www.subcontractorsupport.co.uk u could ping him a mail. if its a one man band that guarentee is worthless imho

The Co was Ltd but the wife is folding the company.

I feel that I should not pay as I am now liable to my client for 30 years.

I can't get a guarantee on it as my company is not qualified in that area.

It's a major PITA as the property was empty when they carried out the work.

It is now fully refurbished.

Edited by paoloh on Thursday 23 October 12:36

[petemurphy]

paoloh said:

The Co was Ltd but the wife is folding the company.

I feel that I should not pay as I am now liable to my client for 30 years.

I can't get a guarantee on it as my company is not qualified in that area.

It's a major PITA as the property was empty when they carried out the work.

It is now fully refurbished.

Edited by paoloh on Thursday 23 October 12:36

did he have some sort of insurance? agreed its a mare but if its just him he could like mine just have folded the company when you claim and restart as someone else. the guarentee is worthless. take photos next time is my unhelpful advice.

[hidetheelephants]

petemurphy said:

did he have some sort of insurance? agreed its a mare but if its just him he could like mine just have folded the company when you claim and restart as someone else. the guarentee is worthless. take photos next time is my unhelpful advice.

+1 To offer a meaningful 30 year warranty there must be underwriting of some kind. If there isn't the contractor took you for a ride.

[petemurphy]

if shes said she's folding the company she needs to buy u some sort of insurance imho. whether anyone would touch it is another matter as he could have done anything behind the plaster. or not as in my case. does it have a pump or somewhere the water runs out to?

[surveyor]

paoloh said:

petemurphy said:

paoloh said:

Employed a damp specialist to tank a clients property.
The company offers a 30 year guarantee and this was our main reason for choosing them.
Just after them completing the works, the owner died.
His wife is now chasing us for payment but has no idea about the guarantee and states that the guarantee died with her husband.

I obviously want to pay the bill but don't want to be burdened with the 30 year guarantee liability to my client.

The bill is in the region of £6500

Any opinions please guys?

has the company died with the husband? i had similar guarantee from a 1 man band who legged it when it went tits grrrr

chum runs www.subcontractorsupport.co.uk u could ping him a mail. if its a one man band that guarentee is worthless imho

The Co was Ltd but the wife is folding the company.

I feel that I should not pay as I am now liable to my client for 30 years.

I can't get a guarantee on it as my company is not qualified in that area.

It's a major PITA as the property was empty when they carried out the work.

It is now fully refurbished.

Edited by paoloh on Thursday 23 October 12:36

Did you make money on this project? Have your own insurance? Imagine this was your wife. As the others have said it's likely that the guarantee would be worthless anyway.

To me you are coming away looking just a tad cheap. Assuming that the chaps dead obviously.

[Mattt]

What does your contract state?

[CRB14]

Often you will get a product guarantee if you have bought a known system. I.e. if the product has been installed in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations they may warranty the product themselves. These may then be insurance backed guarantees. The contractor would have to be an approved installer.

If you have not however bought a proper system you may well be stuck here.

Edit: As an aside you may want to check the wording of the contract with them if you are withholding monies from them.

Edited by CRB14 on Friday 24th October 12:22

[singlecoil]

Obviously you owe something for the work, but not the full amount if the guarantee is not being honoured. I would suggest deducting the cost of getting an insurance backed guarantee elsewhere.