HOMEOWNERS have been left fuming after cowboy builders left them in “unlivable” homes.
Shocking pictures show “unfinished jobs” and “months of frustration” for people left in the lurch by a company who have since gone bust.
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Customers who used Nova Building and Developments Ltd claim their lives have been put on hold for nearly one year.
The Weymouth-based company statements reveal they owed 18 creditors a total of £296,095,000 – which included around £123,000 owed to HMRC.
Piles of rubble and brick, unfinished floors and leaking ceilings is just the beginning of what people claim they’ve had to live with.
Former customer Jane Eagles said her house hasn’t been in a living state for months.
Jane took to social media after the stress of an unfinished home forced her to pull the plug.
She reached the end of her tether after “months of shoddy work, false promises” and “sleepless nights”.
Steve Taylor, who had made payments for a single storey flat roof extension, said new contractors had to “completely start again” following Nova’s original work.
Nova said they were forced to fold due to “repeated challenges” and a “hate campaign” which saw them lose business.
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A spokesperson for the company said: “Like many businesses we started to struggle with rising costs over the past year but we were coping.
“Deadlines weren’t always able to be met because of these issues but this was communicated with our clients at all times.
“A lot of the work was subcontracted and we had people on site that we thought we could trust and we did trust them but, in some cases, things could have gone better.
“We were paying workers for a full day of work and quite often they would be clocking off early: these are issues that we didn’t always know about.
“We are confident that if we were allowed to finish the work in the cases highlighted then there would have been no issues.
“A lot of claims have been made on social media about the company – some have been completely outlandish – and that has contributed to us having to liquidate.
“We have lost business as a result of a hate campaign and it left us with nothing.
“We have received an awful lot of support from clients, friends and family that know we would not rip anyone off and we would always complete a job to the best of our ability.
“We have been harassed, and in some cases threatened, which crosses the line.”
Trading Standards confirmed they were aware of one outstanding complaint regarding the company and were “looking into” the circumstances.
What are my rights if my building company goes bust?
If the building company you’re using goes bust before the job is finished, you do have rights.
According to Consumer Rights Expert, if you paid a deposit between £100 and £30,000 on a credit card you can try using Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.
This would give the credit provider equal liability in law for a breach of contract.
You could also try and claim the deposit and any out of pocket expenses back from the finance company.
You might also be covered if you have a finance agreement.
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