What do I do if a builder took my deposit and disappeared?

The money is recoverable more often than people assume, and the thing that most determines the outcome is speed. Card-based routes have time limits that start running from the payment or the expected delivery date, and evidence gets harder to gather as weeks pass. Work through the routes in order and start all the clock-driven ones early.

Safety

Step by step

1. Gather the whole record in one place today.The quote, every message, the payment record, the bank details used, the phone numbers, the vehicle, the trading name, any website or listing and any advertisement. Screenshot listings and websites now — they disappear.
2. Establish who you actually contracted with.A limited company, a sole trader, or a name with no business behind it. Check the register of companies. This determines who you pursue and whether the company still exists.
3. Send one clear written demand with a deadline.State the amount, the date paid, what it was for, that no work has been carried out, and a specific date by which you require repayment. Send by email and by post. This document is the foundation of every route that follows.
4. Start the card route immediately if you paid by card.Chargeback and credit card protections have their own conditions and time limits, and the clock is already running. The detail is in the separate guides — the point here is to open it now rather than after exhausting other options.
5. Contact the bank if you paid by transfer.Report it as soon as possible. Where a transfer was induced by deception there are reimbursement arrangements between banks, with their own criteria. Speed materially affects whether funds can be recovered.
6. Check for a scheme, trade body or deposit protection.If they claimed membership of a scheme, contact the scheme directly. Some operate deposit protection or a dispute route for members' clients, and they also want to know about a member who has done this.
7. Report it if it looks like fraud.A false identity, a business that never existed, a pattern of taking deposits — report it through the national fraud reporting route and to trading standards via the consumer helpline. It also creates a record if others report the same person.
8. Send a letter before action.A formal letter setting out the claim, the amount, the basis and a deadline, stating that you will issue proceedings. A significant proportion of these are paid at this stage, because the next step is real.
9. Use the small claims track for modest sums.The small claims track is the England and Wales route; Scotland uses the simple procedure in the sheriff court and Northern Ireland its own small claims process. All are designed to be used without a solicitor. Check the company still exists and has assets before spending the fee — a judgment against a dissolved company is worth nothing.
10. Do not pay anyone else a deposit while chasing this one.The instinct to get the job moving is strong and it is exactly the moment people make the same mistake twice. Reset with a proper vetting process.

Tips

• Search the trading name and the phone number online with the word complaints or reviews. Others in the same position are often findable, and a group of reports carries more weight with trading standards.
• Keep everything in one dated folder from the first day. Every route below asks for the same bundle, and reconstructing it later is the tiring part.
• If the company has been dissolved, take advice before spending money on a claim. There are routes involving the individuals, but they need advice rather than optimism.

Common mistakes

• Waiting to see if they come back — The card and bank routes are time-limited and the limits run from the payment or the expected start. Weeks of hoping close doors that were open on day one.
• Only chasing by phone — Phone calls leave no record. Every route you might use asks what you asked for, when, and what they said. Put everything in writing even if you also ring.

Questions people ask