# LETTER OF CLAIM — DEFECTIVE RENOVATION WORK
## Important legal and factual warning
This is a fictional worked example, not legal advice, an admission of liability or a guarantee that a court will award the sum claimed. It concerns a consumer's contract with a renovation contractor in England and Wales. The Consumer Rights Act 2015, contract terms, building regulations, planning permission, limitation rules, insurance arrangements, the relevant pre-action conduct and any court directions must be checked against the actual facts. A quotation is not automatically proof of reasonable cost, and a claimant should not authorise irreversible work merely to increase a claim. This example assumes that the homeowner has taken reasonable steps to protect the property and has preserved evidence. The names, addresses, references, dates and figures are fictional.
Date: 14 September 2027
By first-class post and email
To: Calderstone Renovations Limited, 17 Foundry Park, Worcester WR2 4JL
Email: accounts@calderstone.example.test
From: Naomi Claire Mercer, 6 Orchard View, Worcester WR3 8QN
Email: naomi.mercer@example.test
Contract reference: CRL-2419
Subject: Letter of claim for defective kitchen and rear-extension renovation work at 6 Orchard View
Dear Mr Daniel Hargreaves,
I write as the consumer who contracted with Calderstone Renovations Limited, called “Calderstone” in this letter. This is a formal letter of claim concerning the renovation work carried out at my home. Please pass it immediately to your insurer and any subcontractor whose response is required. I seek £8,750.00, together with any recoverable court fee and interest if proceedings become necessary. I remain willing to consider a proportionate settlement and mediation.
## 1. Contract and payments
On 12 January 2027 you inspected my kitchen and rear utility wall. Your written quotation CRL-Q-2419 dated 16 January 2027 promised removal of the old units, installation of the new kitchen, rerouting of two electrical circuits, plastering, waterproofing behind the sink and making good the utility-wall opening. The agreed price was £14,600.00 including VAT. Your acceptance email of 20 January 2027 said the work would be carried out with reasonable care and skill and completed by 28 February 2027. I paid a £4,380.00 deposit on 21 January, £7,300.00 on 10 February and £2,920.00 on 3 March, making £14,600.00 in total. Bank statements and the three invoices are Schedule 1.
You began on 1 February 2027. Completion was represented as having occurred on 3 March 2027, although the extractor, sockets, plaster finish and sealant remained incomplete. I notified you on 7 March, 16 March and 29 March. Your operative attended on 18 March and 6 April but did not cure the defects. My email of 19 April recorded the continuing water ingress and asked for a safe written repair plan. Your reply of 24 April said the work was “within normal tolerance” and offered no inspection by a qualified electrician or surveyor.
## 2. Breaches and resulting damage
The work was not carried out with reasonable care and skill and did not conform to the agreed description. In particular, the cold-water pipe was left with a leaking compression joint behind the dishwasher. Water entered the cabinet base and the plasterboard partition on 11 March. The two new socket outlets were not level, one was loose when a plug was removed, and the lighting cable was left without the labelled isolation arrangement shown in your quotation. The splashback wall was not waterproofed behind the sink; its plaster surface has blown and mould has appeared at the lower corner. The utility opening was filled with a thin cracked layer rather than being properly boarded and skimmed. The extractor duct was not sealed to the external grille, so condensation returned to the wall.
An independent inspection by Eversley Building Consultancy on 2 May 2027 found active moisture at the cabinet base and recommended isolating the affected circuit, removing saturated material and replacing the defective joint. The inspection report does not say that every cosmetic imperfection was caused by you. It identifies the leaking joint, absent waterproofing and defective making-good as the reasonable causes of the claimed remedial items. I have not claimed for an unrelated pre-existing crack in the ceiling or for an upgrade beyond the promised specification.
The damage and expense are the foreseeable consequence of the breaches. The kitchen could not safely be used during the electrician's isolation and the sink unit remained unavailable until the plumbing was repaired. I used the least expensive reasonable temporary measures: I shut the stopcock when the kitchen was unattended, placed a tray under the joint, dried the cabinet with a borrowed dehumidifier and kept the affected wall ventilated. I did not replace sound units or claim for my ordinary time. The photographs in Schedule 2 show the condition before any permanent repair.
## 3. Sum claimed and calculation
The present claim is limited to the reasonable cost of putting the work into the condition promised, repairing the directly caused damage and obtaining the safety certification that your incomplete electrical work made necessary:
* Eversley Building Consultancy inspection and report dated 2 May 2027: £290.00. * Hatherley Electrical Services quotation HES-771 dated 9 May 2027 for safe isolation, remedial work to the two socket circuits and testing, followed by an Electrical Installation Certificate or Minor Works Certificate as the completed work requires, plus Part P building-regulations notification where required: £1,120.00. This is not an Electrical Installation Condition Report, and no EICR is included in the sum. * Severn Vale Plumbing quotation SVP-418 dated 10 May 2027 for replacing the leaking compression joint, drying access, pressure-testing the supply and removing and reinstating the affected cabinet base: £6,480.00. Its written scope excludes all plasterboard, plaster, waterproof backing and decorative making-good, and does not include a new kitchen. * Larch & Lime Plastering quotation LLP-266 dated 11 May 2027 for waterproof backing, replacement plasterboard, plaster repair and sealed making-good after the plumbing work: £860.00. Its written scope excludes plumbing, cabinet work and electrical work.
The four figures total £8,750.00, calculated as £290.00 plus £1,120.00 plus £6,480.00 plus £860.00. The plumbing quotation now expressly excludes the wall scope covered by the separate plastering quotation, so no plasterboard, plaster or waterproofing cost is claimed twice. The Severn Vale quotation is lower than the £7,140.00 alternative from Brookgate Property Repairs for the same plumbing and cabinet scope because it uses the existing units and includes no decorative upgrade. I invite you to identify any genuinely comparable lower quotation within 14 days. I do not claim VAT separately because each quotation is VAT-inclusive. I reserve the right to update the reasonable sum if concealed damage is discovered during opening-up, but I will give notice and supporting evidence before incurring a material additional cost.
I have not claimed a refund of the £14,600.00 contract price as though no work had been done. I retain the useful units and work that is sound. I have also not claimed general inconvenience as a separate fixed head of loss. If you contend that a different valuation or a contributory cause applies, please provide the factual and expert basis rather than a general denial.
## 4. Documents and inspection
I rely on the signed quotation and acceptance emails, invoices and bank confirmations, photographs dated 11 March to 6 May, messages exchanged on 7 March, 16 March, 29 March, 19 April and 24 April, the Eversley report, the two plumbing quotations, the Hatherley electrical quotation, the proposed Electrical Installation or Minor Works Certificate and Part P notification record when available, the Larch & Lime quotation, the warranty information and my diary of access and mitigation. I can provide copies securely. The original photographs retain their metadata. I will preserve the defective compression joint, removed materials and relevant packaging if they are removed, unless a safety professional advises immediate disposal.
Please provide within 14 days of receipt copies of your job sheet, subcontractor details, materials records, electrical test records, building-control correspondence, public-liability insurer details and any photographs taken by your team. You may inspect the affected area by appointment on two working days' notice. Attendance will not amount to permission to carry out a repair, and no admission is made by allowing inspection. Any destructive inspection must be agreed in writing and carried out by a suitably qualified person, with reasonable reinstatement arrangements.
## 5. Proposed resolution and deadline
Please confirm by 4.00 pm on 29 September 2027, being 15 days after the date of this letter, that Calderstone will pay £8,750.00 within seven days or will make a specific written proposal addressing liability and each item. Payment should be made only after the account details are verified by a telephone call to the number shown on your invoice; this letter does not change bank details. I will accept a jointly instructed independent surveyor or mediator if a proportionate proposal is made by the deadline. Any settlement must record whether it includes interest, fees and any additional remedial sum.
If no satisfactory response is received, I intend to consider a claim in the County Court of England and Wales after allowing the applicable pre-action period and taking account of any relevant protocol. I may seek the principal sum, statutory interest at the rate and for the period the court considers applicable, the issue fee and any other recoverable costs. I will not treat silence as an admission. I also reserve contractual and statutory rights concerning repeat performance or price reduction, but I have presently framed this letter as a damages claim because your earlier attendance did not cure the safety and water-ingress problems.
## 6. Notice, jurisdiction and signature
This letter is sent by first-class post to Calderstone's trading address stated above, which I understand the business uses for this dispute, and by email to accounts@calderstone.example.test. I request written confirmation of receipt and will retain the postal and email records. Whether and when the letter is legally served is governed by any applicable contract, procedural rule or statute; this paragraph does not set the legal time of receipt. These methods are used for this dispute only and do not amend the contract's payment details. The intended governing law is the law of England and Wales and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction, subject to any mandatory procedural rule.
Yours faithfully,
Naomi Claire Mercer
Signature: __________________________
Date: 14 September 2027
## Schedule 1 — payment and contract record
Contract quotation CRL-Q-2419: £14,600.00 including VAT. Deposit paid 21 January 2027: £4,380.00. Stage payment paid 10 February 2027: £7,300.00. Balance paid 3 March 2027: £2,920.00. The three payments total £14,600.00. No retention, credit or insurance payment has been received.
## Schedule 2 — evidence chronology
11 March: moisture photographed below the dishwasher after the first leak. 16 March: loose socket and unsealed extractor photographed. 29 March: cracked utility-wall finish reported. 19 April: written request for a safe repair plan sent. 2 May: Eversley inspected. 9 to 11 May: three remedial quotations obtained. The chronology identifies the evidence relied on; it does not claim that every date proves every breach.