Check the legal business and any appointed insolvency office-holder before taking irreversible steps. [1] [2]
Make the immediate situation safe
Ask an appropriately competent person to assess the unfinished work and necessary protection. Keep residents and visitors away from unsafe areas. HSE’s public-protection guidance identifies site access and hazards affecting people outside the workforce as matters that must be controlled. [3]
Contact your insurer or broker promptly about the interrupted project and any change in occupancy or site security. Do not assume the contractor’s insurance continues to provide the protection needed for the existing home and incomplete works. Specialist renovation cover is policy-specific. [4]
Establish what has happened
Check the exact contracting business through Companies House and contact the administrator, liquidator or other office-holder where one is appointed. GOV.UK explains how creditors register claims and submit evidence of a debt in the relevant insolvency process. Registration is not a promise that the amount will be repaid in full. [1] [2]
Preserve the signed contract, variations, invoices, bank records, drawings and photographs. Obtain a dated record of completed, defective and outstanding work. Before removing equipment or using disputed materials, ask your adviser to establish ownership and the applicable contractual procedure.
Identify possible financial protection
Notify any relevant warranty or guarantee provider. NHBC’s Buildmark pre-completion cover is a specific example of protection against defined builder-insolvency losses, subject to eligibility and financial limits. It is not automatic cover for every extension contract or every payment made to a builder. [5]
Where payment involved a credit card or qualifying credit agreement, ask the lender about section 75. Ask the card provider about chargeback where relevant. The Financial Ombudsman distinguishes these routes and their requirements; neither is a guaranteed refund simply because a business has failed. Act promptly and supply the contract and payment evidence. [6]
Prepare a controlled restart
Ask an independent adviser to help define what remains to be done, inspect any doubtful work and prepare a replacement scope. England’s building regulations require suitable competence and coordination when contractors change. Update the appointments and working information before restarting. [7]
Compare replacement tenders against that scope, not the original unfinished contract’s remaining balance alone. Record the condition at takeover and who is responsible for investigating existing work. Obtain legal advice before terminating the old contract, agreeing a settlement or authorising a replacement to take over disputed property.