Parents of an eight-year-old boy say he could have been killed after the ceiling above his bunk bed collapsed after builders abandoned work on an extension and loft conversion at their home.
Prison psychiatrist Dr Kalpana Thomas, 51, and her husband Dr Simon Dein, a 64-year-old palliative care doctor, said they remortgaged their five-bedroom detached home in Epping, Essex, so they could afford to build an extension and loft conversion. They paid £67,000 before the builders stopped turning up.
Builders took £67k but left job unfinished
The couple wanted an extension in the back garden and loft conversion and selected several companies with good online reviews. They contacted a number of these to request a quote.
Most came back over budget except for one, which quoted £80,080 and offered to start work a few weeks later. Dr Thomas asked the company for references and met a former customer who was pleased with work the builders had done for them.
Work began but costs steadily started to increase. They met with the builder in November 2020, but they stopped showing up afterwards, offering excuses for weeks and then months, leaving the upstairs without electricity and a leaky tin roof.
Ceiling fell on top of child's bunk bed
The father claims the ceiling collapsed in two upstairs rooms but thankfully nobody was injured.
Dr Thomas said: “All of our children were at home during lockdown when the ceiling in one of the rooms collapsed and then a few days later it happened in the other room.
“The fact is, Marcus, my little one, he was eight years old and sleeping in a bunk bed.
“Now if the ceiling had collapsed when he was lying there, it could have been quite horrific – he’s only little. It was purely by the grace of God that it was daytime and he was outside his room.”
Couple will have to pay another £57k to finish work
They contacted a solicitor in a bid to get their £67,000 back but because the company had become insolvent and had no insurance they were told there was no “viable route” to a civil case.
They also went to the police and were told it did not qualify as fraud, while contact with Trading Standards, the Ombudsman, and their local MP also failed to provide a solution for the family.
The couple have paid another company £57,760 to fix and finish their roof, but were forced to give up on the extension plans.
Experts say householders must take care when obtaining builder quotes and be wary of paying the builder in cash when undertaking work.
