I was £55k out of pocket when a cowboy builder left my home without a ROOF – his sentence isn't enough | The Sun
A MUM was left £55,000 out of pocket when a cowboy builder left her home without a roof – and has slammed his sentence as "not enough".
Katie Sowerby, from Preston in Lancashire, handed over £17,100 to conman Billee Hopkinson, 35, for the eight-week project.
Hopkinson, who had no building qualifications, then left the house a wreck before folding his company.
Mum-of-three Katie was forced to ask her dad to apply for a £30,000 bank loan to complete the botched loft extension.
Last month, Hopkinson was jailed for 20 months after pleading guilty to three offences under the Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
Hopkinson agreed to Katie’s £25,000 loft conversion and other projects while his company was failing.
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Katie, a nurse, said: "The sentence he received was not enough for the misery he caused.
"It wasn’t just the thousands of pounds we all lost but it was the stress it caused everyone.
"It was horrendous.
"The sentence wasn’t long enough because it wasn’t just the three of us who were part of the court he ripped off, there were others too.
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"He left our house was a complete mess. There was water running down the walls, which caused mould and damp.
“My daughter was studying for her GCSEs and had nowhere to revise and my son had just been born days before the work began.
“My youngest child Jesse was in hospital three times with chest problems during that time. The damp and mould didn’t help.”
Work on the loft extension began in September 21 but took over a year to complete.
This happens too many times and to too many people who are being ripped off
Katie added: “He caused leaks, started drilling holes through into our neighbour’s attic and put-up beams where he shouldn’t.
“He cut a hole in the ceiling of my daughter’s bedroom instead of using the loft hatch and ladder which he already had.
“He then took the tiles off and left us with no roof.”
She added: “I am angry but on the day of sentencing was pleased because we weren’t expecting a jail sentence.
“We were told to expect a suspended sentence but the judge jailed him to make an example of him.
“This happens too many times and to too many people who are being ripped off.
"If more people go to court, go to prison, and are made an example of, it might stop others doing it.
“I still feel angry because 20 months isn’t enough.
“My dad had to get a bank loan for us to complete the work, which we are still paying.
"It had a massive impact both financially and mentally.
“I also had to pay to repair the damage Hopkinson caused my neighbours’ houses, which cost several thousands pounds.
“It total, with what we gave Hopkinson, it has cost around £55,000.”
“He was just deceitful. He took money off me and then went round to other people and did the same to them while knowing he was going to go out of business.
FAKE BUILDER
Hopkinson, from Preston, had been trading under the name Ultra Restore Ltd in 2020.
In the spring of that year, Katrina Raynor applied for a grant from South Ribble Borough Council to convert her garage into a bedroom and bathroom for her disabled daughter.
Katrina received a grant for £13,500 which she handed over to the rogue builder, but he did not complete the work.
The workmanship was so poor that everything had to be ripped out.
In August 2021, Annabel Isherwood contacted Hopkinson through Trust A Trader and agreed to pay £78,000 for an extension.
Annabel paid £28,000 in instalments, but in December 2021, Ultra Restore Ltd ceased trading.
However, in January 2022, Hopkinson asked Ms Isherwood for a further £4,000, which he asked to be paid into a different bank account without any explanation.
She made the transfer but began researching the company on social media and discovered it was "no more".
Annabel described her experience with Hopkinson as "the worst experience of my life."
'ABSOLUTE MESS'
One victim said: “We are really upset about what has happened.
“Our daughter was waiting for a transplant, and we had to turn it down because of the state he had left the extension.
“We were in lockdown which was another problem so we had to do a lot of the repairs and work ourselves.
“A lot of what he did had to be removed because when building control came out, they said it was dangerous.
“It was then we sacked him but by this he had taken the money.
“It took two days unscrewing everything he had done.
“He had laid a floor without a membrane, and we still have problems with mildew now.
“It has been an absolute mess. We had to find and that comes to about £7,500 to finish it.”
She added: “We did a lot of the work ourselves, had a builder who charged a day rate, and had quite a lot of the materials donated because of the state we were in.
“We got a lot of help from a lot of people to finish it because of the state we were in.
“It was a nice way to end which was an awful situation.
“A lot of other people’s stories are much more devastating.
“We ended up with a conversion and £7,500 isn’t a lot compared to what others have had to spend.
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“Some have had to get second mortgages or ask family to take loans to have them finish.
“They have had a much more traumatic time than we did.”
Know your rights
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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