Can friend sue me ?

[masona]

As I'm not in the building trades anymore but I still do private work for friend only and sometime friend of a friend (only when they twisted my arm hard enough ). Can any of them sue me if anything goes wrong during my work for whatever reason ? Is it a grey area ?

ps: I'm not talking about extension building or any thing major, just 1 or 2 days general repair work.

 

[jasy]

Oh yes............you can be sued.........a verbal agreement is still a binding contract

 

[breezer]

cant be a friend if he does

 

[masona]

cant be a friend if he does

This is what worry me as they can turn against you.

 

[breezer]

thats not exactly why, but one good reason not to work for "friends" as in "working on the side" or what ever you wish to call it

 

[jasy]

No friends in business mate

 

[2scoops0406]

Err yes, sadly I was sued by a "friend" for about £2000.00 b@stard won as well. I won't go into the details, I'm still bitter.

 

[mildmanneredjanitor]

In my experience, when carrying out work for friends/family this is when problems are most likely to occur!

You do the job for a lot less, yet you still have the same (if not more) risk.

And feeling obliged to rectify problems caused by them buying the cheapest and lowest quality products... Considering you also don't charge mark-up for supplies when dealing with friends/family.

I speak from experience. Can you tell?

Just thought, seeing as tho you are moonlighting. Presumably you don't have insurance?

 

[securespark]

Eddie - don't be bitter. I have seen what bitter does - and I'm NOT talking about the pint!!

Put it behind you - you must have loads of friends who wouldn't dream of pulling a stunt like that. As Breezer says, and friend like that is not worth having.

 

[masona]

Just thought, seeing as tho you are moonlighting. Presumably you don't have insurance?

No I don't have insurance and I don't charge enough anyway, just pocket money. At the moment I'm painting my mum's exterior bungalow (for free of course!), do I need insurance for that, a grey area isn't it.

The trouble is I can do plumbing, bricklaying & carpentry and this why they think I'm useful ! I don't need the work but I get plenty time off due to the shift pattern I do and friend do twist my arm to do work for them, I have put in a very high quote once and they knew I did it on purpose to turn the work down, guess what don't worry about the quote just double it

Any idea how much insurance would be for me or maybe I don't qualify for this.

Also, is it true that window cleaner cannot insurance ?

 

[masona]

Err yes, sadly I was sued by a "friend" for about £2000.00 b@stard won as well. I won't go into the details, I'm still bitter.

I do understand, when I was out of work for 3 months and has a young family to support at the time, the DHSS money was useless and give you a hard time, couldn't live on it, so has to moonlight, what choice do I have? I'm still owe £7,400 for building an extension and the clients knew they could get away with it, there was nothing I could do. As Securespark said "Put it behind you". This is nothing compare to what some people lose.

 

[2scoops0406]

Thanks, guys, actually its faded now as it occurred over 7 years ago, plus my PII covered most of the costs, but made the premiums higher ! I think it was more the abuse of what I thought was a friendship I found worst, I realised I was just being used. Still it's a fading memory, but is a cautionary tale, if going into business with "friends" be very clear about the expectations / penalties if things go sour etc, and write it down !

 

[mildmanneredjanitor]

[I'm still owe £7,400 for building an extension and the clients knew they could get away with it, there was nothing I could do. As Securespark said "Put it behind you". This is nothing compare to what some people lose.

The sad thing is, these costs have to be absorbed somehow - by honest bill paying customers. If everyone paid their bills - to the full amount and on time, you could afford to charge less.

I've been very lucky up until late, but just had a spate of people messing me about. But your story puts it into perspective a little. You are a better man than I Masona, I would sit there stewing in my own self pity!

The other thing is, how whenever you ask for a return favour it never seems to be as willing or forthcoming...

 

[mildmanneredjanitor]

Err yes, sadly I was sued by a "friend" for about £2000.00 b@stard won as well. I won't go into the details, I'm still bitter.

Dunno what else to say but 'bummer'

Doesn't seem to be enough though somehow?

 

[mildmanneredjanitor]

No I don't have insurance and I don't charge enough anyway, just pocket money. At the moment I'm painting my mum's exterior bungalow (for free of course!), do I need insurance for that, a grey area isn't it.

Been asked recently to quote (friend of a friend... ) fitting kitchen work tops...

I just don't want the hassle and risk, how much do I charge? probably only one mitre and a cutout. It would end up being best part of mornings work, so £50. Working on my own and 3 metre worktops in a flat... It doesn't take a genius to work out that I could quite easily cause more damage than £50.

Working for yourself is quite an eye opener!