Electrical Work

What is the name of your state? Tennessee

I have a home warranty on my duplex; it is a rental property. I filed a claim on my electrical with the warranty company on Jan 10 because the tenant said that the dryer, some plugs, and the hot water heater were not working. So, the warrany company sent an electrician out to the property. He put the work off for 9 days because he had a brother in law in the hospital. On Thurs Jan 11, he went to the property to look at the problems. He called on a Thurs. and said he would come on Mon. Then he called Mon. and said it would be Wed. Then he called Wed. and said that it would be Thurs. Then he called Thurs. at 8:45pm while I was asleep and said it would be Fri. Finally, without permission from the warranty company, he completed the entire job on Friday. He also did NOT call me and tell what the "uncovered costs" would be before starting the work. According to the tenant, he started the job on Friday morning at 7 a.m. I got a call the same day at 1:00 from the warranty company saying that the claim was denied, that the amount would be $2200, and that I would have to work it out with the contractor. In the past, the contractor would give me a call before he started the work and say "Look, the total that you owe is $__." These are the costs that the warranty does not cover. Rather, I get a call today Feb 13 from the warranty company saying that I owe the contractor $1139 in uncovered costs. So, I guess now the warranty comp. has decided to pay some of the bill. I did NOT sign anything, nor did I ever get a call from the contractor about the bill until after the work was done. I had no idea how much I owed until today. I feel as if I have been completely wronged and I am wondering if I have to pay him the $1139.

Did you not want him to repair the wiring? Or were you expecting him to complete only enough work to use the warranty company's money?

If he had called me to tell me how much the costs would be, that would have been fine, and I would have paid him. But, instead, he did the work first, and now wants to send me a bill? That is not the correct way to handle business transactions at all. The day he was doing the work, I tried to call him all day long and he didn't answer. He finally called 2 days later on a Sunday to talk about the bill. The warranty company told me not to have any contact with him while an investigatio was going on. He has just offered my husband to take 10% off our bill. I think he needs to take the $1161 he got from the warranty company and be happy he got that.

Don't pay.

And when he sues you in small claims court, explain to the judge what really happened.

Thanks moburkes and seniorjudge! I just wanted to get someone else's opinion about my situation. My husband thinks we should pay him, and I think he is crazy! I hope the judge will see my side!

tntitansgirl said:

I hope the judge will see my side!

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The Judge will not allow you to be enriched by this.

lcannister said:

The Judge will not allow you to be enriched by this.

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Please extrapolate.

lcannister said:

The Judge will not allow you to be enriched by this.

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Nor will he allow the man to fleece someone on a bill.

Before doing any of the work he should have sent an estimate to both the insurance company and the property owner. He should then have waited until the insurance company talked with the homeowner and discussed what they would and would not cover. He then needed approval to do the work.

Ah, the joys of an investment property. I'm with acmb05 - contractor knew what he was doing and (IMO) used a deceptive business practice to try and get paid.

He'll probably file for a mechanic's lien against the rental prop, but if you win in small claims, it should be extinguished. I would swing by the old attorney's office on this one.

Update!

I contacted the legal department at the warranty company and told them my side of the story. The warranty company agreed with me that the contractor did not follow the proper procedures, and they told me that the contractor did not even have permission from them to start the work either. The warranty company told me that they will handle it by settling the bill with the contractor and also, they will tell the contractor to stop calling me. I think they handled the situation fairly.