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If your builder has stopped trading, act quickly but do not assume your deposit or completion costs are automatically protected. First confirm whether the business is formally insolvent, identify the administrator or receiver, preserve your contract and payment evidence, and register a creditor claim. Then pursue any stronger route available to you: a qualifying Section 75 or chargeback claim, an applicable new-build policy such as NHBC Buildmark, or an insurance-backed guarantee, deposit-protection or escrow arrangement.
This is an England-focused guide. Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and other countries use different registers, procedures and consumer rules. Your project type (new build or renovation), payment method, contract and actual policy wording determine what you can recover; none of the routes guarantees a full refund.
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What should I do when my builder stops trading?
Take these steps in order. Keep a dated record of every call, email, payment and document.
- Stop relying on informal assurances. Save the builder’s website, invoices, quotations, contract, drawings, schedules, photographs and messages. Do not delete evidence because a website or email address may disappear.
- Check the site and protect it. Photograph completed and unfinished work, exposed wiring or plumbing, water ingress, stored materials and equipment. If there is an immediate safety risk, use a qualified professional or emergency service; do not disturb evidence unnecessarily.
- Confirm the legal status. Search the company on Companies House. If the builder was a sole trader or partnership, search the proprietor’s personal name and trading name on the Individual Insolvency Register. Registry entries can take time to appear, so check again and look for formal notices.
- Find the insolvency practitioner. An administrator or receiver’s details are often posted on the builder’s website, recorded at Companies House or included in a notice to creditors. Record the firm, reference number, email, postal address and deadlines.
- Notify every possible protection provider. Contact your credit-card or buy-now-pay-later provider, warranty or insurance provider, deposit-protection scheme, escrow provider and any parent-company guarantor. Ask for the claim form and required deadline in writing.
- Register as a creditor. Ask the administrator or receiver how to submit your claim for the deposit, unpaid refunds, reasonable losses and any other amount the contract and insolvency process recognise.
- Do not appoint a replacement builder before checking your rights. A new contractor may be necessary, but first establish who owns materials, who controls access to the site and whether the original contract has been terminated. Get legal advice if the position is unclear.
Citizens Advice summarises the insolvency step plainly: “You should always register a claim as a creditor on the GOV.UK website.” That registration puts you on the list of people owed money; it is not a promise that money will be available.
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How do I confirm whether the builder is actually insolvent?
A builder can stop answering calls, abandon a project or close a trading name without entering a formal insolvency procedure. Recovery options are different in each situation.
- Limited company: use Companies House to check for administration, liquidation, dissolution or a registered insolvency practitioner. Search the exact legal company name on your contract and invoices, not only the brand used on the sign.
- Sole trader or partnership: search the owner’s personal name as well as the trading name on the Individual Insolvency Register. A trading name may not appear as a separate legal entity.
- Unclear status: send a written notice to the last known address and email, keep proof of delivery, and ask the relevant trade or warranty organisation whether a claim or insolvency notification has been logged.
Information can lag behind events. A missing entry does not prove that the business is solvent, and an entry does not by itself establish what your contract allows. If the legal status remains uncertain, a solicitor or regulated debt adviser can help interpret the notice and your contract.
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Contact the insolvency practitioner promptly and request the creditor-claim procedure. The claim normally requires the legal name of the insolvent business, your address, contract reference, dates and amounts paid, the balance you say is owed, and supporting documents.
Attach a concise schedule showing:
- each payment, date, method and transaction reference;
- the agreed price and any approved variations;
- work completed, defective work and unfinished items;
- the cost or estimate of work still required, clearly labelled as an estimate; and
- copies of the contract, invoices, photographs and correspondence.
Ask whether you are an unsecured creditor, whether a creditors’ meeting or online portal is being used, and when progress reports will be issued. Banks and other secured or preferential creditors may be paid before ordinary customers. The insolvency process can therefore return only part of your claim or nothing at all, and no source supports promising a particular percentage or payment date.
Keep your claim factual. Do not inflate an estimated completion cost, and update the practitioner if another protection route pays you. A card-provider or insurer may acquire rights to recover from the insolvent estate, so tell each organisation about the other claims.
Can my card provider get my deposit back?
Possibly. The payment route matters, and the thresholds below come from current Citizens Advice guidance accessed on 12 November 2026.
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Section 75
Citizens Advice describes Section 75 as a possible claim for qualifying credit-card purchases and eligible buy-now-pay-later arrangements. Its England guidance says the work must cost more than £100; its home-improvement guidance describes a possible total contract range of £100.01 to £30,000. A deposit below £100 can still be relevant when the total contract price qualifies, because the claim concerns the linked transaction rather than only the deposit amount.
Give the card provider the signed contract, invoice, payment statement, insolvency notice, photographs and a clear explanation of what was not supplied. Ask for its current Section 75 form and time limits. Section 75 does not cover every card transaction, and eligibility can turn on the contracting parties, the total price and the payment path.
Chargeback
Chargeback is a card-network process that may be requested for debit- or credit-card payments where goods or services were not supplied. It is separate from Section 75, has scheme deadlines, and the provider can refuse it. Ask promptly, even if you are also registering as a creditor, and provide evidence of the promised completion date and the builder’s failure.
A debit-card payment cannot use Section 75. Bank transfer, cash and ordinary cheque payments do not create a Section 75 claim, so check for escrow, deposit insurance, a written guarantee or another contractual protection instead.
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Only if the specific home, builder, certificate and claim satisfy the policy. NHBC says Buildmark Section 1 may respond when a registered builder becomes insolvent before completion and cannot finish the home or refund payments. Depending on the policy, the remedy may be repayment of a lost deposit or reasonable additional costs needed to complete construction.
NHBC’s conditions include having good reason to believe the builder could perform the contract and intending to complete the purchase for use as a home or rental property. The policy booklet and certificate control; a builder’s marketing statement or registration alone is not proof of cover. Contact NHBC with the policy number and certificate and ask whether Section 1 applies to your transaction.
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NHBC’s 2026 cover summary describes Buildmark as a 10-year product: two years of builder warranty followed by eight years of insurance for specified defects. For the product described, pre-completion insolvency cover is typically 10% of the original purchase price up to £100,000. Those are policy terms, not a universal legal entitlement or guarantee, and your certificate may contain different limits, excesses or exclusions.
Buildmark addresses defined risks. NHBC states that alterations, modifications and additions carried out after final inspection are excluded from the relevant cover. Do not use a new-build policy as a substitute for renovation insurance, and do not assume an unregistered vendor’s development has deposit protection.
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What protection exists when a renovation or repair builder fails?
Ordinary home-improvement work is not automatically covered by NHBC or any other new-build policy. Start with the contract and identify the protection actually issued for your job.
Insurance-backed guarantees
A guarantee may be the builder’s own promise or an insurance-backed policy. Check the named insured, covered work, insolvency trigger, start and end dates, financial limit, exclusions, notification method and claim deadline. A certificate showing that a scheme exists is not enough if no policy was issued for your address and contract.
Deposit protection and escrow
Citizens Advice recommends written contracts, staged payments and avoiding large upfront deposits where possible. Deposit insurance or an escrow arrangement can separate customer money from the builder’s working funds, but only the written terms determine whether insolvency triggers payment.
The Home Improvement Consumer Protection Scheme (HICS) describes registered deposit and stage-payment protection of up to 25% of the contract value, capped at £5,000, for 120 days. HICS says protection is not in place until it confirms registration in writing, and its insurance-backed guarantee is issued after the installer records completion. These conditions mean the protection cannot be assumed or bought retrospectively after a failure.
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Qualitymark Protection likewise describes deposit protection and insurance-backed guarantees through accredited installers, including circumstances in which an installer ceases trading. Verify that the installer was accredited, that a policy was issued for your project and that the dates and limits still apply.
Which recovery route should I pursue?
Use every route for which you may qualify, but tell each provider about the others and avoid double recovery. The routes differ in certainty, evidence and scope.
| Route | Best fit | What it may provide | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insolvency creditor claim | Any customer owed money by the insolvent business | A dividend from assets collected by the insolvency practitioner | Other creditors may rank ahead; recovery may be partial or zero |
| Section 75 | Qualifying credit-card or eligible buy-now-pay-later transaction over £100 | Provider may refund or meet the linked contractual loss | Eligibility, total price and payment structure must satisfy the rules |
| Chargeback | Debit- or credit-card payment where the service was not supplied | Card-network reversal if the provider accepts the request | Separate scheme process; deadlines apply and refusal is possible |
| New-build policy | Covered home with a valid NHBC Buildmark certificate | Policy-defined deposit repayment or reasonable completion costs | Conditions, exclusions, limits and certificate wording control |
| Guarantee, deposit insurance or escrow | Renovation or repair contract with protection issued for that job | Payment or completion support within the policy limit | Registration, dates, covered work and claim procedure must match |
What documents and evidence will I need?
Build one digital folder and one backup. Include the signed contract and terms, quotations, variations, invoices, bank or card statements, payment receipts, drawings, specifications, building-control correspondence, photographs dated before and after the stoppage, messages promising completion, and every notice from the administrator or insurer.
Create a timeline with the contract date, start date, payments, site visits, missed milestones, date work stopped and dates you notified each organisation. Separate facts from estimates: state what is visibly incomplete, then obtain a written quotation for remaining work if a policy or card provider asks for a value. Keep originals and send copies unless an organisation expressly requires the original.
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Can I hire another builder immediately?
Urgent safety work can be necessary, but a full replacement contract may affect evidence, ownership of materials, access rights and the amount claimed. Before clearing the site, photograph it and obtain a written assessment of defects and unfinished work. Check whether the administrator has secured the premises or wants an inventory of materials.
Ask a solicitor to review termination, repudiation, retention of title and payment clauses where substantial money or a new-build purchase is involved. If you do appoint someone, use a written scope that distinguishes remedial work from new improvements and preserve all invoices for the claim file.
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How does location change the process?
The procedures above are framed for England. Citizens Advice provides separate guidance for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, where insolvency registers, consumer remedies and court processes can differ. If the property or builder is outside England, use the relevant local Citizens Advice or government service before relying on an England-specific threshold or form.
Even within England, the legal identity of the builder matters. A limited company, sole trader, partnership and individual director are not interchangeable defendants or creditors. The contract’s governing-law clause may also matter for cross-border projects.
What should I check before paying a replacement or future builder?
For future work, insist on a written contract identifying the legal entity, scope, materials, start and finish dates, staged payments, cancellation terms and dispute process. Verify any trade accreditation independently and ask for the actual policy certificate, not a logo or brochure.
Confirm who holds deposits, when stage-payment protection starts, whether an insurance-backed guarantee is issued at completion, and what happens if the installer ceases trading. Pay by a method that preserves an appropriate remedy where possible, while recognising that card protection has eligibility limits. Keep copies of every certificate and photograph work as stages are completed.
What is the practical bottom line?
Confirm formal insolvency, contact the administrator or receiver, register your creditor claim, and notify your card provider and every named protection provider without delay. A qualifying card claim, valid new-build policy or job-specific guarantee may be more effective than waiting for an insolvency dividend, but each has strict conditions. Read the actual contract and policy documents, keep evidence, and obtain jurisdiction-specific legal advice before taking steps that could affect your rights.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a builder’s insolvency automatically cancel my contract?
Not necessarily. Administration, liquidation and a builder simply abandoning work have different consequences, and the contract may contain termination or notice provisions. Ask the insolvency practitioner for the company’s position and obtain legal advice before treating the agreement as ended.
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Are payments made by bank transfer or cash protected?
There is no Section 75 route for cash or ordinary bank transfers. Recovery may still be possible through an escrow arrangement, deposit insurance, an insurance-backed guarantee or the insolvency claim, but only if that protection was actually issued and its conditions are met.
What if the builder traded under a name that is not on Companies House?
A sole trader may appear only under the proprietor’s personal name, so search both names on the Individual Insolvency Register and check the contract for the legal identity. Keep invoices and bank details because they can help establish who received the money.
Can I claim twice if my card provider pays me and the insolvency estate later distributes money?
Tell the card provider, insurer and insolvency practitioner about every claim and payment. The organisations may coordinate recovery or require you to assign rights, and you must not keep compensation for the same loss twice.
