I have also used a complete clown plumber masquerading as a bathroom designer who was advertising on Houzz. His reviews were all 5*, strange names, only male reviews and in a cluster. Thankfully nothing for about 5 years now although he is still listed. You have my sympathy with your experience. I would be very careful in future. Can you get legal advice although I suppose it is throwing good money after bad? I always pay by card now if possible. Shocking that this company has not been removed. Caveat Emptoir.

Unfortunately Houzz do not perform any due diligence, vetting etc on the pros listed on here and terms state it’s up to the clients to perform their own checks.

it is bad practice for them to take money from you knowing they were on the brink of insolvency but it appears you weren’t alone (see reviews on TrustPilot).

i can only suggest you keep checking on Companies House for the insolvency listing and then contact the Administrator once appointed.

i fully sympathise though in both respects. Unfortunately this is not the only site where pros pay to sign up without vetting

Welcome back Isla!

Thank you Minnie, this is really making my blood boil. Maybe do a lot more research including Companies House before using a company advertising on Houzz. Great advice from you about tracking the insolvency listing.

Such bad publicity for Houzz which i thought was a respected platform, as i have tried to leave a review about Go Plans to warn others clearly explaining the circumstances and again Houzz have rejected my review as against their guidelines! i have now requested that they specifically identify the issue with my review and explain why it was rejected.

it seems Houzz is a platform for scammers

I agree with you. Maybe get the name off Houzz and then try to find out as much information independently before using. I am going to be very careful in future. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. There are some awful reviews about GoPlans on Trustpilot and on checkatrade under Summit Architecture which also seems to be suspended. It's a joke that you cannot trust Houzz to properly vet companies before allowing them to advertise on the website. I would leave my 100% negative review on Trustpilot.

I have now been into trustpilot and seen that this issue began back in october. wish i had researched them on Trustpilot before instead of trusting Houzz. i mean what is the point of Houzz if their reviews are not verified and they harbour illegal and dodgey companies??

I really feel for you Penny, its a horrible lesson to learn. There are so many scam companies out there you really need to make a checklist of how to veryify them first. Easier said than done. I have often been on the brink of making an online purchase and have paused the transaction to read as many reviews as possible. A lot of companies also bribe people to remove their negative reviews so it's a minefield out there.

Same issue here. Once I found what happened, as I was scammed by these people, I added a review on Trustpilot which was added almost immediately and another on Houzz which I cannot find so I assume it was rejected and never posted. Apparently some people have been scammed until very recently.

You could try one of these avenues to get some of your money back.

Potential Avenues for RecoveryHere are the primary ways you might recover funds or resolve issues:

• Professional Indemnity (PI) Insurance: Architects are legally required to have professional indemnity insurance to cover negligence claims. This is your most likely source of recovery if the architect's insolvency stems from, or results in, a valid negligence claim (e.g., design errors, failure to meet the agreed budget, or incomplete work). The insurance policy typically has "run-off" cover, meaning it covers historic liabilities even after the practice has closed down.
• Credit Card Payments: If you paid for the architect's services using a credit card (for services costing between £100 and £30,000), you may be able to make a claim under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. This makes the credit card company jointly liable for the breach of contract.
• Registering as a Creditor: You must contact the insolvency practitioner or official receiver dealing with the case to register your claim. This adds you to the list of people owed money, but as mentioned, recovery is not guaranteed.
• Dispute Resolution Services: The Architects Registration Board (ARB) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) offer dispute resolution services to investigate complaints about an architect's professional conduct. While they cannot award compensation, they can help mediate and determine if professional standards were breached, which may aid a subsequent legal or insurance claim.

As you have stated paying by credit card was not an option but one of all of the other avenues might be. It would be interesting to know the reason for insolvency as they weren't selling products but professional services. It does not reflect well on a professional body. You could try RIBA.

Hi Isla,

Thank for this information, I was aware about section 75 but not the other options.

For me thee problem is that looking on companies house the company is still showing as active.

So my question is how can we substantiate our claim as there is nothing official saying these scammers have gone bust?

Ive had a look on the Gazette and its not on there either, there can be a bit of a delay before Companies House is updated but it’s clearly not published on the Gazette yet (there’s a search function).

What date were the emails saying they’d gone into receivership?

You should make a formal statutory demand for payment within 21 days to the Director to the registered address (attached). If it’s not paid within the 21 days you can apply to the Court for a compulsory liquidation if the debt is over £750. The 2nd link is to the govt website if the money isnt paid.

That is just my understanding though, not an expert! Hopefully it helps a bit!

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/13052608/officers

I forgot the 2nd link!

https://www.gov.uk/statutory-demands

@Sotirios K. Not good news I'm afraid. They are architectural designers which does not offer the same levels of protection as an Architect. Great advice from Minnie 101 though.

https://heeleysarchitects.co.uk/2023/10/01/architect-or-architectural-designer-professional-indemnity-insurance/

@minnie101 thanks for the information and the links you provided.

I never received any formal communication from the company about them going into liquidation, I only found out by "accident" when I email the account manager for my case as I was getting no responses from Nayhan after several emails, phone calls and voicemails. I would never imagined what happened so was really shocked to receive an OoO email saying that they company has gone bust.

I'm not sure (as I'm not expert on these things) if we're entitled to a statutory demand as by reading the information in the link you provided this is relevant if the company owes you money which technically their are not as they've received the money for services they were going to provide. And since there is no formal confirmation of the liquidation, then someone could argue that they will deliver the services.

I'm really disappointed by the way these people operated as it has become more and more clear reading other reviews and comments, that this was a well planned scam from their top people to collect as much money as they could and then go bust and run with the money.

If think that once we have some formal confirmation of this, my best chance will be to go to my bank for a section 75 that I've read about recently.

So there it is plain to see! my email received from Abigail

@Penny Rhodes

i didn’t realise the email said they were appointing a Liquidator (there are 2 types of liquidation).

This link details the timelines and process for a CVL ( I can’t see a date on the email). The Liquidator will contact you in due course and you’ll need to make a formal claim

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/content/103793

@Sotirios K.

If you’ve paid for service you didn’t receive then you’re a creditor.

If you paid by credit card then you can make a Section 75 claim.

@Penny Rhodes thanks, obviously I've received the same email and that's how I found out what happened as I was not aware and Nayhan did not reply to any communication or had a similar OoO message.

My question is, is this message enough evidence for the bank or anyone I'll be going to to claim my money back or they will need to have the formal notification on Companies House?

Hi all, a bit late to the party but only realised today that GoPlans were not going to do my building control docs.

I still can't see that a liquidator has been appointed, however Director Oliver Newell also runs SUMMIT ARCHITECTURE LTD (12276380), they look to have appointed 'Fortis Insolvency Limited' as the liquidator.

I did not receive any email or letter regarding GoPlans ceasing trading. I did receive some drawings, I'm trying to track down who 'owns' this. So that I can ideally take whatever work was completed and proceed with the planning myself or through another firm.

Perhaps we can group together and try to approach the liquidator as a group once we have details of which one has been appointed. Could also be good to collate our documents, T's and C's etc and see if there's anything we can do.

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for all the information and advice shared here - it sounds like many of us are unfortunately in the same situation.

I became aware of issues with the company last week when my emails started being returned as undelivered.

We paid a deposit covering drawings, scope of work, and project management, but to date have only received one set of drawings.

I’ve done some research myself and wanted to share the steps I’ve taken so far in case this helps others:

• As payment was made via bank transfer (BACS), Section 75 protection was not available.
• I attempted to report this to my bank as an Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud case, but they initially declined to treat it as a scam or open an investigation.
• I therefore raised a formal complaint with the bank and have now escalated the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

I would strongly recommend that anyone who paid via BACS contacts their bank and explores this route as soon as possible.

In addition, I have:

• Contacted Citizens Advice and reported the matter to Trading Standards:
  https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/report-to-trading-standards/
• Submitted a company complaint via GOV.UK:
  https://www.gov.uk/complain-company
• Filed a complaint with the Insolvency Service:
  https://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/externalonlineforms/CompanyComplaint.aspx

I’m trying to cover as many avenues as possible in the hope of recovering funds.

Given the number of affected clients, I believe it may be worth forming a group to explore potential collective legal action.

Please feel free to reach out if others would like to coordinate.

I'm unable to post on trust pilot as it seems they have removed that option but if anyone is able to please ask them to get in touch as well.

My email address is mei.saoula@gmail.com

Hi there - coming late to this unfortunate party too. I paid for a package, but they failed to deliver the structural calcs. Would be keen to join your joint action, if not too late.. grace.mccalla@outlook.com - thanks!

Hi Penny /Mia , just saw your comment , am in the same state as bought a total packgage plan worth 2200£ which included structural plans , the lead architect Shilan Doldur cam ehome on site visit and did the building plans and then disappeared . Tried to contact them in December and there was no response . I have sent letters and tried to inform company houses who confirmed the company was still active and their director Oliver Newell is still trading ! Such a shame that we cannot get a reponse . I am trying to get a solicitor involved. Hope this helps.

Hi everyone

If you have been affected by Go Plans Ltd, please get in touch.

I am looking to connect with other customers who paid Go Plans Ltd for architectural drawings, planning applications, or related services and did not receive the work they paid for.

I am currently gathering information from people in the same situation so we can discuss possible next steps, including collective action if appropriate.

The aim is to bring together everyone affected so we can share information and explore options together.

anyone that is intrested please get in touch asap

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/5072403

mei.saoula@gmail.com

Hi Mei - my wife and I are also in the same boat. We were fortunate enough to get our drawings and planning permission submitted. We first encountered issues last month when our Building Controls inspector raised some issues with the build and we couldn’t get in contact with them to clarify aspects of the drawings. We discovered they were no longer in business. This wasn’t frustrating but not the end of the world.

However last week we got an email from London Building Controls issuing their invoice for £1,200. Alarm bells rang as we knew straight away that we paid this bill in full nearly a year ago. We paid it to GoPlans who we assumed had paid it on our behalf immediately. But London Building Controls confirmed to us that no monies were ever passed on. Given these monies were always owed to LBC and GoPlans were only handling them as agent on our behalf, it came as a complete shock to us that they would hold these monies for nearly a year and not discharge them and have now been liquidated with us being liable to pay the bill twice. To us, this seems like embezzlement as it’s a misappropriation of client monies.

I will email you now. We would love to join this claim to see what recourse we can get here.

Kind regards
Billy

Was* frustrating

@Billy Glynn. You should check your records. There’s a strong possibility the error is yours and that you did not pay for building control but instead paid for your planning application (which is different). Often an architect will submit an application for planning permission.
Building control is there to check that your builder has built the extension to the correct regulations and it is safe. That inspection carries a fee and that would normally fall to you or possibly your builder if you have negotiated that as part of your contract. It might fall to your architectural practice if you had additionally employed them to fully project manage procurement, your builder and the tradespeople but I don’t believe that is the case here.

It is not typical practice for the city of London building control to invoice for services after the fact and would have normally charged for building regs in advance. London Building control appears to be an approved but independent company providing the same service. If there was any correspondence about paying building regs at the beginning of the process through your architectural practice then you should check that paperwork to see which organisation was specified.

We had employed them to project manage procurement. We had a project manager Joe who stopped providing any project management services halfway through our project. The email correspondence and evidence we have is 100% crystal clear that we paid them the London Building Controls invoice. We have an invoice from GoPlans for £1,200 showing that we discharged the amount owed to London Building Controls. And they forwarded us the email from LBC confirming the LBC fees before we paid. In hindsight, we’re wondering why we needed to use them as an intermediary and why we didn’t just pay LBC directly. But they were managing the process on our behalf and we were working on the assumption that this was all normal and how the process is usually managed

It sounds like you have a strong paper trail and the situation is exactly as you believe. Best of luck with your build