hiya tw, i'm sorry to have to say this but if your husband is going to continue to work self employed, he is going to have to become a lot more professional about his attitude, to avoid situations like this. he is just asking for it if he carries on in this slipshod manner. i dont mean the quality of his work, more the quote and estimate side of things. he never even gave her a properly worked out quote, how is he to prove heis not just ripping her off, or making figures up out of thin air? if he had have done a quote for the other job he had problems with, that situation wouldn't have arisen either. i have never had a builder do work for me where i havent had a written quote, and supplemental quotes if i have asked for a variation. It just makes sense really. Sorry to be so blunt but if he had been more professional about it, you would have been in a much more defendable position now. as it is he can't prove any of these things you are saying