Payment

[helpsy]

Hi Guys.
I'm just after some advice on what to do etc, if customer is not forth coming with payment for work?
All advice greatly accepted.

 

[REDSAW]

call the police,
the same as a taxi driver dont get paid his fair.
when they arrive tell them if your not paid you will be taking back all youve done and your covered.
you will 90% get paid when they arrive but you may have to wait unless you tell them on the phone it is a hostile situation and they will respond quicker.
dont leave the premises.

 

[WHPES]

A solicitors letter usually gets it, but you will have to pay for this of course. (£50 last time for me)

 

[Oli]

Im guessing your not actually posting directly from the job now so;

Send a letter and attached invoice, stating that it is overdue, they have 7 days to pay.

Explain in the letter you will be looking to claim interest from the due date at 8% per day, every day until it is paid. (8% is what you can claim in the county court - business to business)

And also that if payment is not recieved you will not hesitate to pursue the money owed via the county court. You could also include the draft copy of the court claim if you want to really drive the point home.

Dont do what I did a few months ago and just wait and allow yourself to be stalled by the debtor, get straight in there, and send all correspondance in writing and via recorded delivery (signed for).

And as daft as it sounds, if they offer to pay by cheque because they dont have the cash (trying to fob you off) take the cheque and bank it, even if you know it will bounce, it demonstrates that they accept they owe you the debt, and also gives you an easy win in court, the bill of exchange act means you cannot bounce or cancell a cheque for payment.

I've just been through all this, and let the customer fob me off for at least a month, coming up with stupid reasons for not paying claiming she had issues with the workmanship, I kept going back to rectify the "faults" and reached a point where she couldnt come up with any more excuses and just cancelled the cheque.

I've just obtained a CCJ and court warrant of enforcement to recover the cash, via the county court (money claim online) via a default judgement becuase she issued then cancelled a cheque, there is no defence to this is work is done, [DLMURL="http://www.easylawyers.co.uk/debt-recovery.php"]See here[/DLMURL].

She knew she couldnt win and just ignored the court letters.

I should in hindsight have taken action straight away, but didnt, so three months later im still chasing the cash..... or should I say, from next week the court baliff will be.

PM me if you like, i've become quite well versed in the county court process latley.

How much are you owed?

 

[justlead1]

Hi. I would try social black mail. Simply use a post card towrite the invoice reminder on, Using the clients full name but the next door neighbours house number, they are normally only to pleased to deliver for you. If this don't work the nieghbour the other side and so on, if you get my drift. Good Luck

 

[migoplumber]

oli, has it dead right with a guaranteed payment in full with interest. been there myself.

also depends on who you know and how big they are. so long as they are polite and dont break the law, there is no reason why they cannot be asked to collect your invoice for you. this method is only allowed for nasty people, who dont want to pay. not those that cant afford do, but still get you around to sort out the heating!

honestly if the little old lady on the corner of my street, rang me up and asked me to fix the heating for her at a cost of 500quid to me, i would do it, if she told me first, that she could only pay me a fiver a week.

it gets my goat. the dont want too's

 

[danielp]

like what someone one hear said turn the outside stopcock off then pour cement in close lid and job done

 

[Renewable M]

jeez. we had this. never again.

1. scribble on a job sheet what you intend to do and what they intend to pay, whether hourly, a price etc and on the back of that sheet have your terms and conditions. All this about telling them you will do this that and the other, or charge interest in nonsense unless stated before the fact. (see Unfair Contract Terms Act)

Make your life easy, get good terms drawn up, join the federation of small businesses for a couple of hundred quid they handle all this for you and a lot more.

The problem is, most one man bands only try and fix this when its too late.... it is so easy to prevent..... and a lot better for your bank balance!

And, if your answer is "I cant give a customer my terms and conditions for every job." then you cannot complain when you dont have a leg to stand on. Try proving a verbal 'contract' in small claims. . . . .

Annoying, but legally binding.

 

[Aquarius]

Touch wood I havn't had much trouble with getting money out of people but what I have found is the bigger the company (ie: Mitie Construction group) the longer they take to pay up. Has anyone else found this to be the case?

 

[Renewable M]

definately. the big boys seem to think that 30 days is 90 days. hence the need for a contact and penalty clause.

 

[wnjswozo]

if a boiler,block con pipe,there soon on the phone,when there mates cant work out whats wrong.works every time

 

[Renewable M]

he he he, love it. Turn off gas or oil outside. "Hey mate this boiler don't work"

 

[Jimbob]

Intresting, Iv never had this problem. Next month iv got a few jobs for people who im not familar with, so was thinking about getting some kind of contract drawn up, possible some method of prepayment as a deposit. Any advice on this?

I read on here of some guy standing outside the customer house with a sign explaining hed done work and not been paid. Theres been a few storys of people shaming them out of the money.

Thanks

 

[wnjswozo]

try and get half up front ,to least cover your materails if it does go pear shaped.in our game the onus of trust is always on us to supply and fit then get payment why should it be,they should meet you half way,if your a legit firm they know where your based off gassafe register .i have had landlords based in london ok jobs then i always insist in half up front by bacs