Self Employed and trying to claim money owed

You have the massive advantage of them not being Ltd so the owners are personally liable for the debts so they can't just shut down the company and walk away scott free. Even better because they owe you more than £750 you can have them declared bankrupt and if its a partnership, you can file bankruptcy on all partners involved depending on their share of the company which can result in them losing their houses - I personally find that the loss of ones home tends to focus the mind . However the following action is likely to result in a loss of that customer but TBH I know I personally don't want customers who don't pay. Sure you'll have to go out and find other customers but its better to be doing that than spending your own money to do work that you don't get paid for.

So onto how to do it...

Firstly send a statement of account - that is all the outstanding invoices, partial paid invoices and the amount owed - along with a letter stating these are now well overdue and payable within 14 days. When thats not paid, send a final demand and state that if its not paid within 7 days there will be a fixed fee of £70 and interest will be charged at the current reference rate of 8.5% as allowed under Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. State that failure to pay may result in court action and/or as they owe you more than £750 you can apply to have them declared bankrupt. Give them another 7 days after the deadline is due and send another letter stating that if payment isn't made by return of post, court action will be taken to recover the money. SEND ALL OF THESE LETTERS BY RECORDED DELIVERY.

When they've still not paid, take them to small claims court court. Sue them for the invoices plus 8.5% interest plus £70 (as listed in the act above) plus your court costs but try and keep it under £5k to reduce your costs and keep it as a small claim. If you win and they still don't pay go back to the court and ask for a notice for removal of goods or bankrupt them.