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My first unpaid invoice in 13 years of self-employment. What recourse do I have?
jarthurs
Posts: 56 Forumite
I've been self-employed for 13 years now and I'm fortunate that whilst I'm frequently paid late, I've never been in a position where I've had to chase invoices to this extent.
I am a trainer and did some work for the Imperial College NHS Trust in July this year. Training went fine and I invoiced for it as usual, the due date for the invoice was 31st August and this date came and went (as usual). Started to chase it shortly after and the finance department denied receiving the invoice. Emailed a PDF copy, called them back after a few days and they "couldn't read the attachment, could I send another copy preferably a PDF"??!
Sent a new copy and requested that if they had any problems to call me back. Didn't hear anything and called again to be told that the invoice hadn't been 'receipted' on to their system and couldn't be paid. Was told on a subsequent call they were waiting for authorisation from the person who requested the training. I've sent a final reminder by registered post and I now have the delivery receipt so they have no recourse to deny they have the invoice.
Essentially each time I call I get a different reason as to why it has not been paid. The sum involved is under £1,000 so what are my options to get the money out of the debtor.
It's not an organisation I'm likely to work for again, so I've no trepidation in 'going for it' as if I don't work for them again it's no major loss!
Regards,
Jason.
I am a trainer and did some work for the Imperial College NHS Trust in July this year. Training went fine and I invoiced for it as usual, the due date for the invoice was 31st August and this date came and went (as usual). Started to chase it shortly after and the finance department denied receiving the invoice. Emailed a PDF copy, called them back after a few days and they "couldn't read the attachment, could I send another copy preferably a PDF"??!
Sent a new copy and requested that if they had any problems to call me back. Didn't hear anything and called again to be told that the invoice hadn't been 'receipted' on to their system and couldn't be paid. Was told on a subsequent call they were waiting for authorisation from the person who requested the training. I've sent a final reminder by registered post and I now have the delivery receipt so they have no recourse to deny they have the invoice.
Essentially each time I call I get a different reason as to why it has not been paid. The sum involved is under £1,000 so what are my options to get the money out of the debtor.
It's not an organisation I'm likely to work for again, so I've no trepidation in 'going for it' as if I don't work for them again it's no major loss!
Regards,
Jason.
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Comments
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I'd be sending a 'letter before action' - there's more about it here: http://www.contractorcalculator.co.uk/payment_letter_before_action.aspx
Hope this helps.Please forgive me if my comments seem abrupt or my questions have obvious answers, I have a mental health condition which affects my ability to see things as others might.0 -
As this is the public sector then, provided there were no issues with your services, you will probably be paid eventually and a few threats, marked for the attention of the Chief Financial Officer will probably speed things up.
Remember that you have a right under late payment legislation to add interest onto the outstanding amount. There is a calculator at: http://www.payontime.co.uk/legislation/legislation_main.html0 -
Yup letter before action will work, personally i'd add the late payment in the letter & give them 7 days to pay.
No payment then its either small claims if you have the time to devote to it, or a reputable collections agent. There's a link to the company i use on the contract calculator website here
Let us know how you get on
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TAking it to small claims needn't take time - I've never known a company to have to attend the court, as normally the letter from the court is sufficient to kick the payment process into overdrive. Ofcourse, you should lodge a claim with a small claims court if you're not prepared to see it through to the court stage.Please forgive me if my comments seem abrupt or my questions have obvious answers, I have a mental health condition which affects my ability to see things as others might.0
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TAking it to small claims needn't take time - I've never known a company to have to attend the court, as normally the letter from the court is sufficient to kick the payment process into overdrive. Ofcourse, you should lodge a claim with a small claims court if you're not prepared to see it through to the court stage.
It does take time to issue in small claims, and if like me you'd rather concentrate on customers that actually pay promptly, a collections agent is a sensible option. Personally when it gets to this point id rather pay a small percentage to creditsafe when i've received the money than waste my time chasing any more....
But that's just my opinion
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JARTHURS, I'm a freelance trainer too, so have some experience of this...
I'm unclear, did you invoice the NHS trust directly, or is this an agency that are dragging their feet regarding payment?
If it's the trust, then contact the director of Finance at the trust (take a look at the trusts details on google to find out who it is), and clearly state all that has happened so far. Public sector payments are always delayed, but I'm pretty sure you will get paid, just keep shouting.
If it's an agency, then you need to come down hard and FAST on this debt NOW. Personally, I'd stop faffing about alone, and I can recommend a company called Redbridge & York, who will sort it. They charge 5% of the money recovered, nothing if you don't get paid (so it's definately worth a try). So £1000 debt costs you £50 to get in, well worth it for your peace of mind. Give these guys a ring (I have no association with them at all, except as a satisfied client), http://www.redbridgeyork.co.uk/ and have a chat about the debt.I try not to get too stressed out on the forum. I won't argue, i'll just leave a thread if you don't like what I say.0 -
Was told on a subsequent call they were waiting for authorisation from the person who requested the training.
The key with big organisations is to work out the paper trail and the invoice process.
Have you tried speaking to this person - it probably just means that there is an invoice on his desk which he 'has not got around to'
I know of Redbridge York and they are very good. I know another firm that would take this on at 5% (me!) but to be frank it would be encouraging you to waste your money. Phone up the authoriser, get it authorised and then go back to payments team0 -
The key with big organisations is to work out the paper trail and the invoice process.
Have you tried speaking to this person - it probably just means that there is an invoice on his desk which he 'has not got around to'
I know of Redbridge York and they are very good. I know another firm that would take this on at 5% (me!) but to be frank it would be encouraging you to waste your money. Phone up the authoriser, get it authorised and then go back to payments team
Yeovil, You are right, If the Trust is the paying client, then just working thru the papertrail should work, and payment will come.
However, if the paying client is an agency, then it sounds like they're struggling for cash, and jarthur needs to get HIS money out of there, and using a professional collector would probably be a good investment.I try not to get too stressed out on the forum. I won't argue, i'll just leave a thread if you don't like what I say.0 -
You don't happen to have an OH or a friend who has a few minutes spare each day do you? I'm self employed too, and used to hate chasing slower payers (usually the NHS, funnily enough...)
Then my OH offered to take over my 'credit control'. If a payment is late, my OH phones the finance department (or whoever is supposed to be paying) and introduces himself as 'xxx's credit control department', and just very politely asks 'when we can expect payment?' Usually there's a bit of bluster, so he asks again politely 'okay, but can you let me know when we can expect payment?' And if they say they need time to sort it out, he says okay, but he will phone back the following to day to check when we can expect the payment.
Then he just phones back every day with the same polite question, until they give up and pay up!!
I have never had anyone not pay eventually in all the years of self-employment, and now all my usual clients pay very quickly.
It's amazingly effective....
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BlondeHeadOn wrote: »You don't happen to have an OH or a friend who has a few minutes spare each day do you? I'm self employed too, and used to hate chasing slower payers (usually the NHS, funnily enough...)
Then my OH offered to take over my 'credit control'. If a payment is late, my OH phones the finance department (or whoever is supposed to be paying) and introduces himself as 'xxx's credit control department', and just very politely asks 'when we can expect payment?' Usually there's a bit of bluster, so he asks again politely 'okay, but can you let me know when we can expect payment?' And if they say they need time to sort it out, he says okay, but he will phone back the following to day to check when we can expect the payment.
Then he just phones back every day with the same polite question, until they give up and pay up!!
I have never had anyone not pay eventually in all the years of self-employment, and now all my usual clients pay very quickly.
It's amazingly effective....
That's effective & money saving! Hats off to you!0
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