non payment of remaining balance

mr.taj120

I need some help with a very difficult customer.
I am a sole trader and have been for many years and I have just recently finished a contract for a new customer.
He was made aware of my practise for payment right from the outset and as I have been stung in the past, that I insist on a 20% deposit to cover any materials before any work is started.
After agreeing a price, which he inevitably knocked me down on, I requsted the deposit, of which he paid 10%. I took him on good faith and started the work but continued to request the other 10% of the deposit. This was eventually paid about 3 days into the contract, with the remainder of the balance to be paid on completion of the work.
As the contract progressed a verbal agreement was reached in respect of interim payments on completed work, no payment was made and upon completion of 90% of the work, I couldnt carry out the remainder as he had not decided what to do, I insisted on a majority payment, which he paid, with the remaining balance to be paid upon completion once a decision had been made.
After a week of no contact I persued him via e-mail and telephone, which he ignored, I eventually contacted him through his business where he then informed me he wasnt satisfied with the quality of work and was refusing to pay the outstanding balance. I asked him what he wasnt satisfied with and made an offer to attend the site to go through the work and 'put right' what he felt was wrong. He then went on to say it was now a confidence issue and was looking at an independent or insurance claim to have the discrepencies put right,so not allowing me to even asses what he believed to be unsatisfactory.
I therefore gave him the opertunity to have the work assesed independantly and now 5 weeks later I have still had no contact from him.
I need to know what I should do next, I am currently preparing a letter requesting the outstanding balance as now being late and requiring imediate payment as I believe he is just trying to fleece me. Is there another method I should be using to reqest imediate payment of this balance.

weeclick

ouch! Sorry to hear about your trouble, I could be wrong but it sounds to me like he never planned on paying you the full amount from the start and was trying his best at any opportunity to not pay you. Im not sure what your circumstances are, but perhaps you could seek some friendly advise from a lawyer just regarding who to approach and how to approach it? It seems to me if he keeps ignoring you it would be best to have the law on your side to enforce your contractual agreement?

I wish you all the best, let me know how you get on

ellywellywoo

My husbands building company is in a similiar position. We are waiting for final payment on a commercial job that has been done.

The client has not paid the final installment and the job has been completed. We have tried calling the customer and emailing asking for payment. No response as yet.

If we dont get this money our company will have to go into liquidation.

Has anyone got a template we could use/amend for a letter requesting monies explaining that if we dont get a response we will otherwise have to go down the official route of getting soliciitors etc

We know what we want to say its just putting it down on paper in a professional way.

Thanks

benchin440

There are several solicitors out there that offer a pre-legal letter for a fixed fee of £2-£3 ish, I have used these on many occasions and only very rarely had to go further. Basically they say if payment is not received within x days then the matter will be taken further, the advantage is they are genuinely from a bone fide solicitor so should they not act on the letter you do have the option of carrying on with the claim. This usually lets them know you are serious and not willing to sit back and take it.
Alternatively take your demolition tools to the site with a team of guys and say you are here to take back work to cover the outstanding balance, not ideal but very satisfying. (A good friend of mine did this and funnily enough got paid)(I am not condoning his actions may I add).

If you want a name of pre legal letter company you can PM me and I will pass it on.

blue_monkey_2

Why not give him 14 days t pay nd if the payment has not arrived you'll be putting in a claim with the Small Claims Court. https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp

You can claim up to £5000 with this service and it is a really easy way of getting things done. It might seem drastic but you want to make it known that you are not going to take it lying down. You will need the quote/invoice and proof that the work has been finished. You can even claim 8% interest on the money owed.

Let him tell the court what his problem is and let a judge decide- if he has had it assessed then he can submit this evidence. The judge will not be happy with the 'he did not do it properly' line - he will want proof from the assessor. In the claim put in it that you have requested completetion payment several times and your client said he was not happy and that he was getting an assessor in which I agreed to - 5 weeks on he has still not done this causing me to beleive that there is no underlying issue with the work, etc.... Do not get into a 'he said' she said' row, keep to the facts.

You have been mroe than leniant with him - now it's time to get your boots on and give him a kick up the @rse. If he tells other people that you have accepted this and others try it on it is your integrity and future business at stake. Time to get heavy handed I am afraid.

Good luck.

blue_monkey_2

Just to add, you do not need to pay an expensive solicitor to do this for you, you can do it yourself and it csts £30 to file the claim - if he contasts it you will have to pay another £100 - all of which you will get back from him if the claim is found in your favour. If he still does not pay you can then pay an additional amount and get a charge against his property.

I have used to to get cashback from a phone company.

When you initially write to him send it SPECIAL DELIVERY to prove he has received it and be strict with the time, after if 14-21 days (whatever you feel is fair amount of time to give him bearing in mind that he has had enough time - I'd go for 14 days) get onine and make the claim. He will get the papers within 48 hours.

ellywellywoo

Thanks everyone for their advice. will let you know the outcome.

FusionVBS

I have been in a similar position with one of my businesses. After doing some research I found it was surprisingly cheap to go to a reputable solicitor and have them write a letter on your behalf for a fixed fee. The firm I decided to use charged only £15+VAT for doing so. They demand payment within 7 days...or else! You are not obliged to take it any further if you don't want to (check with your solicitor about their terms) so don't worry about getting involved in a long drawn out process. You'll find that most people when presented with such a strong letter, will pay. I hope you get what's owed to you.

ukbill69

I worked for a company and we stopped all deposits, it was full payment up front otherwise go elsewhere. It worked well, id say 1% of sales didnt want to do this, but they are the customers that you dont want.

mr.taj120

Thank you all for your advice, I will let you know the outcome as it happens, thank you all once again