refusing pay

JW_Builders

Its make me to mad... why do people think they can change their minds and then refused to pay.....
I was call-out by the police to a property before Christmas to secure a front door.
The door was lying on the floor. It was 2am. We refitted the door in place.

The owner of the property knew there will be a bill to pay. However now refuses to pay...
Now I need to take him to court, win a CJ and then send in bailiffs..
What a waste of my time... its happen 4 times now

Any I dears on how I can stop this from happing again.? Without asking for payments up front..
:mad:

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Dont do emergency call out by the Police?

JW_Builders

I need to do that.
I need to put food on my children plate...

latecomer

Only do them as a cash job or by taking payment by credit card?

1984ReturnsForReal_2

JW_Builders wrote: »

I need to do that.
I need to put food on my children plate...

Other than asking for money up front there is little you can do.

But hey I guess you marked up your prices to incorporate your losses already (which by the way you would always get back in court + costs if they have anything of value in the first place).

JW_Builders

A exter 7% on all bills to pay for the small amount who refused to pay......
Who ends up paying then. .... the insurance company who do pay........... who pays them ?

JW_Builders

With the spelling mistake

latecomer

You have 3 choices -

1 - you take the loss - you pay
2 - you increase all quotes to try and cover the losses - your paying clients/their insurance pays
3 - take them to court to recover cost and expenses - if successful then they pay but they still may not pay/have money to pay and of course if you lose then you pay.

phill99

It may not need to go to court. In law a contract exosts between you. A contract does not need to be written - a verbal contract (which you had) is sufficient. You need to send him a 'letter before action' stating that the money is owed and that you will give him 7 days to pay or you will take action in the small claims court. This often works. Also a baliff isn't always necessary. When the court settles in your favour, they will advise him of this and this is often enough to make him pay. A baliff is the last resort. The small claims court is quite an easy route to go down.
Going forward, cash up front maybe the only way. If somebody wants their door fixed at 2 in the morning, then they will pay.

duncan303

Non payers in domestic situations are very difficult to deal with.

Havn't fully absorbed the previous posts but would just like to add some thoughts of my own.

Verbal or written contract? Very similar but one cannot be sent through a fax machine.

The customer probably believes that because you were referred by the police then the Police have the contract with you.

Are the police still there when you arrive, if so you could ask the police to explain in person that the cost of any emergency repairs are the responsibility of the Householder/tenant.

However perhaps you should have a form created in triplicate signed by the attending officer, the Houlseholder/tenant and yourself setting out exactly who is laible for your costs.

Suppose a shared entry is damaged by a criminal, who is liable, the landlord, the witness, any tenant that happens to be around? does the signiatory have sufficient authority to enter into any contract.

Tricky one....... you have been called out in the night, you seem to be under an obligation to make the property safe; therefore you can hardly sit on the pavement and refuse to execute the work untill somebody comes back from a cash machine!



...

keystone

JW_Builders wrote: »

A exter 7% on all bills to pay for the small amount who refused to pay......

It would be quite wrong to punish all other clients for the activities of one or two rogues IMO. I'm guessing you issued an invoice and took it as revenue anyway in your accounts? That way you can take your "bad debts" into consideration for tax purposes when doing your returns.

Cheers