Customer owes £1,000 - what to do?

COOLTRIKERCHICK

if your customer is being awkward and not excepting letters via royal mail, why dont you use a courier service which has a tracking method, and has a copy of the signature... but disguise the letter, meaning put it in a garment clothing bag, something similar to a catalogue bag, or even a small box, then she will not think its al letter.... sneaky i know, but a least that way you have a signature for the letter....;)

Jimbo333_2

"hippyadam" has it right- Charging Order ASAP, easy.

If she gets the sale done before you have the order in place, then its Third Party Debt instead (when the developers cash is in her bank) http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/enforcement/thirdparty/index.htm

Don't let her get away with it!

hippyadam

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

if your customer is being awkward and not excepting letters via royal mail, why dont you use a courier service which has a tracking method, and has a copy of the signature... but disguise the letter, meaning put it in a garment clothing bag, something similar to a catalogue bag, or even a small box, then she will not think its al letter.... sneaky i know, but a least that way you have a signature for the letter....;)

Thats V sneaky & i like it a lot

But the OP's obviously done more than enough to try and reach an amicable settlement, at this point i'd be going for the jugular!



Mwahahahahaha!

YEOVILGOM

Have you tried speaking to her?

JCS1

wuckfit wrote: »

I think you can petition for her bankruptcy for debts of more than £500.

£750, but it would cost the OP £1,500 - £2,000 to do this. So it would cost more in solicitor fees than the debt.

wuckfit

JCS1 wrote: »

£750, but it would cost the OP £1,500 - £2,000 to do this. So it would cost more in solicitor fees than the debt.

true, but the threat might make her pay up. Might be worth doing to prove a point.
Bear in mind that under the new legisation, the OP can claim interest on the debt at (IIRC) 8% per annum too.

YEOVILGOM

So the OP should spend £1,500 to prove a point?

wuckfit

YEOVILGOM wrote: »

So the OP should spend £1,500 to prove a point?

not necessarily. it might be worth investigating further as an option. A small claims court would probably be a better step first, but since they already ignored similar action, would probably prove fruitless. if the costs pursuing a bankruptcy petition can be claimed as a business expense, and therefore tax deductable, then it might be worth pursuing when turnover is more healthy. If the OP is a member of the FSB, they might be able to get some free legal advice as part of their membership.

hippyadam

wuckfit wrote: »

A small claims court would probably be a better step first

The OP's already done that and got judgement, now she wants paying! Bankruptcy etc will be a waste of this small company's resources and is highly unlikely to get the amount paid, which is what the thread was all about

hippyadam

rapido wrote: »

Now, with this letter, I understand she is trying to stall us doing any further actions... I reckon she will be long gone by March.

I reckon your right about that frankly, she's had her chance to pay in instalments and didn't. And why the wait to start? I smell a rat...

rapido wrote: »

Does anyone know how much this charging order thing costs? Because I'm considering sending the bailiffs now, and then sorting the charging order. Or can I do both at the same time?

Charging order in the region of £300 from start to finish, although her instalment offer now means i wouldn't recommend this option as a judge may not look well on an attempt to secure judgement and ignoring her offer

rapido wrote: »

PS I am trying to find out on the Land Registry website whether she actually owns the land or not, because I don't want to waste money on a charging order and then find out she's not the landowner. For the house she lives at, the Land Registry says "No information available" (unregistered land?), but for the garden centre it has two entries: "Tenure: Freehold" and "Tenure: Leasehold".

If you aren't 100% sure she owns the land it could be a case of throwing good money after bad. you need to check the freehold of the garden centre and see if its her name on it. If it isn't its likely she only holds the leasehold which is no good for the purposes of a charging order.

rapido wrote: »

Obviously I am not going to spend £1,000 trying to make her bankrupt, altho' I would consider to threaten to do so in a letter, as that costs us nothing!

I wouldn't recommend even doing that. Bankruptcy is toothless now, it only last a year and i've she's as canny as she sounds she'll know its a bluff due to the time, costs involved etc.

Get the bailiffs out to attend the garden centre and her home address, specifically get them looking for vehicles to seize that may belong to her they can levy on.