Invoices unpaid after 3 months.. How to proceed???

wIcKiD

Premier wrote: »

You can send them a letter, it'll only cost the price of a stamp.

But think carefully before commencing legal action. It will cost you money to even just file a claim in court, and unless you can prove the defendant owes you the money, your claim will probably be struck out.
Without any formal agreement or contract, what evidence do you have that you could provide to the court that they owe you the money.?

If you have any evidence, I suggest you provide it to the company you are claiming from now. (You'll be asked to later during the claim process anyway) If you don't have any evidence, take the £200 as it'll be more than a court would award.

The evidence is all the email communications we have had during the time of the issues and reminders for payment. I have also invoiced them in the past and received payments without any issues.

wIcKiD

Hermanmunster wrote: »

I do not mention taking the £200 without consideration of the facts you gave.

I presume it is mainly your labour being supplied and you have not had to purchase materials to any great value to put on the job so you will have been on a poor hourly rate for the work you did not out of pocket on materials you purchased. I would take the settlement.

Yes, no materials were purchased. The charges are for the services provided.

I do not want to take the £200 as that would make it look like I was over-charging them. In fact, I have been very lenient with them and not charging for every occasion if the issue was related. I wouldn't waste my time and energy for nothing!

wellandpower

IMHO you have a clear choice. That choice depends on if you think you are going to get any more work with this new manager.

If you are, you don't want to take them to court. Depending on the IT work you have been doing, if it is something they can't easily get someone else to pick up, then you might like to try talking and if that doesn't happen, letting them realise they need your help.

If you don't think you are going to get anymore work, you can go for them. I would make a cold business decision on this - if you have other work you can charge £40 an hour for say, then there is no point spending 15 hours sorting out this £200.

I know - its the principle, but if the principle is going to cost you money, let it ride. its not worth it in this case.

wIcKiD

wellandpower wrote: »

IMHO you have a clear choice. That choice depends on if you think you are going to get any more work with this new manager.

If you are, you don't want to take them to court. Depending on the IT work you have been doing, if it is something they can't easily get someone else to pick up, then you might like to try talking and if that doesn't happen, letting them realise they need your help.

If you don't think you are going to get anymore work, you can go for them. I would make a cold business decision on this - if you have other work you can charge £40 an hour for say, then there is no point spending 15 hours sorting out this £200.

I know - its the principle, but if the principle is going to cost you money, let it ride. its not worth it in this case.

I won't be doing any more work for them after all this, especially now that the trust has been lost. And its not a new manager who has just come in. I have been dealing with him for the past 4 years. I do have other work. This is my part-time employment. I also have other clients I am happy with. And you are right - it's about principle! I wouldn't want to let myself down. I am sure if you were in the same situation as me and had received an email similar to the one I received from them (about me being 'unprofessional' and being a 'small company' compared to theirs), you would do the same thing!

covlass

We took a customer to court this year, not so much for the unpaid invoice as it was not a large amount of money bit more for principle. Goods ordered in may invoice to be paid within 30 days, a number of letters sent 7 no response was received, until a phone call in december ! The lady said she was new club secretary and that she was disputing the invoice. we explained that as it was nearly xmas and our busiest time of year we would call in the new year and sort it out until then the claim would be left on hold. We called as promised on the number she gave us which did not exist and the original number but could never get to speak to her. We continued with the claim which ended up going to court, she sent documents stating distance selling regs, obviously had not got a clue about it as it does not cover business to business and then proceeded to call us lyres as she never ordered the goods ! Odd as in dec she stated she was new and had just taken on the position ! To cut it short we attended court the first time she did not as she had been up the night before with one of her children, the 2nd time again last min she did not attend but claim went ahead with out her. We provided copies of all letters and invoices and we won invoice total, court costs and interest.
The invoice originally was only £153 but it was the principle we have worked hard building up our company and we have a good reputation and we were not willing to lose that the money was not an issue in the end.

Have you asked for a detailed reason as to why they are disputing you invoice & work ask for this in writing if not. This will give you the chance to build you case if you go to court.If the claim goes to court (there are steps prior to this stage) you are prepared to fight your case.

Premier_2

wIcKiD wrote: »

There is a bit of story to this.. My mate used to be the manager when I started supporting this company and then it carried on that way.

There is no purchase form because there were no materials purchased. The charges are for the services provided.

The invoices state clearly that the payment terms are 30 days. I suppose even if this is not mentioned, it defaults to 30 days?

Purchase orders can be issued for services.

It's no good stating terms after the event. For a contract to be valid, the terms must have been available to both parties before they agree to (continue with) a contract.

wIcKiD wrote: »

The evidence is all the email communications we have had during the time of the issues and reminders for payment. I have also invoiced them in the past and received payments without any issues.

Reminders for payment demands don't mean a hoot if the original demand is disputed.

The fact the company has paid you in the past may help your claim but equally may not. The company may not dispute they ordered your services in the past.

We have bought from companies in the past but that doesn't mean they can go on invoicing us as they wish.

kazwookie

I run a company, I issue purchase orders for all items I require, & ditto my customers have to send me a written order for any thing they want.

Can I ask how do you know if this company wants you to carry out services for them?

Hope it all gets sorted.

covlass

They had plenty of time to dispute the invoice, surely by leaving it so long they have in fact excepted the services under taken.

The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act

A late payment is defined as where the agreed credit period given by the supplier to the purchaser has expired. If no credit period has been specified by the supplier the Act specifies a default period of 30 days after which interest will accumulate. The 30 day period runs from either:

• The delivery of the goods or the performance of the service, or
• The day the purchaser receives notice of the debt.

Premier_2

You don't have to dispute any invoice.

The responsibility lies with the claimant to prove any alleged debt. The fact they have not disputed the invoice does not imply they have accepted it as in any way valid.

reehsetin

Premier wrote: »

It's no good stating terms after the event. For a contract to be valid, the terms must have been available to both parties before they agree to (continue with) a contract.

vague memories from studying - would there not be an implied contract due to his previous history with the company?