Collecting overdue money

saphydog

I have been completing work for a landlord over the last month and she has always paid up in the past.

However, things have now gone quiet and im still owed £400+

I keep getting the usual yeah il sort it responses that iv had in the past from non payers and my alarm bells are ringing.

I have also decided to stop work on the current job until payments are brought up to date.

I have my late invoice templates written up that i usually send to these people and they usually always work.

Its a good customer so i dont want to go in too heavy and lose further work.

Another problem is; i did a bit of research and found out shes actually a solicitor.

Should i be worried when challenging someone that knows their onions?

What do you reckon is the best approach?

easyhost

saphydog wrote: »

I have been completing work for a landlord over the last month and she has always paid up in the past.

However, things have now gone quiet and im still owed £400+

I keep getting the usual yeah il sort it responses that iv had in the past from non payers and my alarm bells are ringing.

I have also decided to stop work on the current job until payments are brought up to date.

I have my late invoice templates written up that i usually send to these people and they usually always work.

Its a good customer so i dont want to go in too heavy and lose further work.

Another problem is; i did a bit of research and found out shes actually a solicitor.

Should i be worried when challenging someone that knows their onions?

What do you reckon is the best approach?

if she owes you money and you have issued an invoice then you can send her a letter before action, which she will now all about if shes a solicitor.

use a service like http://www.hllclba.co.uk/ where an LBA will cost £1 that's if shes in Enngland

Lizbetty

Thanks for posting this - I was just about to ask about chasing payments too, but with a large UK company who owes us a lot of money and doesn't seem in any rush to pay it.

(ngggg..I WISH I could name them so any of you who could end up dealing with them could be forewarned. We're running on a very low income and yet my husband says it's not worth the hassle of doing training for them in future, which is unusual for him..pm me if you are a fork truck trainer or are about to undertake a huge DIY project involving flooring and I'll tell you who to avoid!).

I have found this which gives some more advice and a free letter before action template if anyone else might find this useful.

I have family who work for a large multinational solicitors and I do know they're terrible at their own housekeeping.

I hope you manage to get payment without any further problems. Best of luck.
Lucy

saphydog

unbelievable.

cheque just arrived

:rotfl:

Lizbetty

Woo hoooo! :j:beer:

Fab news!

I'm still sat googling to see what to do next about the £1500 we're owed. It might not seem a lot but my husband's income isn't huge by any means, and I'm not working while the kids are still little and so it's a huuuuge amuont to us. It's my daughters' birthday too in June and while we're used to doing things on a shoe string, I have no idea how we'll pull this off

I hope that didn't sound like I was expecting violins, it's just sickening how big companies can shrug it off and not realise the consequences of them playing around with small businesses.

I'm all for sending a letter of intent and we have worked out the costs we can add to the invoices. My husband won't let me email it as he's actually believing the 'we're looking into it' (which has been going on for weeks).

Anyway. I only came on here to post this link which I'm sure lots of people know about but which I found useful. Especially the bit about claiming interest in retrospect. Hope someone finds this useful, and I'm so glad to hear your cheque arrived!
Lucy

chalkie99

saphydog wrote: »

I have been completing work for a landlord over the last month and she has always paid up in the past.

However, things have now gone quiet and im still owed £400+

Glad you have now got your money on this one but, I have to say, if you are giving any credit at all (rather than getting payment with order, etc) then a month is going to be about the minimum you are going to wait from most businesses.

Perhaps make sure your payment terms are very clear on all your quotes, invoices and statements and maybe offer a discount for early settlement. Even then I don't think you can be panicking too early.

Lucyeff wrote: »

I was just about to ask about chasing payments too, but with a large UK company who owes us a lot of money and doesn't seem in any rush to pay it.

Large, national companies, charities and other bodies usually have their own payment schedule which they will impose on you, regardless of what terms you try and stipulate yourself.

Many will only pay 60 or 90 days from the end of the month the invoice is dated. Give their accounts department a call and ask them what their policy is. A friendly query might get you pushed nearer the front of the queue.

easyhost

Lucyeff wrote: »

Thanks for posting this - I was just about to ask about chasing payments too, but with a large UK company who owes us a lot of money and doesn't seem in any rush to pay it.

(ngggg..I WISH I could name them so any of you who could end up dealing with them could be forewarned. We're running on a very low income and yet my husband says it's not worth the hassle of doing training for them in future, which is unusual for him..pm me if you are a fork truck trainer or are about to undertake a huge DIY project involving flooring and I'll tell you who to avoid!).

I have found this which gives some more advice and a free letter before action template if anyone else might find this useful.

I have family who work for a large multinational solicitors and I do know they're terrible at their own housekeeping.

I hope you manage to get payment without any further problems. Best of luck.
Lucy

sending your own LBA may work, but i find it more effective if it is sent on a solicitors letterhead. its more professional and makes the debtor think you mean business by involving a solicitor

Lizbetty

chalkie99 wrote: »

Large, national companies, charities and other bodies usually have their own payment schedule which they will impose on you, regardless of what terms you try and stipulate yourself.

Many will only pay 60 or 90 days from the end of the month the invoice is dated. Give their accounts department a call and ask them what their policy is. A friendly query might get you pushed nearer the front of the queue.

We'd've been fine with the payment terms, but they've been saying the cheque's due out for weeks unfortunately. We're sort of past the friendly query stage We're reasonable people but I have an uneasy feeling that they may be stalling because of cashflow issues. They have been rescued from administration once already a few years ago...

We've sent a letter telling them we'll have to take further action against them if they don't pay up within 14 days, and we'll be adding interest and compensation charges too. We sent it registered post and emailed it (we have thre read report for what it's worth..) A friend has suggested using a factor to collect the debt for us. That's something we're going to have to prepare to do, but any advice anyone has on that would be welcomed.

My husband says even if it costs a large wadge of the money we're due, he'll pursue them. I think the way they've treated us in general (cancelling a number of days training the night before amongst other things...) has left us quite deflated by the whole thing. It's sickening.

Sorry Saphyrdog, I seem to have hijacked your thread

Lucy

ShaneUK

saphydog wrote: »

unbelievable.

cheque just arrived

:rotfl:

She is probably a psychic solicitor who like to read MSE in her free time

hippyadam

An LBA is an LBA in my humble opinion I don't think it needs to come from a solicitor, it's the content that counts. :beer:

If you need a free template i've found on on Scribd here

Hope that helps

easyhost

hippyadam wrote: »

An LBA is an LBA in my humble opinion I don't think it needs to come from a solicitor, it's the content that counts. :beer:

If you need a free template i've found on on Scribd here

Hope that helps

i never said it needed to come from a solicitor, but i thinks it seems to have more effect on a solicitors letterhead, well has in my experience.
i have sent them using a template on my own letterhead and and have use one supplied by a solicitor and found they always pay with a one sent from a solicitor, even using the same content format