The other side of the DCA coin

weeg

Possibly not the right forum, but there are a lot of people who have had DCA run ins here, and I'd appreciated some feedback.

The background: I run a small self employed business, part of which involves errand running. I have a standard £200 expense limit, which I stupidly let a regular client exceed. He now has 3 unpaid invoices for time and expenses, totalling £600 dating from December 12, February 13 and May 13. He's been giving me the runaround since March, and I've let him get away with it because he was in and out of hospital.

So, 4 weeks ago I passed the matter to a debt collector. He has finally responded to her, and to me, saying that he is still in hospital, that he is feeling harrassed (Janet's reputation is good 2 letters, plus 2 emails (after he emailed her) and 2 phone calls over the month.

Today he emailed me saying he would pay me in October (9 months after the due date on the first invoice!)

I'm not being ridiculous to escalate this to the small claims court, despite him being in hospital, am I? I know he is registered for internet banking, he doesn't have money troubles, and he has internet access - because he emailed me.

He has asked me to call of the debt collector and he'll be in contact in October. Am I being unreasonable to ignore this request? I've never been in this situation before! (for context £600 is more than the business brings in some months) My entire income comes from SE work and tax credits.

[Deleted User]

Personally, I think you would've been better dealing with it yourself.

A DCA can't do anything, which you can't do yourself.

happy_bunny_2

That's Hardly harressment, especially when you look at what DCAs have done to the folks on here.

If you need the cash, I would take to court, as he may not pay in October.

Chances are he might pay when the court papers arrive.

brightonman123

do county court claim yourself. had plenty time and encouragement already.

weeg

Thanks for the feedback. I spent 4 months chasing and getting nowhere. The DCA doesn't have a relationship with the client - and isn't a soft tough like me.

Also, I looked into the sherriff court forms (I'm in Scotland - so it's not county court) for another client a couple of years . Rather than spend my time learning all about, I'd rather pay her - and add the cost to his account. It's cost-neutral for me. It's expensive for him.

But mostly I'm glad that I didn't check back here to find mass consternation for chasing a debtor who is in hospital. I really do need the money. My ceiling fell in!