sole trader won't pay - what can i do?

connect21

Hi, not sure if I am posting in the right forum but could really do with some advice on a problematic customer.
We are a small business and agreed some repairs works on a machine. It was a new customer so everything was in writing via email. Every step along the way we notified the customer and agreed before works commenced. 2 months on and we have not been paid. Customer started out by being awkward and saying we haven't refurbished the machine but this was not what we agreed. Then there were other excuses to delay payment. The bill is £3.5K and now he has said he doesn't have any money and keep the machine. Value of machine doesn't cover the bill by a long way. He is a sole trader but operating from business premises for over 30years. On checking into the proprietor and various names they trade under, how can I find out who the owner is and would a court claim be the best approach now? Any advice whatsoever would be greatly appreciated - thank you.

paddyrg

If he's a sole trader, he is the owner, and it is him personally you can make a claim against (sole trader means the business is effectually indistinct from the individual, unlike a limited company)

Marktheshark

What actual hard contract do you have for the value of this repair and did you provide an estimate of the costs.
Is anything actually signed or did you work "verbally"

InsideInsurance

Presumably you pointed out that the repairs were going to exceed the value of the machine?

As others have said, your claim is against the sole trader which means him personally. Thankfully he cannot just shut up shop to avoid the claim as he is a sole trader so its not the "business" that is liable but its still worth trying to make some enquiries to ensure he has the means to pay you before spending more money on debt recovery actions.

TheTracker

In case you weren't already aware, make the court claim here.

connect21

Marktheshark wrote: »

What actual hard contract do you have for the value of this repair and did you provide an estimate of the costs.
Is anything actually signed or did you work "verbally"

Nothing was actually signed, but we sent the repairs costs in quote form via email and insisted he accepted in writing-i.e. he replied to the emails and agreed to the costs.

GrumpyPL

connect21 wrote: »

Nothing was actually signed, but we sent the repairs costs in quote form via email and insisted he accepted in writing-i.e. he replied to the emails and agreed to the costs.

Did he reply from a business address, or an e-mail address that he acknowledges somewhere online belongs solely to him and is in his control?

(Just thinking of him possibly trying to wriggle out of it "this isn't my email address"!)

Mistral001

Why would the customer get repairs made to a machine, if it was going to cost more than what the machine is worth. He would have just bought a similar second hand machine and presumably that would not have taken two months. Perhaps he is not including the costs involved in sourcing another machine, transporting it and disposal of the old machine which could be considerable.


Small claims court might be the best answer but the judge might not award you the full amount claimed and then there is always the problem of getting the money even if you get a favourable judgement.

connect21

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Presumably you pointed out that the repairs were going to exceed the value of the machine?

As others have said, your claim is against the sole trader which means him personally. Thankfully he cannot just shut up shop to avoid the claim as he is a sole trader so its not the "business" that is liable but its still worth trying to make some enquiries to ensure he has the means to pay you before spending more money on debt recovery actions.

It was not apparent that the repairs would exceed value of equipment when we first started out. There was a lot of investigating to do and we informed the customer every step of the way in writing by email to which he advised he wanted to proceed in writing via email.
On checking through credit agencies, there is a name of the proprietor, but I am not sure if this information is correct, they seem very dodgy i.e. I have found 3 company name variations at same business address and 3 different proprietor names which I cannot locate a home address. Is there any way of tracking who the proprietor is and a home address ? All I have found is a court judgement last year which was satisfied within 3 months?

connect21

GrumpyPL wrote: »

Did he reply from a business address, or an e-mail address that he acknowledges somewhere online belongs solely to him and is in his control?

(Just thinking of him possibly trying to wriggle out of it "this isn't my email address"!)

There were a number of telephone calls between our companies which were followed up by email and content of the emails were discussed via phone as well so I can't see he can do that. The man we were dealing with is not the same name as the proprietor though, could that be his out do you think?

connect21

Mistral001 wrote: »

Why would the customer get repairs made to a machine, if it was going to cost more than what the machine is worth. He would have just bought a similar second hand machine and presumably that would not have taken two months. Perhaps he is not including the costs involved in sourcing another machine, transporting it and disposal of the old machine which could be considerable.


Small claims court might be the best answer but the judge might not award you the full amount claimed and then there is always the problem of getting the money even if you get a favourable judgement.

To buy a 2nd hand machine in working order would cost £4-5k at least. His machine he bought at auction, with no history, no knowledge, very old and not in good working order. The truck is de-valued at it is so old, but it works fine now.