Disputing invoice with agressive creditor

naptrel

We're hoping to get some advice about dealing with a 'creditor' in Scotland.

We arranged for a tradesperson to provide a service in 2013. The 'contract' was verbal and was for £1200 plus delivery. The price of delivery was not pre-arranged and there was no discussion of terms and conditions of payment.

They provided the service (though we helped with delivery).

For reason(s) that remain unknown to us, it's taken the tradesperson 2.5 years to send us an invoice. For a period of about a year and a bit after the work we sent emails to and left phone messages for them asking for an invoice, but we never had any response. We moved on and stopped thinking about it.

Now, after 2.5 years, they have sent us an invoice for £1500 with no explanation for why they've been silent for 2.5 years.

Two issues have arisen:

1. The amount

We contested the invoiced amount of £1500 and offered £1300. Even that was more than we'd agreed, especially considering we had to help them with delivery!

2. The terms and conditions of payment

We will really struggle to pay the full amount of £1300 in one go, let alone £1500. For well over a year after the job, we had the money we'd saved, sitting in our bank, ready and expecting to pay immediately upon receipt of a bill. But it's been a tumultuous 2.5 years for us: loss of income; house move; and new baby. Our savings are gone and we are living from month to month. We proposed paying in monthly instalments of £100.

Rather than negotiate, the tradesperson demanded payment in full within 7 days from the date the invoice was sent, and has now handed 'the case' to their solicitor and demanded that we pay their legal fees.

We can't afford legal advice but don't think we qualify for free legal help. What should we do?

On the issue of the amount owed, we are not willing to pay more than £1300 unless instructed to do so by a court or arbitrator (or similarly neutral 3rd party). We genuinely don't think we owe this extra money.

We're a bit more flexible on the issue of the time scale of payment. We could probably even raise the full £1300 by exhausting what little credit we have left on credit cards, but even then we run the risk bouncing a 'serious' payment next month (like rent).

We've been mulling over the following:

1. Set up a £100/month standing order for 13 months to start paying off the debt.
2. Pay £1300 within 30 days of the invoice date.
3. Attempt to persuade the tradesperson to enter mediation or arbitration.
4. Wait until their lawyer starts court proceedings and take it from there, meanwhile collating evidence of our numerous attempts to contact them to extract an invoice and our willingness to pursue other, non litigious avenues to reach a settlement.

The first 3 options feel positive and constructive, and demonstrate a willingness to engage. But where do they leave us legally without an agreement from the other party?

We believe the tradesperson we're dealing with will not compromise or negotiate and will see all but immediate payment of £1500 or (4) as defeat.

marliepanda

You seem to have a contract that is not for a fixed amount. That means you cannot just state 'oh I'm not willing to pay more than £100 for delivery' (or your contract would be for £1300 or no more than...) How exactly did you help with delivery? Have you emailed back saying 'how is delivery £300 when we helped'

You cannot say the contract is for 'more than you agreed' as you didnt agree anything except £1200 Plus delivery

I would ask for a breakdown of costs but there is nothing stopping them saying that £300 is the cost of delivery.

They also do not have to accept a payment plan. £100 a month means another year of not paying in full and after 2.5 years thats a lot.

You could have simply written a cheque for the £1200 at the time and sent them that, getting proof of postage etc. You don't really have an excuse for not keeping at least £1200 available when you knew that you owed that.

unholyangel

If a trader cannot tell you the price of the contract upfront, they must tell you the manner in which it will be calculated.

Originally, were you supposed to pay the £1200 in one lump sum or was he going to let you pay it off in instalments?

If it was to be paid as a lump sum, you can certainly ask him to let you pay it off in instalments but you cannot insist on it. If nothing was said about payment arrangements at the time of contracting them imo the default position would be full payment upon satisfactory completion of the services.

naedanger

naptrel wrote: »

We believe the tradesperson we're dealing with will not compromise or negotiate and will see all but immediate payment of £1500 or (4) as defeat.

My thoughts, assuming you cannot reach agreement through discussion:

1) If this dispute is not resolved the tradesperson may take you to court. Therefore be sure to put your case in writing so that you have evidence to show you attempted to resolve the matter reasonably before it went to court.

2) Don't worry too much about the case going to court. I don't think you, as a defendant, will have to pay to defend the action. And provided you are reasonable in your attempt to resolve the matter you are very unlikely to have to pay for the other side's legal costs, though if you lose you will have to pay court fees.

3) If there is only a verbal contract then state in writing you believe the contract was for £1200 plus delivery and explain why you believe £100 is a reasonable amount to cover deliver. Also explain, ideally with evidence (e.g. copies of previous emails), the attempts you made at the time to pay.

4) Offer to pay the £1300 within 30 days if the tradesperson accepts it as a full and final settlement of your claim. Also explain why your circumstances are such that it will take you 30 days to find the money (to show you are not just stalling).

5) If the tradesperson does not accept your offer then I suspect you should attempt to pay them what you think you owe (£1300) as soon as possible in any event. This should demonstrate you are not just trying to use the court process to delay rightful payment.

6) I am inclined to doubt, based on what you have said, that the tradesperson will take you to court for £200 based on a verbal contract unless they have good evidence to show delivery costs of £300 are reasonable.

pappa_golf

I agree with most of the above , but just to add , you have from now to when he issues a court claim , + 14 days+ if you defend + the time upto the court hearing , and if you loose a further 28 days to pay , unless you act unreasonable the cannot start adding extra charges apart from the basic £35 ish for the court costs


you have at least 2 mths to get your act together

timbstoke

When I've previously had to propose a repayment plan that a creditor hasn't been happy with, I've found that simply including a cheque in each reply to them will tend to a) make it clear that you're not avoiding the debt while you negotiate, and b) means they're less likely to escalate, because they *are* getting money. So it'd be something like:

Him: "Here's your invoice for £1500"
You: "I don't believe I owe you more than £1300. Also, I can't afford it all at once. I propose to clear the outstanding amount at £100. I've enclosed a cheque for the first installment
Him: "£100 a month is unacceptable. You owe me £1400 within 7 days"
You: "I don't believe the amount is right - please provide a breakdown of the amount owing. As I said, I can't afford more than £100 a month. Here's another £50 for the two weeks since I last wrote"

Repeat until:

You: I have now paid £1300, which I believe clears the amount owing in full. I enclose a final cheque for £60 to cover the interest since you invoiced me and now consider the matter closed.