Unpaid Invoice

creative-2008

I've been doing a bit of self employed work in the evenings because we need the extra cash - all documented and all tax paid. I provide a service which, as is the norm in this industry, the client settles at a later date after receiving an invoice. This is usually by bank transfer these days, but occasionally by cheque.

Occasionally I get clients who don't pay promptly, but either a friendly phonecall or a reminder invoice has done the trick.

Just got off the phone to a client who is overdue and I suspect trying to avoid to pay. His English improved remarkably after I said I would pass it on to a debt collector, and he also seemed to imply that actually he wouldn't be in Eastern Europe for the next two months either. (I suspect as he answered a UK mobile, that he might still be in the UK.)

My understanding is that I can send a reminder invoice stating payment is required within the next seven days in the next seven days. And if that expires I can do an online dispute through the courts service?

Does anyone have any experience of this? I realise it doesn't quite fit in with the forum, but it seemed best placed here. I did google similar websites for small businesses or self-employed persons, but didn't find anything that looked promising, and I always rely on MSE.

The invoice is for £90, so isn't going to ruin me if I don't get it, it's the principal of being paid for my time really. And, nothing suggests that he hasn't got the means to pay either.

jobbingmusician

Before you go to court, my understanding is that you have to send a Letter Before Action*. I see no reason why your 7 day invoice shouldn't also fill this function, so that you send a notification with the invoice that the covering letter is a LBA, and if you don't receive payment by the due date you will go straight to MCOL.

*Having said this, I intended to raise a MCOL recently and went through the early stages of this. In my case, MCOL required me to go to an intermediary service, and the matter was resolved (very satisfactorily) there. The only downside was that the intermediary took 3 months. There may be requirements for you, too, but I still think it's worth doing.