Self employed bricky, not paid

Mbsun

I work as a bricklayer on site and haven't been paid my last week's wage of £900 (minus 20%) £720
The brickwork contractor i worked for has not answered my phone calls or replied to my txt messages. He hasn't told me he is not paying me, never mind given me a reason why he has stopped the money (defective work for example). He did not query my Measure (ie bill) when I have him it either.
I also have photographic evidence of the work i did .
In short any of the ways i think he may be able to wriggle out of a payment are not open to him, as he never questioned the Bill, nor questioned the work, nor has he responded to numerous attempts from me to get him to justify none payment.

How do I best go about get him to pay this money?

jobbingmusician

Send him a letter before action, giving him a deadline for paying you the money (I would suggest that you point out it was due on [insert date] and give him a week from receipt to pay you in full, or you will open a court case. Head this letter Letter Before Action.

Then, if not paid, go to MCOL and open a small claims case. It will cost you a small amount, but you claim this back as well. And you claim interest from the date the payment was due. It's a fairly easy procedure and it may be worth reading up about it now.

Warning - however good your case, and however strongly you win, you will not get payment if he doesn't have the money and winds up his firm. Stupid, unfair etc. but that's how things stand. And there is nothing to stop him opening up a new firm the next day....:mad:

Hopefully he will pay when he sees you mean business, however. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Brynsam

MCOL: https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

Mbsun

Thankyou:)

Mbsun

Ok, so
I sent off the letter 2 weeks ago, no reply, no payment
So its court time, but...
I am worried, perhaps he may try to counter claim? I really do not know what possibilities exist
If he is to "get out" of paying me, the only option to him in my opinion is to justify it on the grpunds of faulty workmanship.
At the time i was working in a "gang" (2 bricklayers and a labourer), but we weren't getting along so qe went our seperate ways, and they stayed working for him, so i am near to 100% certain that he will not have stopped/docked them any money, and if he has its a "fudge" as it will have only been done at a later date to justify my stoppage and will have been done by adding money onto a payment to then subtract it. (I havent asked my former colleagues as i wont speak to them)

Besides as far as i am aware if there was an issue with my work as a self employed bricklayer i believe legally he has to give me the opportunity to put it right, and not just stop payment

As i say i have taken pics of my work before leaving, and my bill was never questioned , and i have had no reply to any of my phone calls or txts since, and can prove all this

Any builders/brickies/ cis tradesmen on here have any thoughts or similar experiences?

Undervalued

Mbsun wrote: »

Ok, so
I sent off the letter 2 weeks ago, no reply, no payment
So its court time, but...
I am worried, perhaps he may try to counter claim? I really do not know what possibilities exist
If he is to "get out" of paying me, the only option to him in my opinion is to justify it on the grpunds of faulty workmanship.
At the time i was working in a "gang" (2 bricklayers and a labourer), but we weren't getting along so qe went our seperate ways, and they stayed working for him, so i am near to 100% certain that he will not have stopped/docked them any money, and if he has its a "fudge" as it will have only been done at a later date to justify my stoppage and will have been done by adding money onto a payment to then subtract it. (I havent asked my former colleagues as i wont speak to them)

Besides as far as i am aware if there was an issue with my work as a self employed bricklayer i believe legally he has to give me the opportunity to put it right, and not just stop payment

As i say i have taken pics of my work before leaving, and my bill was never questioned , and i have had no reply to any of my phone calls or txts since, and can prove all this

Any builders/brickies/ cis tradesmen on here have any thoughts or similar experiences?

That is the normal expectation although there can be exceptional circumstances where that would not be appropriate. It all comes down to what the judge considers reasonable.

Ultimately any disputed civil case is judged on the "balance of probabilities" often thought of 51%. If the case is disputed you will have to prepare your evidence and make a statement of truth and he will have the opportunity to do the same. This will have to be submitted and exchanged well before any hearing. Most such cases are settled before reaching a hearing, which would be before a district judge almost certainly round a table in side room rather than in an actual courtroom.

TELLIT01

So far the main contractor has failed to respond, and may well fail to respond to the court action too. If that happens the court will eventually find in the claimants favour.

If possible, put any claim in the name of the company and its named owner(s). I believe that if you do that, the individual will remain liable even if the company is wound up. I am prepared to be corrected on that.

Undervalued

TELLIT01 wrote: »

So far the main contractor has failed to respond, and may well fail to respond to the court action too. If that happens the court will eventually find in the claimants favour.

If possible, put any claim in the name of the company and its named owner(s). I believe that if you do that, the individual will remain liable even if the company is wound up. I am prepared to be corrected on that.

Not as I understand it if it is a limited company. The whole point of a Ltd. Co. is to limit the liability and protect the directors from being personal liable. They would still be liable if they were proved to have acted in a criminal way, or if they have been negligent or reckless about running the company however that can be very hard to prove.

Beyond that however they are quite entitled to run it badly(!!)

However, we don't know if this was a limited company. If it wasn't and was just "Joe Bloggs builders" then the owner would be personally liable.

jonesMUFCforever

OP you have twice mentioned ''defective work'' - is there a problem - where you the only brickie working on site? Are any others still working or is work still going on at the site?
If it was me I would be going there in person to confront the boss-- have you not considered this or again I have to ask was there a problem with your work?

Also as self employed why are you expecting him to deduct tax (20%)?

TELLIT01

Undervalued wrote: »

Not as I understand it if it is a limited company. The whole point of a Ltd. Co. is to limit the liability and protect the directors from being personal liable. They would still be liable if they were proved to have acted in a criminal way, or if they have been negligent or reckless about running the company however that can be very hard to prove.

Beyond that however they are quite entitled to run it badly(!!)

However, we don't know if this was a limited company. If it wasn't and was just "Joe Bloggs builders" then the owner would be personally liable.

That's why I said I could be wrong. My 'expert knowledge' comes from watching programmes like 'Can't Pay...' I've seen instances where both a company and an individual have been named on court documents. How that works I do not claim to know.

comeandgo

Also as self employed why are you expecting him to deduct tax (20%)?[/QUOTE]

That is how the CIS scheme works. HMRC require main contractors to deduct either 30%, or 20% or if you have sufficient turnover and have filed your returns and paid your tax on time you may get your full payment gross.

OP, did you just walk off site and not return?