Merchants demanding money from self-employed plumbing and heating engineer

Littleladybird22

My husband is a self-employed plumbing and heating engineer. He has not been able to work for over a month now and has had no income. Even before lockdown, customers were cancelling/ postponing jobs amid the fears surrounding the coronavirus. 

The merchants he normally uses have sent him his bill for the previous month. The work he would have completed last month would have paid for this bill, but as he hasn’t been able to work, he hasn’t got the money to pay them. They’ve suggested a few unreasonable payment plans ranging between £500 - £800 a month for the next two months or paying all of the bill immediately. We do not have that money. As soon as it’s safe to work again and customers are willing to have him in their houses, he can start paying the bill. He’s been a loyal customer for years and has never missed a bill payment, but they are claiming there is no other option and he has to pay the amounts they’ve specified. 

Are they allowed to demand this payment knowing full well my husband can’t work? We have no money to give them so we don’t know where to go from here? 

When my husband gets the money from the government, it will not be anywhere near enough to cover the payments they’ve demanded and any support my husband receives will be needed for food and utility bills.

Any help is appreciated. 

Thank you. 

Take care and stay safe everyone. 

TheAble

It's understandable that they want paying - he's had the goods after all. Does he still have them or have they been used? If he still has, perhaps he could return? Failing that, maybe ask them to accept reduced installments. Admittedly I'm not sure whether they're "allowed" to demand or not but I suspect they can, as they have supplied in good faith.

Offer what you can afford would be the strong suggestion. Most companies will be happy to be receiving at least some money; furthermore it shows willingness on the part of your husband that he wants to settle the account, even though it may take longer.

Undervalued

Rachsimo07 said:

My husband is a self-employed plumbing and heating engineer. He has not been able to work for over a month now and has had no income. Even before lockdown, customers were cancelling/ postponing jobs amid the fears surrounding the coronavirus. 

The merchants he normally uses have sent him his bill for the previous month. The work he would have completed last month would have paid for this bill, but as he hasn’t been able to work, he hasn’t got the money to pay them. They’ve suggested a few unreasonable payment plans ranging between £500 - £800 a month for the next two months or paying all of the bill immediately. We do not have that money. As soon as it’s safe to work again and customers are willing to have him in their houses, he can start paying the bill. He’s been a loyal customer for years and has never missed a bill payment, but they are claiming there is no other option and he has to pay the amounts they’ve specified. 

Are they allowed to demand this payment knowing full well my husband can’t work? We have no money to give them so we don’t know where to go from here? 

When my husband gets the money from the government, it will not be anywhere near enough to cover the payments they’ve demanded and any support my husband receives will be needed for food and utility bills.

Any help is appreciated. 

Thank you. 

Take care and stay safe everyone. 

Sorry, but yes of course they are!

They too have bills, suppliers, other responsibilities and most likely employees to pay. I am sure if any or your husband's customers owe him money he is expecting them to pay. And so on, all along the chain. The harsh reality is that whichever link in the chain takes the most lax attitude will be the first to go bust.

sharpe106

What makes you think they have the money either? They will have had to either already pay for the equipment or have somebody demanding payment from them.

Hermann

Yes they are entitled to be paid for goods that he has been supplied with.

If the goods have been used on a clients work then the client pays your husband and your husband pays the merchants.

If the work is part completed with goods stuck on site then it is reasonable to ask the client to make a part payment that covers the cost of the goods, in fact it's possible a part payment to cover goods was already made before starting the works.

If your husband still has the goods then consider returning them for a refund.

Jeremy535897

If your husband is eligible to receive a reasonable sum in respect of the self employed income support scheme, I suggest that he tries using that fact to persuade the supplier to hold off until June, when it is hoped the support will be paid. In the meantime, you could apply for universal credit, and if you are that short, ask for an advance (if you already claim tax credits claiming universal credit will stop them and that might make you worse off). If you rent, ask if you can have more time to pay (they can't apply for eviction at the moment). If you have a mortgage, apply for a mortgage break. If you don't have an overdraft, you might get a free small one to help. If your husband has tax deducted under CIS, and is normally in a tax refund situation, file the 2019/20 tax return (it can take forty days at present to get a refund of tax, and a tax refund can reduce universal credit, as will the SEISS when it is paid).

If your husband has regularly been paying supplier bills for past jobs from income from current jobs, there is something wrong with his pricing.

Littleladybird22

Thank you for your replies everyone 😊 
Much appreciated. It’s a worrying time for a lot of people and businesses. 
I understand that the merchants will need paying. I was just wondering if they could demand all of the payment in the way they have in this current climate. Ordinarily, he has the money to pay all bills. We’ve never been in this situation before. 

They’ve also referred our case to the manager to see how this issue can be resolved. Hopefully, they can revise their payment plan into a more reasonable and achievable monthly sum.  

Thank you again.
Take care. 

Jeremy535897

Yes, nothing has changed about paying debts due.

Thrugelmir

Rachsimo07 said:

They’ve also referred our case to the manager to see how this issue can be resolved. Hopefully, they can revise their payment plan into a more reasonable and achievable monthly sum.  

A mutually agreeable solution is what you need to achieve. Once the crisis ends the merchant and your husband still need each other. There's no harm in saying that you don't have the money. Honesty and frankness goes a long way. 

John_

Rachsimo07 said:

My husband is a self-employed plumbing and heating engineer. He has not been able to work for over a month now and has had no income. Even before lockdown, customers were cancelling/ postponing jobs amid the fears surrounding the coronavirus. 

The merchants he normally uses have sent him his bill for the previous month. The work he would have completed last month would have paid for this bill, but as he hasn’t been able to work, he hasn’t got the money to pay them. They’ve suggested a few unreasonable payment plans ranging between £500 - £800 a month for the next two months or paying all of the bill immediately. We do not have that money. As soon as it’s safe to work again and customers are willing to have him in their houses, he can start paying the bill. He’s been a loyal customer for years and has never missed a bill payment, but they are claiming there is no other option and he has to pay the amounts they’ve specified. 

Are they allowed to demand this payment knowing full well my husband can’t work? We have no money to give them so we don’t know where to go from here? 

When my husband gets the money from the government, it will not be anywhere near enough to cover the payments they’ve demanded and any support my husband receives will be needed for food and utility bills.

Any help is appreciated. 

Thank you. 

Take care and stay safe everyone. 

When this is over, it’d be much better if he kept back the money from the jobs to pay for the out he used on those jobs. Living like you have been, using credit just to get to the end of the month, is a recipe for disaster.
Is there anything that you can sell to raise the amount, or do you have a credit card or an overdraft available? If you don’t, could you ask for an overdraft, or apply for a credit card?
Are you working, and if not could you start? Supermarkets and delivery firms need extra staff at present.

Galloglass

What does their terms say about "title". Often there is a clause in suppliers terms that say that the title (ownership) stays with the supplier until the debt is paid. If you still have unused, unpaid goods then return them. It won't make all of the debt disappear but it might prompt the suppliers to come to an arrangement other than taking the goods back.

This is what Next and ASDA are doing.