Unpaid invoice, what can i do?

MovingForwards

AskAsk said:

MovingForwards said:

AskAsk said:

ACG said:

AskAsk said:

bpk101 said:

ACG said:

make sure to include you will be looking to also charge interest at the standard rate (8%) and add on any court related fees to the final bill. 

I'm happy to write a letter. When would the interest apply from, 14 days from invoice (my terms), 30 days from invoice (standard terms) or from the day they receive my letter?
I feel the mention of 'court related fees' might be a little heavy handed in the first letter, is this essential at the outset?
Is there a draft template available anywhere for this sort of letter?
Thanks

you don't need to say you will be adding interest, as that should only be done when you had issued the original invoice.  however, if you go to court, the interest for late payment will be awarded to you automatically by the court if they decide in your favour.  so i wouldn't start an argument at this stage, but try to get the money they owe you.

I take a slightly different view... If they think they are going to be liable for interest and fees, they may just pay it sooner rather than later. 

Each to their own of course, there will be arguments for both ways. 

You dont need to worry about when the interest is charged from, I would just add that you will be asking the courts to add interest on at the standard rate of 8%. 

courts automatically add on interest on claims, so the claimant does not need to ask for interest.  they have an accountant, so he will know about court proceedings i am guessing.

i don't think at this early stage, the OP should go gung ho on the demand, so just to state that he is owed money and that he would like payment to be made by a certain date.  the next stage will be the court proceedings threat.

given the current economic climate, flexibility should be given to organisations to make payment and the OP shouldn't burn his bridges as they may commision him again in future when things are back to normal.

Courts only consider what's included in the proceedings, if no interest is claimed the court won't add it off their own back.

i have claimed through the small claims in the past and i didn't ask for interest.  it just asked me how much i am owed and when they issued the demand it included interest in the demand itself by default.

it was a while ago so my memory may be wrong or the process has changed.  i remember being surprised that i was given interest on the debt when i hadn't asked for it.

Perhaps you got lucky, perhaps as an average member of the public the judge did it for you, the OP being self-employed may not be so lucky and therefore it's best to include it.

AskAsk

MovingForwards said:

AskAsk said:

MovingForwards said:

AskAsk said:

ACG said:

AskAsk said:

bpk101 said:

ACG said:

make sure to include you will be looking to also charge interest at the standard rate (8%) and add on any court related fees to the final bill. 

I'm happy to write a letter. When would the interest apply from, 14 days from invoice (my terms), 30 days from invoice (standard terms) or from the day they receive my letter?
I feel the mention of 'court related fees' might be a little heavy handed in the first letter, is this essential at the outset?
Is there a draft template available anywhere for this sort of letter?
Thanks

you don't need to say you will be adding interest, as that should only be done when you had issued the original invoice.  however, if you go to court, the interest for late payment will be awarded to you automatically by the court if they decide in your favour.  so i wouldn't start an argument at this stage, but try to get the money they owe you.

I take a slightly different view... If they think they are going to be liable for interest and fees, they may just pay it sooner rather than later. 

Each to their own of course, there will be arguments for both ways. 

You dont need to worry about when the interest is charged from, I would just add that you will be asking the courts to add interest on at the standard rate of 8%. 

courts automatically add on interest on claims, so the claimant does not need to ask for interest.  they have an accountant, so he will know about court proceedings i am guessing.

i don't think at this early stage, the OP should go gung ho on the demand, so just to state that he is owed money and that he would like payment to be made by a certain date.  the next stage will be the court proceedings threat.

given the current economic climate, flexibility should be given to organisations to make payment and the OP shouldn't burn his bridges as they may commision him again in future when things are back to normal.

Courts only consider what's included in the proceedings, if no interest is claimed the court won't add it off their own back.

i have claimed through the small claims in the past and i didn't ask for interest.  it just asked me how much i am owed and when they issued the demand it included interest in the demand itself by default.

it was a while ago so my memory may be wrong or the process has changed.  i remember being surprised that i was given interest on the debt when i hadn't asked for it.

Perhaps you got lucky, perhaps as an average member of the public the judge did it for you, the OP being self-employed may not be so lucky and therefore it's best to include it.

have you made a claim recently?  if so, do you remember if it asked you whether you want interest to be added?

i did the claim online against the seller of a house that we bought.  he had agreed to remove a load of rubbish from the garden before completion and he didn't do so.  we had to instruct a company to clear the rubbish and took out a small claims case against him.  it was all done online and he paid up as soon as he got the demand.

MovingForwards

I used to include it on every claim submitted, if I was to do one today I would include it.

General_Grant

bpk101 said:

ACG said:

make sure to include you will be looking to also charge interest at the standard rate (8%) and add on any court related fees to the final bill. 

I'm happy to write a letter. When would the interest apply from, 14 days from invoice (my terms), 30 days from invoice (standard terms) or from the day they receive my letter?
I feel the mention of 'court related fees' might be a little heavy handed in the first letter, is this essential at the outset?
Is there a draft template available anywhere for this sort of letter?
Thanks

Why "my terms" and "standard terms"?  Where are the "standard terms"?  It sounds as though they are only "standard" because that is what you normally do but the 14 days are the actual terms in your contract.

Dox

How much money are we talking about?

bpk101

Thanks for all the advice, i will write a letter and post it tomorrow. Last couple of questions...

Should i address the letter for the attention of the accountant, who works part time at the office but is the one tasked with making the payment, or the director who works full time but is more inclined to ignore the letter?

Is it best practice to send this letter as signed for so i can prove they received it? 

MovingForwards

No, you send it to the director(s) or partners, anything else means you have to do it again.

Send it normal with proof of postage from the post office. That's sufficient to say it's been received a few days later.

AskAsk

bpk101 said:

Thanks for all the advice, i will write a letter and post it tomorrow. Last couple of questions...

Should i address the letter for the attention of the accountant, who works part time at the office but is the one tasked with making the payment, or the director who works full time but is more inclined to ignore the letter?

Is it best practice to send this letter as signed for so i can prove they received it? 

address it to the directors as they are the people you are going to sue and not the accountant.  he is their employee and is not responsible to you, they are.

cc it to the accountant so he can see that you have got in touch with the directors.

get a receipt of posting for it, which will be free at the post office.

you can also scan the letter and email it to the directors and copy in the accountant, and state in the email that is a copy of the letter that has been sent in the post.