Not being paid as a freelance expert

[Deleted User]
[Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
in Employment, jobseeking & training
Hello


I'm in this position where I have provided £5000 worth of expert professional service (I write legal reports) for a limited company that advertises my services for me and gets contracts from them. Does this mean I am subcontracted?


So - I have interviewed many clients and written numerous reports, dating back to December last year. Still no payment from them. They say that they need to wait for the legal companies to pay them first before they can pay their experts. I have waited for 4 months and am still waiting though. £5000 is a lot of money and I could be investing this or even going on a nice holiday by now!


Where do I stand with this? Who do I complain to? I am a bit lost. Trading standards seems inappropriate as I am not a consumer but a subcontractor. Small claims court? And if the company refuses to pay after I win - bailiffs? Anyone ever been in this annoying situation before? I have sent them a formal email to state monies owed and added statutory interest (8%+Bank of England base rate) however they replied to say they do not pay interest on any monies owed.
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Comments

  • BorisThomson
    BorisThomson Posts: 1,721 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Post
    What do your terms of service say about payment?
  • Jakg
    Jakg Posts: 2,265 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    Who is your contract with?
    What are the terms for payment?

    IF the above are breached, then a letter before action and then small claims court. IF you don't want to work for them every again...
    Nothing I say represents any past, present or future employer.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Thanks for the replies.

    The terms of payment in the contract are that they will pay me once they are paid by their clients who commission the reports. I was told verbally, when joining, that this would be within 2 months. But 4 months have now elapsed and I still do not see any payment.

    They claim that they have not been paid. However there is nothing in the contract that states that they can withhold payment if they are not paid by the firms who commission the reports.

    My next question would be how long would you wait for the company to be paid, so that they can pay you? 6 months? A year? If anyone has had this problem before - what was considered a reasonable length of time to wait before going further? Charge interest beyond this reasonable period?

    And if you have gone further - what did you do?
  • agrinnall
    agrinnall Posts: 23,344 Forumite
    First Post Combo Breaker
    The contract that you signed says you have to wait until they are paid, without time limit, so you can't arbitrarily put your own limit on it now. If you are confident that you can prove you were told that payment would be within 2 months then you could take them to court, but unless you have independent witnesses to this I wouldn't fancy your chances of winning.
  • stator
    stator Posts: 7,441 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Do you have the contact details of the companies you did the work for?
    Contact them and ask them if they have paid your contracting company
    Changing the world, one sarcastic comment at a time.
  • Manxman_in_exile
    Manxman_in_exile Posts: 8,380 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    You write legal reports and you are asking on an internet forum what your legal rights are?


    What are your legal reports worth?
  • LilElvis
    LilElvis Posts: 5,835 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    Manxman_in_exile wrote: »
    You write legal reports and you are asking on an internet forum what your legal rights are?


    What are your legal reports worth?

    According to the OP they're worth £5,000 :)
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 46,020 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    To be fair, 'legal reports' can cover a very wide area. Clearly this isn't one of his specialities.
    Signature removed for peace of mind
  • Manxman_in_exile
    Manxman_in_exile Posts: 8,380 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    LilElvis wrote: »
    According to the OP they're worth £5,000 :)


    Looking at the standard of grammar and English in the OP, I think £5k is optimistic.
  • Manxman_in_exile
    Manxman_in_exile Posts: 8,380 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Savvy_Sue wrote: »
    To be fair, 'legal reports' can cover a very wide area. Clearly this isn't one of his specialities.


    I'd be interested to know what sort of legal reports this "freelance expert" writes.
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