Customer dies and owes me money

[Red Devil]

aw51 121565 said:

OP, I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong - but the deceased's estate will be liable for your bill if it has funds available after reasonable expenses [such as his funeral] (and not his wife unless she was also named on the paperwork).

Correct

aw51 121565 said:

You may well have a fair wait until this is sorted out (for probate or for the will to be executed, from memory - again I'm on the right sort of track but my terminology may not be correct, but you get the idea?).

When someone dies the executors (assuming there is a will - you would be amazed how many people don't make one) should, to protect themselves against future claims (it would be unwise not to), issue a Section 27 notice - https://www.probatewizard.co.uk/guides/section-27-... That is one way for creditors to find out who is handling the estate.

The wait will depend on who the executors are and how on the ball they are. The involvement of a firm of solicitors (which can often be the case, either because they are named as such or the widow doesn't want the hassle of dealing with things herself) is guaranteed to lengthen the time frame. One way things might move quicker though is if there is a joint bank account - see below.

Slidingpillar said:

Exactly. All his accounts will be frozen and the assets and liabilities will need working out and have to go through probate. No idea what a death of an account holder does to a joint account, but I have a sneaky suspicion the account is just as locked up as if he was the sole account holder.

Nope. Joint account passes automatically: no grant of representation required - https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/joint... not to

If there are sufficient funds therein there is nothing to stop his widow settling any outstanding bills if she wants to. She doesn't have to though. Forcing the issue could create negative PR for the OP.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

wildcat45 said:

Wait a month. Send an invoice with a covering letter.

Dear Mrs xxxx. We were so sorry to learn of your husband's death and hope you don't regard this letter as an intrusion at this difficult time. Our records show an outstanding invoice for work carried out by us (enclosed). We would be greatful if when you feel able you could give it your attention.

Yours etc....The OP.

^^ This. A simple, but sensitively-worded letter, sent after a respectful period of time.


I might decide to spell "grateful" correctly, though.


ETA: If you really can't wait a month and desperately need the money sooner, then I guess you could modify the letter as follows:

Dear Mrs xxxx. We were sorry to learn of your husband's death, and I apologise for contacting you so soon at this difficult time. Our records show an outstanding invoice for work carried out by us (enclosed). We would be grateful if you could give it your attention as soon as you feel able.

Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Sunday 27th April 16:51

[johnny fotze]

This thread sums up pistonheads. Someone asks for advice on a sensitive matter, gets some good advice from some genuine people, gets abuse from some nobs for asking. That's the beauty of the internet; it allows gobstes a safe place to air their gobste opinions.

[wildcat45]

Dr Mike Oxgreen said:

^^ This. A simple, but sensitively-worded letter, sent after a respectful period of time.


I might decide to spell "grateful" correctly, though.


ETA: If you really can't wait a month and desperately need the money sooner, then I guess you could modify the letter as follows:

Dear Mrs xxxx. We were sorry to learn of your husband's death, and I apologise for contacting you so soon at this difficult time. Our records show an outstanding invoice for work carried out by us (enclosed). We would be grateful if you could give it your attention as soon as you feel able.

Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Sunday 27th April 16:51

Grateful you pointed that out. I blame my idiot spell cheque! :-)

[mybrainhurts]

[Amirhussain]

mybrainhurts said:

[pork911]

mybrainhurts said:

Yeast infection? http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/forum.asp?h=0&a...

[supersingle]

Durzel said:

Only child and lost both parents within 7 years, can't imagine how brutal that must've been (and still be). Sorry for your loss.

To play Devil's Advocate somewhat: if the OP's business really does hang by a thread (he's never said this to be the case incidentally), and the mortgage is being paid job to job, then really it's in deep trouble anyway isn't it irrespective of the circumstances presented. The OP's customer - any of them - could delay payment for a number of reasons: unhappy about the job, unable to pay suddenly etc. Doesn't change the OP's entitlement to be paid but it does mean that relying on a single job to keep a business afloat is a doomed enterprise.

I might as well just shut up shop and go on the dole eh?

Most tradesmen operate this way. You've got large payments owed to a single person. It's not like a business where risk is spread over an organization and shareholders. Non-payers can and do wipe tradesmen out all the time.

[Funkycoldribena]

Simple answer is never work for old people, its far too much grief.

[0000]

My main client doesn't pay for 30 days and they're still alive.

As above, give it a couple of weeks, then send a gentle reminder.

[jimbop1]

mybrainhurts said:

Haha!!

Yes he is.

[Raize]

mybrainhurts said:

Definition of "its"... :lol:

[wildcat45]

Durzel said:

Only child and lost both parents within 7 years, can't imagine how brutal that must've been (and still be). Sorry for your loss.
.

Thank you. It wasn't as bad as you imagine. My Dad was my best friend. He lived an amazing life and regarded death as something natural and something new to experience.

He was an old man, got sick and died quickly.

I feared their passing since an early age. They had me later in life, common now, less so in 1970. What I didn't want to happen was to mum to die before him. He was so I love with her, he'd not have coped.

His death made my mother get old very quickly. She wasn't particularly happy and quite doddery on her pins but to celebrate what would have been their 60th anniversary she took her older sister -nearly 90 - to New York first class on the Queen Mary. "Living it up on my inheritance". She told me.

But she got sick, had falls, broke her hip, refused help and became a bit difficult. She had a heart attack, spent a few days in hospital where she gave me "my last telling off from my mum" everything from not pissing what was coming my way up the wall to always paying for a good haircut. She also made peace with my wife (they'd had a typically strained mother/daughter in law relationship)

One Sunday afternoon she died.

Stressful, but not a brutal time in my life. I certainly made sure I squared away the little she owed.

Edited by wildcat45 on Monday 28th April 00:23

[Durzel]

That is an amazing story, sounds like they both lived a full life. Thanks for sharing that. It's nice to know that things were squared with your wife too.

Having lost my Dad rather suddenly (he was 66) late last year I'm still coming to terms with it - if that's even possible - and have a newfound understanding of the sort of trauma it can be for those who are left behind, especially when they are unprepared, young (I'm mid 30s so not young, but younger than I imagined having to deal with it), etc.

I'm glad it wasn't as brutal for you as the initial story suggested.

Edited by Durzel on Monday 28th April 07:31

[wildcat45]

Sorry for you loss mate. It is a true if overused phrase, but time is a great healer. I hope like me you'll end up remembering more with smiles than tears. It'll always get you for a second now and then. On Saturday I drove through the village where I lived ' till I was 8. Their ashes are there. I didn't stop, had the roof down on the car it was cold so my wife didn't notice the tear that dribbled down my cheek.

Smiles a second later when I turned right onto a country lane, dropped a cog as I remembered I was at the self same spot where I had been on my bike with my Dad in 1970-something and saw my first Spitfire, swooping low overhead..... I revved my little MGF a bit, but hard as I imagined, it didn't sound the same.....

[Cyder]

wildcat45 said:

Sorry for you loss mate. It is a true if overused phrase, but time is a great healer. I hope like me you'll end up remembering more with smiles than tears. It'll always get you for a second now and then. On Saturday I drove through the village where I lived ' till I was 8. Their ashes are there. I didn't stop, had the roof down on the car it was cold so my wife didn't notice the tear that dribbled down my cheek.

Smiles a second later when I turned right onto a country lane, dropped a cog as I remembered I was at the self same spot where I had been on my bike with my Dad in 1970-something and saw my first Spitfire, swooping low overhead..... I revved my little MGF a bit, but hard as I imagined, it didn't sound the same.....

That brought a bit of a lump to my throat.
Must remember to tell the parents I love them when I go to see them this weekend.

[Durzel]

Cyder said:

That brought a bit of a lump to my throat.
Must remember to tell the parents I love them when I go to see them this weekend.

+1



edit: Thanks again wildcat - and sorry to OP for taking this off topic.

Edited by Durzel on Monday 28th April 11:15

[superlightr]

Durzel said:

Cyder said:

That brought a bit of a lump to my throat.
Must remember to tell the parents I love them when I go to see them this weekend.

+1



edit: Thanks again wildcat - and sorry to OP for taking this off topic.

Edited by Durzel on Monday 28th April 11:15

+1

Fek - in the office and eyes welling up. Dad died 2 yrs ago. Mum still battling on.

[wildcat45]

I didn't mean to upset anyone, or hijack the thread.

Sorry.

If anyone wants to talk about it and if in my limited experience I can help PM me.

[Red Devil]

Two completely contrasting circumstances for me. My Dad caught shingles in his 80s. He seemed to have recovered pretty well but it must have weakened him considerably. My mother never mentioned that and one day about 4.30pm I got a call at work. Dad in hospital and things not looking good.

Cue a hurried conversation with the MD and a mad race to catch a train home. Pile into the car with Mrs RD in tow and a 55 mile dash to the coast. Where possible and safe, suffice it to say speed limits were considerably exceeded! Managed to get there without incident and was able to speak to him. He died at 2am the next morning. Bit of shock that was.

My mother had a botched operation (for cataracts). The complications arising meant she needed local authority home carers who found her difficult to cope with so they came and went fairly regularly. She subsequently developed signs of senility and it was far from clear whether she was on the same planet. It was hard to work out whether she recognised either me my sister who came down from Leicestershire to look after her. She eventually went into respite care and two months later suffered a massive coronary. She was a difficult customer as the home mentioned on several occasions when we went to visit. To this day I'm not sure whether she was 'helped' on her way.