Discussion
I have a client who has 3 invoices overdue, going back 18 months! Every month they promise to pay but fail to do so 
(actually I have about a dozen such clients 
)
Ive never taken anyone to court, have always written money off, will never take my younger or less financially insecure clients to court... but I have several bigger clients who have taken the piss bigstyle, and Id now like to recover whats due as well as learn how to do it.
Whats invovled? How much form filling out is there (an hours worth per client? - I have a lot of clients who have defaulted over the last year) Can I request that court is held in my home town? What actually happens should a client fail to pay (CCJ, or something?) Is there any incentive to pay if the court rules in my favour? And how long is the process, usually per client?
(actually I have about a dozen such clients ) Ive never taken anyone to court, have always written money off, will never take my younger or less financially insecure clients to court... but I have several bigger clients who have taken the piss bigstyle, and Id now like to recover whats due as well as learn how to do it.
Whats invovled? How much form filling out is there (an hours worth per client? - I have a lot of clients who have defaulted over the last year) Can I request that court is held in my home town? What actually happens should a client fail to pay (CCJ, or something?) Is there any incentive to pay if the court rules in my favour? And how long is the process, usually per client?
Hey there
If I were you I would contact a solicitor and for about £20 they will send a 7 day letter to your buyer advising that unless they pay action will be taken.. if you want more info or further advise drop me a mail and I'll see if I can help.
>> Edited by Draft on Thursday 8th December 16:15
If I were you I would contact a solicitor and for about £20 they will send a 7 day letter to your buyer advising that unless they pay action will be taken.. if you want more info or further advise drop me a mail and I'll see if I can help.
>> Edited by Draft on Thursday 8th December 16:15
If they fail to pay a CCJ, you can get a distress warrant issued for a baliffe to go and collect your money. Any court and baliffe fees are added to the original debt. This may help you for a minimal outlay.
www.lawpack.co.uk/small_claims_kit.asp?source=overture&cat=small_claims
HTH
DAve
406
>> Edited by 406tm on Thursday 8th December 16:17
www.lawpack.co.uk/small_claims_kit.asp?source=overture&cat=small_claims
HTH
DAve
406
>> Edited by 406tm on Thursday 8th December 16:17
As already some solicitors will charge relatively reasonable sums for aletter basically saying "You owe my client £x pay by y or we'll see you in court".
The problem comes when the client still doesn't pay, and you will then need to go to court to get judgement etc. Generally most pay without going to court. We had one client who refused to pay so we went to court, he didn;t turn up, so we got judgement. He still didn;t pay so rather than send in the bailiffs we got a charge on his house, so that he couldn;t sell his house until he paid us.
All went quiet for a couple of years when we suddenly got a fax from a solictor saying he wants to remortage and could we confirm the debt had been paid. It hadn;t so we couldn't. Result was that we suddently got paid!
Up to a certain sum you can go via small claims. Where the court is held will depend on the circumstances of the parties. I believe that if you are a small business then it will be in your area, rather than you having to travel.
The problem comes when the client still doesn't pay, and you will then need to go to court to get judgement etc. Generally most pay without going to court. We had one client who refused to pay so we went to court, he didn;t turn up, so we got judgement. He still didn;t pay so rather than send in the bailiffs we got a charge on his house, so that he couldn;t sell his house until he paid us.
All went quiet for a couple of years when we suddenly got a fax from a solictor saying he wants to remortage and could we confirm the debt had been paid. It hadn;t so we couldn't. Result was that we suddently got paid!
Up to a certain sum you can go via small claims. Where the court is held will depend on the circumstances of the parties. I believe that if you are a small business then it will be in your area, rather than you having to travel.
I am in the same situation and again have normally written the debt off, so thanks for the info!! ( Will be able to afford the Chim if they all cough up!! ) Do you have to supply Office or Home address, one of our debtors is a bit of a rogue who I wouldnt want near my Home!!
>> Edited by bmwdrivernigel on Thursday 8th December 16:28
>> Edited by bmwdrivernigel on Thursday 8th December 16:28
Send a Final Demand letter giving them 7 days to pay.
When they don't, pop along over to the HMCS website and use their Money Claim Online service to start proceedings against them. It will cost a maximum of £250 and this can be added onto what is owed to you, so if you win then it effectively costs you nothing.
I successfully sued for oustanding invoices this way, but legal restrictions prevent me from going into any further details I'm afraid.
Edit: Bugger - rich1231 beat me to it.
>> Edited by JonRB on Thursday 8th December 16:33
When they don't, pop along over to the HMCS website and use their Money Claim Online service to start proceedings against them. It will cost a maximum of £250 and this can be added onto what is owed to you, so if you win then it effectively costs you nothing.
I successfully sued for oustanding invoices this way, but legal restrictions prevent me from going into any further details I'm afraid.
Edit: Bugger - rich1231 beat me to it.
>> Edited by JonRB on Thursday 8th December 16:33
chrisgr31 said:
As already some solicitors will charge relatively reasonable sums for aletter basically saying "You owe my client £x pay by y or we'll see you in court".
The problem comes when the client still doesn't pay, and you will then need to go to court to get judgement etc. Generally most pay without going to court. We had one client who refused to pay so we went to court, he didn;t turn up, so we got judgement. He still didn;t pay so rather than send in the bailiffs we got a charge on his house, so that he couldn;t sell his house until he paid us.
All went quiet for a couple of years when we suddenly got a fax from a solictor saying he wants to remortage and could we confirm the debt had been paid. It hadn;t so we couldn't. Result was that we suddently got paid!
Up to a certain sum you can go via small claims. Where the court is held will depend on the circumstances of the parties. I believe that if you are a small business then it will be in your area, rather than you having to travel.
Class! I like it
chrisgr31 said:
Up to a certain sum you can go via small claims. Where the court is held will depend on the circumstances of the parties. I believe that if you are a small business then it will be in your area, rather than you having to travel.
Ah, Mr Gr31 - a name from the past! I had a different handle when I posted on the AOL boards
Small claims limit is £5,000. You can issue in your local court. The court will then decide, based in part on the submissions from the parties when they file their allocation questionnaires and in part on the court rules, whether to move it.
As a rule, if the defendant is an individual, it gets transferred to their local court. If it's a company, or the court thinks there's a good reason for it to stay where it is issued, it won't get transferred.
It's all been said above really - one thing to bear in mind though is that if the debtor attempts to defend your claim or to counterclaim it will be transferred out of Northampton County Court (which is where all money online claims are issued) and into the normal court system. Where it will get bogged down in the mire and you may feel that you need to instruct a solicitor to act for you - one big thing to bear in mind - if you instigate court proceedings and then withdraw them you have to be careful to avoid ending up with liability for the other sides costs to date.
You can do it yourself happily but if you've got an invoice that you think that the debtor might have grounds to defend against you need to be careful.
The other option of course is to flog the debts on to a factoring company and let them deal with them...I'm not sure how much that costs but it may well be worth it given the amount of time you could spend doing this yourself.
Good luck!
You can do it yourself happily but if you've got an invoice that you think that the debtor might have grounds to defend against you need to be careful.
The other option of course is to flog the debts on to a factoring company and let them deal with them...I'm not sure how much that costs but it may well be worth it given the amount of time you could spend doing this yourself.
Good luck!
Fire a copy of this off to them on your headed paper.
Include copies of invoices, account statements etc
Notification of Claim
Mr XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXX
ADDRESS
ADDRESS
XXXXXX XXXXXX
By: Recorded Delivery
DATE
RE:
Invoice: 1234 - £XXXXX
Invoice: 5678 - £XXXXX
Notice Before Proceedings Under The County Courts Act
Please take notice that it is now this company’s intention to formalise our claim against you in the following matter/s:
A) Claim £XXXXX
B) Interest on the debt for the period
C) All costs to date & court costs
Your attention is drawn to the Statement of Account enclosed, and you are now informed that unless payment is received within the next 7 days, immediate proceedings will be taken against you in the COUNTY COURT for the recovery of the same without further notice.
We further refer you to previous correspondence in the matter, which will form the basis of our claim.
Notification under the County Courts Act to issue Default Summons (fixed amount) (Order 3, rule 3 (2)(b)(11.95).
Include copies of invoices, account statements etc
Notification of Claim
Mr XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXX
ADDRESS
ADDRESS
XXXXXX XXXXXX
By: Recorded Delivery
DATE
RE:
Invoice: 1234 - £XXXXX
Invoice: 5678 - £XXXXX
Notice Before Proceedings Under The County Courts Act
Please take notice that it is now this company’s intention to formalise our claim against you in the following matter/s:
A) Claim £XXXXX
B) Interest on the debt for the period
C) All costs to date & court costs
Your attention is drawn to the Statement of Account enclosed, and you are now informed that unless payment is received within the next 7 days, immediate proceedings will be taken against you in the COUNTY COURT for the recovery of the same without further notice.
We further refer you to previous correspondence in the matter, which will form the basis of our claim.
Notification under the County Courts Act to issue Default Summons (fixed amount) (Order 3, rule 3 (2)(b)(11.95).
UKBob said:
Is there any incentive to pay if the court rules in my favour? And how long is the process, usually per client?
If the court rules in your favor they will get a CCJ if they dont pay
I took a dealer to court, ruled in my favour and he wrote the check out there and then = no CCJ
Min was small claims court as it was only £1,000.
This is dependent on how much they owe you how p
sed off with them you are and if you expect to have any business relationship with them in the future. If you are really certain of yourself and they owe 1000's and they do not deny the debt then forget the smalls claims court and issue a statutory demand.
If they dont respond either by applying to have the demand set aside or paying you within 21 days you can apply for a winding up order (Ltd Co) or petition for bankruptcy (person).
If you know who they bank with then advise their bank that you have issued the demand. The bank are quite likley to freeze their accounts. This action tends to concentrate your debtors mind on paying you.
On the other hand if you dont want to be quite so robust about it go with the county court option as mentioned by other replies.
sed off with them you are and if you expect to have any business relationship with them in the future. If you are really certain of yourself and they owe 1000's and they do not deny the debt then forget the smalls claims court and issue a statutory demand. If they dont respond either by applying to have the demand set aside or paying you within 21 days you can apply for a winding up order (Ltd Co) or petition for bankruptcy (person).
If you know who they bank with then advise their bank that you have issued the demand. The bank are quite likley to freeze their accounts. This action tends to concentrate your debtors mind on paying you.
On the other hand if you dont want to be quite so robust about it go with the county court option as mentioned by other replies.
I have been in business for myself for 10 years, only had to take about 5 people to court in that time, works most times but the law has a bark and no teeth when all comes to all if they do not pay even after getting a court judgement against them you are pretty much on your own, the courts are not interested. I have one case ongoing at the moment solicitors letters ignored then court ruling against him also ignored, is at the moment living with his inlaws so can probably say he has no assets so no point in sending in the balifs. I will ultimatly get the money as I never give up and there are always other alternatives. What annoys me most of all is that I would not do this to anyone for any amount no matter how small, that is why I will not have it done to me. I always pursue bad debtors, I don't care if it costs me more to get the money than I get back as the principle of not being taken for a mug is all important.
Rob,
What I would do and have done for clients is to write a very short letter, with only small paragraphs. The first outlining the invoice details and the sums involved and mentioning the previous correspondence/conversations that have taken place. The second confirms that no further correspondence will be entered into and that court proceedings will be instigated unless you receive payment in full within 21 days.
Send 1 copy normal 1st class post and one by recorded delivery, and watch the money roll in.
Regards
Steve
What I would do and have done for clients is to write a very short letter, with only small paragraphs. The first outlining the invoice details and the sums involved and mentioning the previous correspondence/conversations that have taken place. The second confirms that no further correspondence will be entered into and that court proceedings will be instigated unless you receive payment in full within 21 days.
Send 1 copy normal 1st class post and one by recorded delivery, and watch the money roll in.
Regards
Steve
medusa said:I feel the same way. I always write things off, and am tired of watching myself do so all the time. And letting people who are really taking the piss take the piss. The client I mentioned has promised every month for 18 months, the cheque will be in the post shortly, be patient.
I don't care if it costs me more to get the money than I get back as the principle of not being taken for a mug is all important.
I even renewed their services when they were a year late in paying, because "Clients come first" in my books. They still do, and I'll admit its my own fault for letting them take the piss.
anniesdad said:I'm going to go down this route, cheers steve
Rob,
What I would do and have done for clients is to write a very short letter, with only small paragraphs. The first outlining the invoice details and the sums involved and mentioning the previous correspondence/conversations that have taken place. The second confirms that no further correspondence will be entered into and that court proceedings will be instigated unless you receive payment in full within 21 days.
Send 1 copy normal 1st class post and one by recorded delivery, and watch the money roll in.
Regards
Steve
Hello UKBob
I also put my customers first, I still have the customers I started with in 1995 and more arrive on a weekly basis. It is just the odd few that as you say take the piss. If someone has cash flow problems and let me know we can always work around it, it is just the odd few who seem to know the system inside out and are virtually professional debtors, they know most of the tricks and have no shame.
I also put my customers first, I still have the customers I started with in 1995 and more arrive on a weekly basis. It is just the odd few that as you say take the piss. If someone has cash flow problems and let me know we can always work around it, it is just the odd few who seem to know the system inside out and are virtually professional debtors, they know most of the tricks and have no shame.
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