If payment is due ‘by 29th’…

[BuddlesOfMine]

…when would you start chasing for late payment? It’s a small gripe (which I would never mention) that I have with a service I use but wondering if I’m being unreasonable.

In my line of work "by 29th" would mean 29th is the last day for payment, so you could start chasing from 30th.

The day after. It's then late.

The 29th would be the last day payment could be made so I'd start chasing on the 30th.

I think anyone waiting until the last possible day to pay for any service is being a dick to be honest, not sure why you'd do that. It's reasonable for them to remind you a few days before if you're a persistent late payer, and to chase from 29th. If you are a business then they can also legally charge you a statutory admin fee plus statutory interest for late payment beyond 30 days; not enough small businesses charge this but they really should.

By the 29th means that's the last day for payment, so if it hasnt been paid by the end of that day then it's late. Some companies / services might give a few days before chasing, but I wouldn't be surprised if I was asked for the money the next day.

Midnight on the 29th. The 30th is late…

Technically 0.01 am on 30th. Many companies have systems that automatically send out reminder. Can't blame businesses tbh. So many people think just because they use the service for years and alway eventually pay that they should get special treatments. They forget that the businesses have their own bills to pay.

@JustUseTheDoorSanta

I think anyone waiting until the last possible day to pay for any service is being a dick to be honest, not sure why you'd do that. It's reasonable for them to remind you a few days before if you're a persistent late payer, and to chase from 29th. If you are a business then they can also legally charge you a statutory admin fee plus statutory interest for late payment beyond 30 days; not enough small businesses charge this but they really should.

You seem to be mixing up late payment with payment in accordance with the terms.

When I ran my small business, most people paid on the terms agreed - very rarely did anyone pay early, and sometimes I had to chase late payments. But a payment on the last possible day isn't late - that's still on time.

Are the reminders some kind of automated thing that is sent on the 30th if you haven't paid? If so that isn't unreasonable, if they are chasing you before the end of the 29th that's a bit previous but maybe you are always late and it annoys them.

You need to give some context to the problem

@daimbarsatemydogsbone - I didn't say it was late on 29th, you've misread. If payment hasn't arrived on 29th then it will be late when paid on 30th, so reminders that additional statutory fees and interest will apply from midnight are appropriate.

@JustUseTheDoorSanta

I think anyone waiting until the last possible day to pay for any service is being a dick to be honest, not sure why you'd do that. It's reasonable for them to remind you a few days before if you're a persistent late payer, and to chase from 29th. If you are a business then they can also legally charge you a statutory admin fee plus statutory interest for late payment beyond 30 days; not enough small businesses charge this but they really should.

This is ridiculous.

The last possible day to pay for a service is a perfectly acceptable time to pay. Why would you do that? To manage your own cash flow, I imagine.

I've had reminders on the due date if the payment hasn't gone through by then, particularly from small or sole traders.I'd aim to have the payment with them by their close of business on the day (so if they have trading hours, by the end of their day not midnight).

I'd definitely expect to hear from them the day after (30th in your example OP) if the payment hadn't been made.

Received by close of business on 29th.

By the 29th I'd always make sure to pay on the 28th at the latest, to be on the safe side as it almost reads as before the 29th

Chasing for late payment, 00:01 on the day after it was due.

Reminding that payment is due, any point after the issue of the invoice.

Bloody hell, JustUseTheDoorSanta, I'm glad I'm not you. You must think an awful lot of people are "dickheads" if that's your mentality!

Reminder on the 29th
A telling off for being late after close of business on the 29th

I'm not sure what part of "persistent late payer" has got people confused. Is it the word "late" that you didn't understand?

It isn't ridiculous to charge statutory interest, it's a legal right: www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery. Businesses that are very strapped for cash may have to leave payments until the very last day, but late payment affects the company rating and avoiding weekends or a banking system blip affecting rating means most companies pay a few days early; they agree longer payment terms contractually if they can't make 30 work. You can even search payment frequency here: www.gov.uk/check-when-businesses-pay-invoices.

Thanks all. For context, I have never once paid late, ever. It’s a service which usually asks for payment on the last day of the month. This suits us really well as it works with us being paid and doing our ‘banking’. We therefore pay it on the final day of the month at the same time as doing all our other transfers for the month. We pay by bank transfer so it’s instant (I have checked with the owner of the business that our payment is received immediately and it is).

For the last couple of months, a different, earlier date than the usual month end has been stipulated. I have put these dates in my phone diary so a reminder would pop up on the day ensuring I did not forget. Last month I got a reminder from the company late in the evening of the day before their requested payment date asking to please pay by 6pm the next day. I knew I would be working the next day but that I would be home and able to pay on time. By midday while I was at work I had had a message saying they still didn’t have my payment and to send them the date I had paid. I replied asking was it the payment due by 6pm that day and they said yes. I paid on time. As I said, I always do.

Yesterday a general reminder was sent to pay by today. No issue with that and I knew it was in my phone calendar to remind me to pay by today’s earlier than usual date. This morning while I was in bed I had another message specifically to me saying they had ‘still’ not had my payment and to let them know what date I had paid so they could look again.

Just to reiterate I have never ever paid late, not once in over 2 years of using the service.

I'm not surprised you're a little cross. If they want payment on the 28th then they need to change the payment request date. Paying on the 29th is not paying late.

@BuddlesOfMine - if you're paying on time, then you have two choices really:

1. pay a day early so you don't get their reminders
2. file the emails automatically did you don't see them
3. get into lengthy email battles with their finance team to only have reminders once you're already late; they might want to agree an admin charge if you go that route and then are late.

Personally I'd find 1 easier, but it's up to you.

OK. But by 29th means that they ideally want to be paid before then, and that's the absolute latest to pay.

You are being petty

Most of this stuff is automated. We have clients who pay on two week terms. They get a reminder on the last due date (day 14) to say “your payment is due today” the late payment reminders post this date.

Does your bank not have a function that allows you to set up future payments? It's seems unnecessarily complicated, by the time I'd entered a reminder into a diary I could have set up the payment for the date it was required.

Are the reminders generic? I'd assume they want to be sure that everyone pays by the due date unless you have reason to think they are singling you out.

For the last couple of months, a different, earlier date than the usual month end has been stipulated.

What's the reason for this change?