To think I'm not going to get this money

[TummyAchesBrainAches]

I did £500 of work for someone who has their own business but which I cannot find in the companies house records. She must be a sole trader, however the way she talks about the bookings she has it seems like quite a big concern.

He gets other people to do the work for her, for example if it were a tree surgery business (it isnt) she would book 10 or 20 customers over a weekend and get other people to do the ones she can't do, taking a cut off the top and ultimately driving prices down.

Not employees, but we have to send an invoice and then it's paid two weeks later.

Thing is, it never takes two weeks. It's more like a month.

I can't manage like this having to chase so we've decided to finish the arrangement. However she still owes me about £500.

I'm asking for it about once a week.

I don't have her postal address, only phone number.

I'm not going to get that money, am I?

Ok, so lesson learned to do work in future only where you know who you expect to pay you. Meantime how late is this invoice?

My dh had a similar issue with one of his clients with regards to non and late payment. He did work for various arms of this persons companies, one of which was managed by this persons partner and who paid on time every time. The other person managed the other side and wasn't so prompt about paying, taking several months once. The last time my dh sent various messages via the various routes, telling them if they didn't pay by X date then he would go to small claims. He got a sarcastic reply back and so withdrew all his business support from the whole lot. The partner who paid well panicked and it has been agreed my dh will do the work for them as long as they don't ever need to deal with the other person.
If you know this woman's full name and area she lives, can you look her up on Companies House as you will be able to get more info from there. Good luck.

Oh you're a solicitor?

Can I ask why you charge so much?

I think the idea of getting a friend to pose as a potential client is a very good one - your friend can ask for an address as she doesn't want to hand money over to someone who she only has a phone number for.

Then small claims court, you can bring the case yourself so no legal costs. And hopefully just the threat will be enough to get her to pay up.

Can I ask again please - what does your contract / Ts and Cs say about payment? This could make all the difference.

The Federation of Small Businesses has an excellent business legal advice line and templates you can use to send letters before action etc.

We didn't have a contract, it was done over WhatsApp, which has worked in the past because most people pay upfront.