Owed money by client

[Nellephant10]

I have been a dog boarder/day carer/walker for past 8 years. Due to health issues I'm having to stop. Have given all my clients notice. Every client I've ever had has always paid me on time, usually before I've even sent the invoice, except one. They have never paid me the full amount each month, only a portion of it. I know they've had issues so have always tried to cut them slack. They now owe me nearly £1000, money I can't afford to lose, and despite me sending monthly invoices throughout detailing all the dates ive had their dog, and even my spreadsheet, they are now saying they don't think they owe me that much. They are also giving me all kinds of reasons why they haven't paid me yet (life circumstances, illness etc) despite me sending the final invoice in May. I've even offered them a payment plan but now they aren't replying to me. I know they've got stuff going on so don't want to be a nag but I need that money and I've earned that money!! I'm thinking ultimately I'll have to go to small claims court but would prefer to try and resolve this amicably if I can. What would you do now?

Your best way forward is the small claims court. Let me find a link

”dear client, unless you pay in full by the end of this week I will be forced to start court proceedings to recover my fees”

Then file with small claims court next Monday if they haven’t paid.

Absolutely this.
Small claims court is great.

https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money

Yes, you’ll pay a small fee but that will be added to their bill once they lose and get a CCJ (county court judgement against them).

I have taken non-paying clients to court and won. Make sure you have evidence of bills and are able to submit to court.

camScanner is a fab app that allows you to scan documents and compress them into pdf format.

I really hope you get what you’re owed. You can also apply for interest (I did) on the outstanding amount. I’d write one last letter to client, recorded delivery and evidence that to court. Set them payment date within 5-10 working days on date xx by 5pm and if no payment tell them this is going to small claims court and a CCJ will be recorded against their credit file.

I would definitely send that text about small claims court and then actually do it if they don't reply.

If the client is local to you OP, can you doorstep them, or see them out and about publicly - bump into them as often as you can?

That worked for me (I had clients like yours and I did the same as you). They were out walking the dog themselves - and eventually couldn’t avoid me in their space.

(Claimed he had done a bank transfer to me but forgotten to press “send” - wealthy as well - sigh).

I also used another reason with a second (wealthy) client - “my accountant is waiting to process my year-end books”….

Absolutely make a https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money claim though do be aware that their enforcement powers are pretty limited so you might not necessarily recover your money

Your best leverage is to send a registered letter advising as above pay up or small claims. If you have to continue, then set the interest really really high to discourage them from dragging it out and give an incentive to pay up or owe even more.

Overall, though, being understanding in payments where you cannot afford to write off the value however kind, just never ends well

Hope you get the money you are owed.

Thank you so much for your replies. You've given me confidence about what to do. I always try and do the right thing if people are in a bad place, but at the end of the day, they've had three holidays this year already, but I'm struggling to make ends meet.

I've sent them a WhatsApp so I can see they've got it and read it, saying that although they've got a lot going on it doesn't take long to send payment, that I won't let this go, that I've been more than reasonable and so they need to pay up by Friday 5pm or I shall go to small claims court.

It's so bloody rude. Why do people feel it's OK to behave like this? It is essentially stealing! @VWT5 over the years I've noticed it tends to be the wealthy ones who hang on longest before paying too! Guess that's why they are wealthy!!

If they're not respecting you enough to pay the bill, and now even reply, you don't have to respect their circumstances or time anymore.

Courts

It'll probably take some time but if you can do a full review of their account with you from the date when they last cleared a whole month of payment (could be going back some time here) and provide that to them.
Say for example you charge £200 and they clear £150 of that, then they have an outstanding amount of £50 that is carried into the next billing period and is added to the next bill of £200, making that bill actually £250 that they now have to clear, so it accumulates.

I'd start charging them interest on the non payment amount too.

I'd also tell them that they have 14 days to clear all outstanding debts or you will be going to the small claims court for 100% of the outstanding amount, not sure if you can add on charges such as inconvenience and interest but it might be worthwhile.

Did they reply?

Not yet. It's only just been delivered, which I was kind of expecting as they've been in work until 7pm. I'll update when I get a reply (or not!) I suspect I won't get one, nor payment, but I feel so much better for having discussed it with you all on here and getting a plan of what I'm going to do if they don't.

@LookItsMeAgain , great minds - I did that last week in an attempt to show them all the ins and outs but I didn't get a reply from it, even though I even offered them a payment plan at the same time. But at least I can say that I've done all I can to resolve it nicely, it is squarely on them now as being CFs!

Definitely apply heft interest.
You are not a charity.

There is a particular type of scum that stiff people for services paid despite being well able to pay.

Any update on your outstanding account @Nellephant10 ? Hopefully the client has seen sense.

To update, heard nothing initially, then Thurs night get message to say she has set up a standing order to pay me £100 a month (I'd originally suggested a payment plan ages ago back when she still seemed like a genuine person), starting from Friday 16th. She said she had always intended to pay me but her account had been stopped due to fraud so she had to get that sorted out first 🙄🤦🏼‍♀️ If she hadn't given me so many excuses and ignored me for so long she'd have had a better chance of me believing that one!! I didn't think I'd actually get the money but it turned up in my account on Friday as promised!! It will be interesting to see if she really does keep paying each month. I'd have preferred the whole amount in one go at this point, but happy to take the payment plan option rather than getting nothing.

Thank you everyone for your help and advice. Needed it to give me the confidence I wasn't being unreasonable.

Don’t feel guilty. They obviously don’t respect you or care about you being out of pocket.

The small claims court. I think once they see you’re serious, they’ll pay up. They could have serious financial consequences if they don’t - CCJs can stop people getting mortgages and even jobs.

Give them one more chance and then let them worry about court action.

Glad to see you are getting your money back but I hope they don't mess you about. You've been very patient and you do deserve interest on the outstanding balance.

did fridays money arrive? there’s a reason my kennel ask for payment at the time of drop off

You are aware that she can cancel the standing order just as quickly as she set it up - so if I were you, I'd be looking to cancel this arrangement with this particular client. Don't forget to charge her an outstanding amount as interest owed too. As soon as you're no longer out of pocket, I'd say "Thanks for finally transferring the outstanding amount to my account. This ends our contract with immediate effect"

Well done for persevering.

Similar boat op. Over 1k owed.. Any idea how I take a solicitor to court for non payment of services????

She won't pay, she has paid £100 to shut you up for a bit.
I still think you should say thet you want the full amount by x date or £500 by the 1st September or something or you will still be chasing for £100 every month for the next 9 months

You can do it yourself using Small claims (details above)

You can still go for CCJ even with a payment plan

Relief they have started paying,but if they stop, just go straight to small claims. No messing about!