Stressed over unpaid invoice - should I go to small claims?

[stressedout85]

I’m freelance and really in need of some advice.

Last year I completed a small job for a client for the agreed sum of £300. I invoiced them and after 40 days (my payment terms are 30 days) I chased the payment as nothing had come into my account. They emailed back apologising and said they’d pay soon, but nothing materialised.

Anyway, several emails later I’ve still received nothing and the invoice is now about 70 days overdue.

Earlier this week I sent another email stating that if I don’t receive payment by the end of the week, I will add a £40 admin fee plus backdated interest - as per the government guidelines - to the invoice.

I’d hoped this would induce a response but it’s now Thursday and I’ve still heard nothing. Obviously there’s a chance they could still pay up as I did say end of the week, but I’m getting the feeling that they won’t.

Once I’ve reissued the invoice with the admin fee plus interest, what are my next steps? How long do I give them to pay the new invoice before going to small claims and if I do go to court, can it be done online or will I need to appear in person? If they still fail to pay after the court rules against them, what happens next?

I’m really stressed out about this as money is tight at the moment and I have a baby on the way so don’t want to let this slide.

The person owing is a sole trader, not a company, in case that’s relevant.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Most established debt collection agencies are reputable. You can always phone them and suss them out first

This is the one I used and was very happy with, they've been on the go since 1986. newman-dca.com/

You need their address.

You either get it, start small claims. Or give it to debt collection and like a pp I have no idea why you are worrying about tactics?

Or you write it off as a bad debt.

What do you want to do?

You're right, I need to toughen up. I just don't want to use an agency that's going to go round with a baseball bat or anything like that! (Or is that just on TV?)

Lesson learnt for the future. Never carry out work for a client without their full address details. For a sole trader it does need to be sent by post and you will need the address for the small claims form anyway.

@Comefromaway Having done some research via Companies House I've now found a company address in London, but it looks like lots of random businesses are registered there - hmm. Will that be ok to use on a small claims form?

If you've found him on Companies House then he is not a Sole Trader.

It's fairly common for some companies to have their registered address as their accountant.

@Comefromaway yup, turns out they’re a limited company with just one director. Can I use what appears to be a holding address used by numerous companies on a small claims form? Will a debt collection agency be able to work with this? As I say, I do also have phone numbers and an email address.

Yes, you can either use the companies registered address or any other address they trade from.

You can also see what their accounts looked like.

Don't bother with debt collection companies. They have no power unless there is a CCJ. All they do is send bolshy and often unlawful letter pretending they act on behalf of courts or threatening court when they have no power. They also add j lawful fees which if the debtor ignore and you take them to court, the judge will not be impressed with as their actions frequently amount to intimidation.

Recipients of private parking notices know all about companies such as this and the judges are generally not impressed

Don't bother with debt collection companies.

When my DF ran his business, all debt collection companies worked by you paying for a number of collections (they offered 10) at £25 each (so you paid then £250 upfront). You then put the details of the debt against a "voucher" for one collection, and they would "do their best". Of course one they had £25 of your cash guaranteed, there was rather less incentive to spend any money chasing a debt.

Oh - and they didn't go as far as court. Although they did make a big thing about how they were happy for you to do so.

Ask yourself - how much are they going to spend to chase a £300 debt with no certain outcome ?

Lots of poor advice on here.

Small claims is easy. You can do it all online. You don't have to do mediation but the option is there. It's 30 quid to register a claim.

But ring first. If that gets you nowhere do you know any of their customers? Anyone that is critical to their business?

If they are registered at a dodgy scam like address then you're probably wasting your time.

The debt collecting agency I used took a percentage of the money they managed to get from debtors, nothing upfront.

They were not done dodgy underhand company, they are well established and work within the law - including taking legal action.

It worked for me as chasing the debt would have taken time away from working on things that actual brought money in. But if someone isn't busy then doing it themselves would make financial sense.

There's no one right answer.