Any legal people help with taking a customer to court over money owed?

[Legalq]

A friend of mine is a tradesman. One job finished and the customer won’t pay him. I have had a look online and I see you can apply to the court but I wondered what the process is as he is struggling to work out what to do. Does he go for a CCJ? Or what is it called or what is the correct process? Struggling to get apt to see citizens advice

Small claims court?

How much is he owed? May be small claims

It’s just under £10k, not sure if exact amount. Is small claims court the way to go? He is self employed, his own business if that makes a difference to the situation?

Sounds like small claims court is appropriate. The instructions online are pretty clear.

Ok thanks. Would mediation be the best first port of call? Even if the person is still refusing to pay?

Small claims court for a simple low cost resolution

As your friend is a tradesman, why isn’t he being paid?
Has the client no cash
Or is he disputing the quality of the work, in which case independant opinion will be needed.

No dispute in the work, they say they can’t afford it… but obviously knew the cost beforehand..

He needs to send the customer a letter before action stating what has happened, how much he wants and giving a reasonable deadline for a response (usually 28 days). He should include copies of any documents he will use to support his case. He should state clearly that he will take legal action without further notice if the customer fails to respond satisfactorily by the deadline.

Assuming the customer doesn't offer to settle, his next step is to go to www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/make-claim and click on the "Make a money claim" button. This will start his court claim. He will have to pay a fee. If the amount is just under £10,000, the fee will be £455. Note that he can claim this fee and statutory interest from the customer as well as the amount currently owed. He can find out how to calculate interest at www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/work-out-interest.

The court will then send a copy of the claim to the customer. If they don't respond, he can apply for a default judgement. If the defendant does respond with an offer, he can choose whether to accept that offer. If the defendant doesn't make an offer, the court will ask if he wants to attempt mediation. If either he or the customer rejects mediation or if mediation fails, they will go to court. There is nothing to fear there. If the customer isn't paying the agreed price for the work he has done, he will have no problem winning. This will result in a CCJ against the customer.

Unfortunately, winning may not be the end of the matter. If the customer still refuses to pay, he will have to go back to court to take enforcement action.

@prh47bridge thanks so much

Just to add, if your friend obtains a CCJ and the debtor still will not pay they could consider applying to the court for a charging order. A charging order is a court order which secures the debt against the debtors home ( if they own it), like a mortgage. There is plenty of information online about the process.

* Just to add, if your friend obtains a CCJ and the debtor still will not pay they could consider applying to the court for a charging order. A charging order is a court order which secures the debt against the debtors home ( if they own it), like a mortgage. There is plenty of information online about the process.*

^Definitely do this

£10k is lot to be owed to a tradesman, it is normal for the customer to pay for materials up front, then stage payments for the work as it progresses.
It’s often not easy to get the final 10%.

Also I’d have him speak to his accountant at some point about how to get it written off, depending on how the claim goes.

@Palmfrond he actually had to fold the business since this happened as he couldn’t afford to keep going as he was. He now works for someone else, so an old accountant wouldn’t be able to do anything