Calling any legal eagles - small business court case

[Ditzymumofone]

I run my own business from home and am having trouble getting paid for a job. I have gone to the small claims court and the client is now defending the claim with a lie.
Basically, I know they have a cash flow problem and they are trying to get out of paying me (and others) by saying there is a problem with the job. There is no,problem, infact I have it in writing to the contrary.
Is it worth continuing the fight? Is there anything a small business can do to prevent this being done to them?

If you have evidence in writing to prove your claim, I suppose you are not anticipating a problem in winning your case and (finally) getting your money.

In future, you could refuse to carry out any jobs without a signed contract and include a clause in that contract whereby payment will always be due within [] days of date of invoice, with no right of set off, deduction etc and provide your client with an alternative path for complaints and (where the complaint is valid) reimbursement

I do have evidence, but it still scares the pants off me. It is also so unfair that a bigger business can behave in this way. Unfortunatly most of what I do is based on trust and when this happens I want to cut my head off!

Hope it works out for you. There are lots of lawyers on here, if you need help with your claim.

Ditzy have you posted this in the legal/money matters section? It's just your problem isn't really employment and although some employment lawyers check here there are lots of 'legal eagles' who can probably give you good advice about small claims court etc on the legal section.

Hope it works out

I am also a small business and a member of the Federation of Small Businesses (google that, their website comes up). Its really cheap to join and one of the perks is 24/7 legal help line that does actually give LEGAL ADVICE by barristers and lawyers, not a free half hour with a solicitor for them to give you general advice and decide whether they want to take your case on. If you are not a member already then join and use the helpline.
If you get on their website and fill in the details they will put one of their agents in touch with you.

Thank you, I will have a look there.

Hello - sorry to hear this - we have a business also and I understand your frustrations.

We also were forced to take the small claims court route (via online which I assume is the same for you) - I assume that you have added the costs of the case to your claim - if the company defend then there will be an additional fee which you will have to pay to go to judgement - i.e the judge will decide the outcome - which may require a attendence in person. If they decide against you - you will not get your money or the costs.

In our case (sorry to say) they did not defend and we got judgement - HOWEVER this means nothing other than if they don't pay you within 30 days they will have a CCJ. You cannot enforce judgement without a bailiff and this also costs - if as you say they have money problems you may never see the money (as we didn't) you can apply for winding up but this is unlikely to bring you money as you are not deemed a preferred creditor and they are unlikely to have monies left after settling with the bank, customs and excise etc. We saw not a single penny sorry to say of an large debt and the company went into liquidation - sorry if this sounds negative but wanted to share this story - hope it helps

But surely noone wants a CCJ, if they get wound up then so be it. Problem is the company's real owner is loaded, this is his doing but he won't suffer as he hasn't put his name on anything. How do I go after him?

Agree No one wants a CCJ - although if they have one already it won't make too much difference. As long as he runs a limited CO it is pretty difficult to go after him in person as you say - and as we discovered every step that you take to recover the monies - even after you have won the court case costs you money and if they (i.e the company) don't have goods to the value of the debt you end up with nothing but having spent quite a lot extra chasing the debt. If the company is wound up it is possible to ask for the director(s) to be investigated as in theory they are as part of the winding up - but you would need proof of incorrect trading/fraud etc and ripping you off for services doesn't IMO seem to count. Sorry not to be more positive - share your frustrations....