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As a small concern, I am looking for advice on customers who don’t pay. As an example… we have had a customer who after numerous reminders and letters threatening legal action, still would not pay. We took him to the small claims court, ( my wife had the day off work at our expense), where to our amazment, the customer did not even turn up!!! but had accepted that he had to pay.
We then got a letter from the court stating he would pay £2 per week. To this day 2 years on we have not got a penny from him.
We have had a couple similar and due to our experience above, have just written them off.
Can anyone point me in the right direction. Has anyone else had this happen to them?Re: Non Payment
I had this once and quite a few that just didn’t pay, full stop.
Now we use the debt letter system that we got a deal on a while ago and have no problems recovering money, or at least we haven’t as yet. But I have found that any issues have largely disappeared as I moved the profile of work we do to more upmarket appliances, I should certainly hope that someone that buys a kitchen full of Smeg can afford >£100 for a repair.
But IIRC you can go back to the court saying that the person hasn’t paid you, guess it depends on how far you want to pursue it really. 😕
K.
Re: Non Payment
scots wrote:Has anyone else had this happen to them?
Oh yes, I think most of us share your experience. Unfortunately whilst the Small Claims Court will almost always make judgement in your favour, very little can be done to enforce payment from the defendant.
County Court Judgements (CCJ’s) will prevent them thereafter getting loans and mortgages until any CCJ’s are settled but that does not do you any favours in getting your money back. 🙁
In my experience those that owe money in this way are usually tenants or persons receiving benefits and those that have nothing to lose should a CCJ be bestowed upon them in the first place. It would be most unlikely anyone with a nice house, family runabout and a large mortgage to be in that position. So be on your guard next time you do work in the less salubrious neighbourhoods and be sure they pay in cash before you complete the work 😉
Re: Non Payment
Martin wrote:
scots wrote:
Has anyone else had this happen to them?Oh yes, I think most of us share your experience. Unfortunately whilst the Small Claims Court will almost always make judgement in your favour, very little can be done to enforce payment from the defendant.
County Court Judgements (CCJ’s) will prevent them thereafter getting loans and mortgages until any CCJ’s are settled but that does not do you any favours in getting your money back. 🙁
In my experience those that owe money in this way are usually tenants or persons receiving benefits and those that have nothing to lose should a CCJ be bestowed upon them in the first place. It would be most unlikely anyone with a nice house, family runabout and a large mortgage to be in that position. So be on your guard next time you do work in the less salubrious neighbourhoods and be sure they pay in cash before you complete the work 😉
If a customer does not pay in accordance with a Court Order, issue a “Warrant of Execution” with the same court, it cost £30.00 for a small claim. The collection is then handled by the Court Bailiff. We have never had a failure using the Warrant system, and the customer has to pay the fee for the issue of the Warrant.
ShaneRe: Non Payment
Hi Shane
I’m not sure if its the same here in Scotland.
I will have to look into it. Does anyone know who we contact?
It may be another £30 down the drain but if we could get it back I’d be a lot happier.
What really p*** me is that they appear to get away with it.Re: Non Payment
scots wrote:I’m not sure if its the same here in Scotland.
I’m not sure if Scotland is the same either………… 😕
scots wrote:Does anyone know who we contact?
….but here in England you contact the local ‘County Court’ for the relevant forms… 😉
(Scotland maybe the local Sheriffs Office? – or contact kwatt and he with get his rusty old claymore into action 😆 )
Re: Non Payment
Shane wrote
If a customer does not pay in accordance with a Court Order, issue a “Warrant of Execution” with the same court, it cost £30.00 for a small claim. The collection is then handled by the Court Bailiff.
But that doesn’t always work.
Bailiff went round ten times in all and at one point Mr Wa*ker accused him of harrassment. The last call to him resulted in the bailiff reporting Mr Wa*ker had no funds to pay anything. So that was us -one dishwasher, £180 +£30, +25 for the bailiff visits.Next time we break legs!!!! 😈 😈
TC
Re: Non Payment
Those were the days when you`broke legs`.
I can remember a time when all it needed was a presence on a doorstep and everything was sorted there and then,but of course you can`t do that anymore as you end up in trouble trying to get whats yours back.
I agree 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} with the watch were you work attitude,it rarely fails.
Re: Non Payment
Sometimes you can be caught out with a customer who has previously paid their bills OK.
I made the mistake of doing the job when the only the son was at home trusting that the owner would settle up later as she had in the past – did’nt give a second thought.
After wasting lots of time and fuel i finally caught up with her. She gave me a cheque for £18 more than she owed as a gesture of apology.
You guessed it! The cheque was returned unpaid. I sent her the usual letter threatening court action etc which was ignored.
There is no doubt that the threat of ‘two chappies with baseball bats’ calling is effective but has to be applied carefully or you can end up with some very irate relatives turning up on your doorstep. This happened to me once, but oddly (after a lot of verbals) they gave me a cheque for the amount owed. Mmmmmmh!
Andy 😀
Re: Non Payment
If in any doubts, ask before doing any work; is there a cheque/cash for me on completion.
If the answer is NO then walk, surely 😀Greg
Re: Non Payment
Depending on the size of the debt, its either court bailiff or high court sheriff. (dont be put off about the high court bit, its just a fancy title).
If the bailiff comes back and reports, no goods or payment (some bailiffs are softer than others) then next step is to get an attachment of earnings order from the court. Use the bailiffs report to obtain it. This really buggers them up as it can be taken at source. If they are in employment, it comes from the employer, if on benefits then it comes from the social out of their benefits before they get it.
Most seasoned, almost professional non payers rely on the fact that you, the innocent party wont pursue it hard enough to get paid. My advise is always follow it through if you can.
Remember, all the additional costs you incur can be added to the debt, if the bailiff costs you £30 then add it to the amount owed. If an attachment of earnings order is granted at a cost of £50 then add that as well.
The rules in Scotland are not exactly the same as England and Wales but they are very similar indeed so do a bit of research and get your money.
Regards
Jackal
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