Clients not paying you for your business or services? Here’s the correct order of how to deal with things.
Call them or Meet them and Speak in Person
You don’t want to be on bad terms with your clients, as without them you’ve got no work. Try not to harass them at first, as they could make a legal complaint against you and your business. If they’re a long term and reliable client, there is probably a reason why they haven’t paid you this month. Try calling a few times but keep your calls short and sweet, you don’t want them to feel harassed. If you have a meeting with them within a few days, you could bring it up towards the end of the itinerary. Make sure you have all the correct information and documents when you call or meet so there is no confusion over the facts in the situation.
Send them some Written Reminders
The next step if they don’t get back to you is to start sending them letters. This shows that you’re taking this more seriously. You could also email them asking if they have received your letters. If you want them to really know you’re taking things seriously, add a threat of legal action. If you do choose to add the legal action threat, you will need to follow through with legal action at a later date.
Mediation
An important task to carry out is paying for a mediation service. This will save you money in the long-run even though it may be costly at first.
In brief, mediation is like a peacemaker service, where the mediator will communicate between you and your client/customer to keep things professional and they’ll be less emotionally invested, meaning everything will be done rationally.
Letter Before action or LBA
Moving on from paying a mediator is getting your solicitor to communicate with the client that you’re now taking things higher up – meaning court.
This could be enough to get them to pay-up as court costs will be much more expensive for them.
Debt Collection Agency
HJS Solutions is a debt collection agency who take on your debt at a fixed fee plus a percent of the debt when recovered.
Court Action
The very last action you can take is heading to court. In all likeliness, your issue will be taken to a small claims court where you’ll present your case in front of a judge. The judge will then listen to both sides and take any evidence to come to a decision.
With this said, if they decide to not turn up, the decision will be in your favour as it reflects badly on them and the decision will be made within 28 days.
Hopefully, you won’t have to take all these actions to get the money you are owed. We would suggest starting with professionally asking the client for your payment and explaining the process you will go through if they don’t.
