[Soupy]

Until recently we sent out a strongly worded letter before the eventual write off of the debt. We had a large (£700) unpaid debt that was not responding so I thought I'd give Thomas Higgins a go, I received payment 3 days later.

Now we've decided to go down this route for all overdue customers, so far it's got a 100% hit rate although it costs £10 per letter sent out (it's more expensive here (Scotland) for the first letter as far as I can work out), it's better than writing it off.

I have found that the portal thingymajig on the TH website is fairly straightforward and should you need to make a decision on whether to proceed to court it maps out the cost clearly so your decision can be well informed. I reckon if I ever have to, I'll be going all the way to court out of principal although obviously each case may differ.

Interested to see how many of you use it and how far you'd be willing to go with it.

[Stoots]

I have been down the court threats loads of times.

I find if you send the letter maybe half will cough up.

The rest won't do then you have to decide if it's worth pursuing through court.

I had one bell  end defend the claim . He knew full well we had been but said to the court we hadn't and he would defend it in court.

It was £12 so rather than take a day off and go to court which I may or not have won I wrote it off but made a mental note that if the opportunity arises I will have my vengeance in this life or the next. 

[nathankaye]

I have been down the court threats loads of times.

I find if you send the letter maybe half will cough up.

The rest won't do then you have to decide if it's worth pursuing through court.

I had one bell  end defend the claim . He knew full well we had been but said to the court we hadn't and he would defend it in court.

It was £12 so rather than take a day off and go to court which I may or not have won I wrote it off but made a mental note that if the opportunity arises I will have my vengeance in this life or the next. 

He called your bluff mate and you succumbed.

It depends on the debt but for the principle I would out last the client.
Another company tried doing the same to my wife over a false debt many years ago and she was a mess but I told her to stick to her guns and the much larger company relied on people panicking and paying rather than the hassle of sorting it out. In this case the company knew it was fraudulent but they took it to the very last part and then pulled the plug. We're now suing them haha as it turns out it's back fired with them!

But many won't go the distance because they know they ain't got a leg to stand on. So the letter it is for me

[Simon Trapani]

I’ve never had any customer owe that sort of large amount (£700) so no I wouldn’t write that off. But for average residential then I just write it off. Not worth the effort.

[andyM]

I reckon if I ever have to, I'll be going all the way to court out of principal although obviously each case may differ.

You have surprised me there actually Soupy.
Im only a sole trader one man band numpty who would in the vast majority of cases write a debt off as they never usually get large enough to fret about.
I'd take into account my time having to chase the debt, costs incurred and losing time from work to attend court etc. and cut my losses.
Although the £700 debt you mentioned I would certainly pursue the available avenues in order to collect.

I had you down as the type of business man who would look at a debt in the cold, hard light of day, do the maths and decide if financially it were worth while chasing or not?
Rather than go all the way to court "out of principal".

Then send one of the lads round to egg their windows....
 

[Smudger]

Anything over £100 I would take all the way - under this I’d do the letter then see what happens

We had a large debt - just shy of 10k and I used a local solicitor who on reflection was pretty cr@p as they insisted we needed to negotiate before going to court needless to say their  best offer was £400 so we moved it forward but the day before it went to court they went into liquidation so got nothing

When investigating further the company had nearly 1 million in assets but 8 months later owed over 2 million.
The guy runs several other companies and several “backers” who ha e done this a number of times before

If anyone is more than 30 days late it will be TH letter with a very quick follow up to court ( unfortunately I did t know TH did more than just writing the letters 😢 )

So take the barstewards to court but don’t hang around!!

Darran

[dazmond]

Anything over £100 I would take all the way - under this I’d do the letter then see what happens

We had a large debt - just shy of 10k and I used a local solicitor who on reflection was pretty cr@p as they insisted we needed to negotiate before going to court needless to say their  best offer was £400 so we moved it forward but the day before it went to court they went into liquidation so got nothing

When investigating further the company had nearly 1 million in assets but 8 months later owed over 2 million.
The guy runs several other companies and several “backers” who ha e done this a number of times before

If anyone is more than 30 days late it will be TH letter with a very quick follow up to court ( unfortunately I did t know TH did more than just writing the letters 😢 )

So take the barstewards to court but don’t hang around!!

Darran

so you lost £10,000?jeesh.......i bet that stung......

i write  my debts off after a while of chasing.....my debts are very small ones.i usually have to write off £50-£100 annually.thats all so its not worth getting stressed about...

[John Mart]

My own composition. Only failed once and it was on £20 so let it go.

[Johnny B]

I don't chase bad debts, but I don't write them off either.

i keep a note and when the offenders ask me to clean their windows again (a surprising number do) I tell them I'd be very happy to ... once they have paid me what they owe plus money in advance for the clean. Most don't proceed but it's priceless to see their faces when they know I'm no longer their fool.

John

[Shrek]

I don’t really think it’s a good thing to put on an open forum that Windy’s just forget about it. A lot of people still consider us as gypsies and pay because they’re scared 😦 .
I for one go round and put dog poo in their  letter box and squash it all around ( with my blue doctors gloves on of course) - then every time they get mail , it’s covered in $hite

[andyM]

I don’t really think it’s a good thing to put on an open forum that Windy’s just forget about it. A lot of people still consider us as gypsies and pay because they’re scared 😦 .

Yes I know, and it's the one's that don't pay me for Tarmacing their drive that really upset me.

[Soupy]

You have surprised me there actually Soupy.
Im only a sole trader one man band numpty who would in the vast majority of cases write a debt off as they never usually get large enough to fret about.
I'd take into account my time having to chase the debt, costs incurred and losing time from work to attend court etc. and cut my losses.
Although the £700 debt you mentioned I would certainly pursue the available avenues in order to collect.

I had you down as the type of business man who would look at a debt in the cold, hard light of day, do the maths and decide if financially it were worth while chasing or not?
Rather than go all the way to court "out of principal".

Then send one of the lads round to egg their windows....

You could be right. I've never taken anyone to court and I've not had to make the decision since first using TH a few weeks back.

Residential window cleaning being the low ticket service that it is we're always going to get charlatans who take advantage of the exposed position we're in. I think it's time that stopped.

[Soupy]

Some folk get a bit miffed at the letter:

Hi there,

I have just came come from working away to a solicitors letter from yourselves.

I have paid the money but no longer want my windows cleaned from Soupy's.

I have never not paid our bill! Yes late as I work away. My wife does not deal with bills as we have a boy with special needs. It’s a shame you took this route.

So I do not expect to see you back.

Regards

Mr Miffed

[Smudger]

Love it

I wonder how Mr miffed would feel if his wages were always late ?

Darran

[Soupy]

Love it

I wonder how Mr miffed would feel if his wages were always late ?

Darran

£85 he was due, from as far back as February. He'd had weekly payment reminders since March.

He would have paid eventually but that's not the point is it?

[John Mart]

Some folk get a bit miffed at the letter:

Hi there,

I have just came come from working away to a solicitors letter from yourselves.

I have paid the money but no longer want my windows cleaned from Soupy's.

I have never not paid our bill! Yes late as I work away. My wife does not deal with bills as we have a boy with special needs. It’s a shame you took this route.

So I do not expect to see you back.

Regards

Mr Miffed

Once we go down the letter before action route they are removed anyway as in my opinion the relationship is untenable. I hope you replied with "you can't sack us because we've already sacked you!" I admit I often do that. 

[Soupy]

Once we go down the letter before action route they are removed anyway as in my opinion the relationship is untenable. I hope you replied with "you can't sack us because we've already sacked you!" I admit I often do that. 

Not at all, I responded in my typical polite yet condescending tone.

[John Mart]

Here's mine - works just about every time.

TAKE NOTICE that according to our records the sum of £50 is overdue for payment despite previous reminders.

Unless payment is made to the above address within FOURTEEN days legal action to recover the debt will be taken against you without further notice. This may affect your credit rating. The costs associated with legal proceedings must also be paid by you in addition to the debt.

A printed copy of the statements are attached. I look forward to your immediate payment.

[Soupy]

50% willing to write off the debt.

How many other industries would you think the write off rate is that high??

My guess is none.

[Marc Stock]

I never write off debts.

I once used to clean the windows for a very well known prestige car brand in brooklands; well known for their large luxurious sporty coupe's; and luxury suvs.

All over 100k.

They got very late with payments and i halted the service; charged them interest in accordance with the late payments of commercial debts act and put things in action to get the money collected by debt collectors. I didnt threaten to do it; i just gave them notice that if i didnt get the payment along with the interest due and collection fees i had put on myself; it would go to debt collection.

It did. And they paid up. No fuss.

If any company asks me now to quote; and they are ltd i do my due dill first. Check companies house; see how long they have been trading; do they have a history of changed trading names; are the directors active in 10 other 'companies' have they ever been struck off etc are there any charging orders outstanding it really only takes 10 mins to check.

I recently had a company ask me to quote for them; i asked for thier company reg number did a check and found a few things that were a bit risky; so i said to them payment upfront on contract works and they agreed.