[Richard Neal]

Just been looking through my money owed list and adding up the ones that will never pay (moved without telling me, died, wasters) i reckon in the last year its enough for a weeks holiday with the kids or a big chunk towards a better van.

[gewindows]

I lost £12.00 last year, one of my aged customers went AWOL.

Cant think of any others.

[gary999]

what about the not today brigade or people on holiday
and cant access rear it all add up

[martinsadie]

what about the not today brigade or people on holiday
and cant access rear it all add up

if you havnt cleaned it you havnt earned it, so you havnt lost it 

[Ian Rochester]

Just been on George to have a look at our Write Offs for the past year and like you I could have had a decent break with what we have written off through non payments for various reasons.  Some we are still chasing up, though I'm not holding my breath on them.

It probably works out at about one in every 500 jobs on windows

[Nathanael Jones]

Averaging about €30 -€40 a year,.. though last year it was nearly a grand because of one big job. 

[Klean07]

Most of my round is monthly. My average loss per month is between £50 and £100. Mainly due to weather/not today brigade/ holidays etc.

[tompoole]

If it's booked in you have lost coz you could have earned
doing another job.

[roundbuilder]

as a rule if i lose a custie im out that evening gaining another so all in all i dont lose out if anythingi gain as go for a better higher priced job.

[Sean Dyer]

wrote off £120 of bad debt last week

moved, died, dont want to pay  ... fed up of seeing it on wcp every time i print off debts i will try a couple more times to invoice them (not the dead ones lol just the wasters)but after that not bothered will be much more cautious in future never really had a problem before

[Jack Wallace]

dont forget you can add write off's into you books.
I do every time and my accountant takes it into account at year end.

[Sean Dyer]

well surely it just doesnt go into the books??

you dont pay tax as you never earned it no?

or you can deduct it from your total taxable income?

[Jack Wallace]

well surely it just doesnt go into the books??

you dont pay tax as you never earned it no?

or you can deduct it from your total taxable income?

If my accountant tells me to add write off's to my books I dont ask questions why. He offsets it against my liability and thats good enough for me. 

[Carl2009]

Last November I did a gutter, fascia and soffit clean and clear for a large nursing home. I was at it all day, in the rain. To cut a long story short they kept promising me payment - £280, but despite phone calls, emails and a red letter I was forced down the Thomas Higgins Partnership (THP) route. A letter went out (ignored) then court proceedings were issued (they didn't defend it and lost the case). So now they have a CCJ and I am out of pocket to the tune of £120-ish in court costs on top of the bad debt. I am not a man who gives up easily though...

The debtors then fone THP to query how to pay me - send a cheque to Carl 2009, THP reply. They query the amount - £443.21 they are told. "What's the extra £70 on top of the previous figure for" they ask - "bailiffs charges" they are told. "Right, we'll wait for the bailiffs then" they say.

So along go the bailiffs. They visited but were told the property they were at was a private house. Suspecting they were at the wrong address I emailed THP a series of web addresses for the debtor's company showing that it was trading at the said address. I also send them a Google Streetview pic of the access road to the property and a photo of the home I had taken when pricing the job originally. They reopened the case and re-attended. 3 times...

There was no letter box so bailiff letters were wedged in the door crack. Still no reply. Anyway, last month I get a letter from Thos Higgins Partnership saying that a cheque for £443.21 had been sent to Carmarthen County Court. I banked it last week. Oh the joy I had in banking that cheque.

Moral - don't lose sleep over bad debt, but don't give up on it either.

[AuRavelling79]

Nice one Carl2009! Remind me never to borrow a fiver off of you! 

[Chris Cottrell]

Just been on George to have a look at our Write Offs for the past year and like you I could have had a decent break with what we have written off through non payments for various reasons.  Some we are still chasing up, though I'm not holding my breath on them.

It probably works out at about one in every 500 jobs on windows

Shocking that must be 1 every other week 

[Londoner]

Last November I did a gutter, fascia and soffit clean and clear for a large nursing home. I was at it all day, in the rain. To cut a long story short they kept promising me payment - £280, but despite phone calls, emails and a red letter I was forced down the Thomas Higgins Partnership (THP) route. A letter went out (ignored) then court proceedings were issued (they didn't defend it and lost the case). So now they have a CCJ and I am out of pocket to the tune of £120-ish in court costs on top of the bad debt. I am not a man who gives up easily though...

The debtors then fone THP to query how to pay me - send a cheque to Carl 2009, THP reply. They query the amount - £443.21 they are told. "What's the extra £70 on top of the previous figure for" they ask - "bailiffs charges" they are told. "Right, we'll wait for the bailiffs then" they say.

So along go the bailiffs. They visited but were told the property they were at was a private house. Suspecting they were at the wrong address I emailed THP a series of web addresses for the debtor's company showing that it was trading at the said address. I also send them a Google Streetview pic of the access road to the property and a photo of the home I had taken when pricing the job originally. They reopened the case and re-attended. 3 times...

There was no letter box so bailiff letters were wedged in the door crack. Still no reply. Anyway, last month I get a letter from Thos Higgins Partnership saying that a cheque for £443.21 had been sent to Carmarthen County Court. I banked it last week. Oh the joy I had in banking that cheque.

Moral - don't lose sleep over bad debt, but don't give up on it either.

Nursing homes must rate among the worst payers in the window cleaning world. Mainly because they are run by some very dodgy characters. Just hope you don't end up in some of them.