8 months!!!! are you serious 
You are only thinking about taking them to court :
Stop thinking and do it. Sooner rather than later. Your signed contract would have been with the management agency. They will have your T & C's (within that contract) so know the score. Start the procedure now. Get the letter done that says they have so many days to pay or you will take further action to obtain owed monies. Have it delivered registered post. If they haven't paid by or on your given deadline, then get on the court action straight away.
I'm not having a go, but I can't believe you have left it so long :
I had an invoice for 3k owed to me for around 10 months. Sometimes you can be fobbed off that long. I was ok as it was part of a big complex and a very good customer i clean but it kept getting batted backwards and forwards between departments. It can easily escalate to that time scale
I appreciate what you are saying, but having in previous employments worked in Credit Control and such like, I would have not lasted long in employement with such a timescale of debts.
Yes you can be fobbed off and passed pillar to post, but it is down to you or whoever does the credit control to be on top of every debt, not let it get out of hand, and to know who you should be speaking to to get your payment. In this economy even more so, no debt should be allowed to just run and run.
Poleman, start taking steps to getting your money now. It isn't a good earner if you aren't getting paid
