[d s windowcleaning]

can anyone give me advice on taking a customer to small claims court i have a outstanding debt that i just cant get the payment for and now thinking of taking this matter further , as anyone ever done this and how did you go about doing it .
thanks for any advice on this matter .

[AJ]

We did it once through the County Court.
It was a few years ago and it cost us £200 to register it, but we got our money.
Start with a letter warning them of this action and mention that they will get a County Court Judgement against the company name which will severely damage there credit rating if they lose the case.

[simon knight]

 and mention that they will get a County Court Judgement against the company name which will severely damage there credit rating if they lose the case.

Not necessarily. And you shouldn't put this in your letter anyway as it can be viewed as intimidation.

Send a letter of your intentions but stick to the facts rather than speculate as to the outcome and damage to your (ex) customer should they be ruled against.

Quite honestly Dave unless it's meaningful money drop it and get on with your life.

[Nathanael Jones]

I've a letter I sent out recently to a job that wouldn't pay, and it worked a treat. Drop me an e-mail and I send you a copy.

[DaveG]

I would agree with simon if its only a small amount mate....

lifes too short to worry about non paying gits

[Ian Lancaster]

I'm an FSB member.  I send a letter warning the custy  that as a member I have access to expert legal help and that the FSB will pursue the case on my behalf (not strictly true, but who's to know?)

Doesn't work with the rock bottom scumbags, but gives the 'he's only a bloody window cleaner' brigade a fright, and there's usually a cheque a few days later

[peter holley]

I ad a cheque sent back to me from the bank today ... the reason given was "payment prevented...insolvency act proceedings"      theres no point persuing it as the custie is obviously ging through hardships at the moment... you would never have thought it though... nice house and car etc... I  think they av ben ruined by the recession as the husband was a developer...

anyhow its only £15, but I  hate losing custies... its £180 a year : and only 10 mins per clean

[d s windowcleaning]

i wish it was just a small amount but that aint the case its 2 grand owed to me , ive had promise after promise made that it will be paid on certain dates but it dont happen so my next step is the county court way but unsure how i go about doing this , ive got a written agreement signed between me , the customer and a witness stateing the date when payment will be made , this first date passed 3 months ago then its been excuse after excuse so now its time i took it further .
when i do take this to court do the court tell them they have to pay what they owe plus the cost or can the custom just say they dont have the money to pay and nothing happens any advice on this will be a great help as at least i will have a idea on what i need to be doing .

[Sapphire Window Cleaning]

On that amount Dave you can file them for bankruptcy.
But to start with, have a solicitor write them a letter, With the letterhead of a solicitor they will more than likely pay up

[Neil Williams]

i wish it was just a small amount but that aint the case its 2 grand owed to me ,

Is this just one clean or several?
You can still do the small claims court for anything less than £5k (I think), just do a google search for small claims court and follow the instructions, or perhaps it might be worth paying out on a solicitor to take it up. Yes those costs can be added to the claim.

[d s windowcleaning]

i wish it was just a small amount but that aint the case its 2 grand owed to me ,

Is this just one clean or several?
You can still do the small claims court for anything less than £5k (I think), just do a google search for small claims court and follow the instructions, or perhaps it might be worth paying out on a solicitor to take it up. Yes those costs can be added to the claim.

it wasnt just for window cleaning i did a few other jobs aswell .
ive just done a google search on small claims and found some really good info so first thing monday im off into my local county court to get the ball rolling .

[Dean Taberner]

Dave,

Have they completely refused to pay or have they given a reason for not paying?

Dean

[d s windowcleaning]

Dave,

Have they completely refused to pay or have they given a reason for not paying?

Dean

dean they are just not making any attempt to pay , when i first took the job on a written agreement was wrote up with a payment date on i called on that date to be told it would be a few days longer , i then called on that date they still didnt have the money they said they were waiting for a payment being sent to them so i said i  would call back after 1 month , i did this and they said it would take 14 working days for them to beable to pay me , i went back then and still no payment from them , they said that they still hadnt recieved the payment they were expecting to beable to pay me , in the meantime ive had to pay for materials such as skips , toolhire and building supplies as i ordered all this under my buissness name , i then had a lad to pay for 2 days work for cleaning the gutters , fascias soffits and getting there frames back to white . but ive still not recieved any payment from them .