Payment overdue

[Arnie Sewitt]

Hi everyone,
Looking for a little help with overdue payments. I’ve been in business for over a year and this is the first time this has happened.
I cleaned a private primary school last month and they haven’t paid yet. I was in correspondence with a staff member whilst quoting etc but since the cleans taken place they haven’t responded to my emails. I’ve emailed 2 invoices and went to the school last week to hand an invoice to the headteacher and still no payment.
I didn’t have any contract for them to sign as I have never done this with a customer.
Any advice for next course of action? I could forget about it but it’s £150 and I’ve just gone full time self employed.
Thanks in advance!

 

[steve garwood]

Warn them you’re prepared to take it to a small claims court is payment isn’t paid by a certain date

 

[Part Timer]

Did you stipulate your, or ask their, payment terms. 30 days end of month is very common in the commercial world and if that is theirs they should pay you next week.
I'd ring them and ask when it will be paid, if you don't get an answer then I'd be looking to take it further.
In future quotes make sure the payment terms are in the quote.

 

[Dave B]

When it comes to commercial work some even work to 90 days which is outdated due to being when everyone paid by cheque and then had to wait for it to clear then pay you but nowadays not needed but some still work to 90 days
Get on to them and ask when payment is due
I do a number of property management companies and still get paid within 1 week

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Hi everyone,
Looking for a little help with overdue payments. I’ve been in business for over a year and this is the first time this has happened.
I cleaned a private primary school last month and they haven’t paid yet. I was in correspondence with a staff member whilst quoting etc but since the cleans taken place they haven’t responded to my emails. I’ve emailed 2 invoices and went to the school last week to hand an invoice to the headteacher and still no payment.
I didn’t have any contract for them to sign as I have never done this with a customer.
Any advice for next course of action? I could forget about it but it’s £150 and I’ve just gone full time self employed.
Thanks in advance!

Once you get paid then don't go back or ask for payment on the day. I think they will pay because all you would need to do is stand outside with a board stating they owe you £150 and the newspapers would love it.

 

[Pjj]

Some schools are a nightmare and take ages to pay ,up to 3 months , I doubt they won’t pay in the end just very slow . Try and call in and speak to them face to face .

 

[Pjj]

Warn them you’re prepared to take it to a small claims court is payment isn’t paid by a certain date

Unfortunately it doesn’t work like that now ,you have to go to arbitration first right pain if that fails then you can go to court .

 

[Iron Giant]

This can happen with schools, it's only ever happened twice with me one was a new job and they made up crappy excuses but I was paid and they apologised as there had been an issue with a staff member, the second I had done the job for years then on submitting the last invoice it took months to get paid they claimed they weren't receiving my invoices so I told them on the phone if you don't receive please ring me back in 5 minutes and let me know that never happened I did then get paid within the week and they were promptly dropped.

Some schools don't see it as an issue having people wait months to get paid it's the last on the list although it shouldn't be as schools these days usually have a dedicated staff member organising maintenance and contracts and the payments to contractors so it could very easily be done upon receipt on the invoice, one of my best schools the money was in my account within a week but n the end I dropped them all as I couldn't be chewed with them.

 

[K in Kent]

The final formal action is to send a letter before action that clearly states on it that it is a 'Letter before Action' and it should include what your grievance is, i.e. the work you did and haven't been paid for, when, where etc and making a final demand for the money owed with a deadline for when it must be paid.
There may be a few other legal requirements about exactly what the letter has to include so you need to check that.
BUT before that you're obliged to explore other 'dispute resolutions' such as mediation. Again this is something you'll need to research. Try Citizens Advice website.

However, I'm sure all that will be unnecessary and they will pay sooner or later. If it were me I'd make a determind effort to speak to the Head Teacher in person and make an appointment if necessary. If that fails or you get fobbed off go over their head and contact the Board of Governors or some equivalent body.

And you're quite right to pursue it and don't write it off. They owe you and it's not like they can't afford it

 

[DS WC west midlands]

I have three schools, the same schools approach me every year for a quote on a clean. Every year for the past three years & many commercial cleans do the same,
I never get those jobs as they are shopping for Quotes and i am happy to give them one each year, one of my rules with commercial & schools is that they pay in advance of the clean before i will book it in...

I always Quote at least £1000 per school or business, Mostly because i don't really want to do jobs that big & they can afford it & payment after the fact has been a serious problem in the past..

I did ask one school why they kept asking for quotes if they were not taking a clean, they grumbled about paying up front & i said my costs don't wait three months to get paid why should I ? They could not argue with me because they knew i was correct...

Commercial jobs might seem like a good idea in theory, but most of the time they can be a complete waste of energy, unless they pay upfront and some now do, i take those ones if they come along...

But i don't charge cheap for them as they can afford it...

I know many might scoff at this one, but they are not domestic customers and they are not struggling with money even when they claim to be..

I normally don't take payment until the job is done, but in the case of schools & commercial i make an exception to that rule..

 

[Pjj]

I have three schools, the same schools approach me every year for a quote on a clean. Every year for the past three years & many commercial cleans do the same,
I never get those jobs as they are shopping for Quotes and i am happy to give them one each year, one of my rules with commercial & schools is that they pay in advance of the clean before i will book it in...

I always Quote at least £1000 per school or business, Mostly because i don't really want to do jobs that big & they can afford it & payment after the fact has been a serious problem in the past..

I did ask one school why they kept asking for quotes if they were not taking a clean, they grumbled about paying up front & i said my costs don't wait three months to get paid why should I ? They could not argue with me because they knew i was correct...

Commercial jobs might seem like a good idea in theory, but most of the time they can be a complete waste of energy, unless they pay upfront and some now do, i take those ones if they come along...

But i don't charge cheap for them as they can afford it...

I know many might scoff at this one, but they are not domestic customers and they are not struggling with money even when they claim to be..

I normally don't take payment until the job is done, but in the case of schools & commercial i make an exception to that rule..

We do loads of commercial work and have done for 20+ years and never had any pay in advance standard payment terms are 30 days from invoice or end of month . We do a few schools and they pay within the month I did have one that took 3 months to pay but after explaining I want payment within 30 days they have been fine , all our other commercisl work pays very well and within the terms of the contract . I have no idea how you get them to pay in advance sounds very unusual to me .

 

[DS WC west midlands]

We do loads of commercial work and have done for 20+ years and never had any pay in advance standard payment terms are 30 days from invoice or end of month . We do a few schools and they pay within the month I did have one that took 3 months to pay but after explaining I want payment within 30 days they have been fine , all our other commercisl work pays very well and within the terms of the contract . I have no idea how you get them to pay in advance sounds very unusual to me .

Simple really i just tell them waiting so long to get paid is not part of our cleaning policy, as it devalues the work we do..

They must pay in full in advance to get services, i compare it to when you buy virgin media subs or other subs services you have to pay them to get the majority of them and it's the same with bigger cleans...

There is also the fact that i can earn the same money from domestic in a few days and it takes less time.. In my world bigger costs more and includes a risk to cover if something goes wrong, it rarely ever does go wrong, but if it ever does it's always a hassle i would rather have paid for and covered in advance...

Also with the cost of everything going up these days, i don't have the time to sit around and wait to be paid for work done weeks back, as i said i am not after that type of work, but if it comes along and they pay up front i'll clear the board and do it... I don't do cleans on the slate for anyone.. If they are not happy with that it's totally fine by me...

 

[Crystalalan]

Im sure they will pay up. I mean its a school. Hardly the mafia headquarters

 

[Arnie Sewitt]

Thank you for the responses everyone. The school paid this week before I got into contact with them. I’m glad it was settled before I escalated anything as they have contacts with bigger schools in the area I hope to get in the future. Deffo having commercials signing something from now on though. I have a massive cinema job booked next week so fingers crossed.

 

[Cghwindowcleaning]

Commercial can pay anything from on the day to 90 days.30 day payment terms are the norm.

You can get them to sign what you like it's unlikely to make them pay faster.

 

[Daniel Perkins]

When you are dealing with commercial work unfortunately this is part and parcel of it. In most cases with big named commercial brands or large companies, the longer they keep their money in the bank & we are talking about massive sums of money, the more interest they earn and then they will pay you out of that interest. It's genius really. Between 30 and 90 days is common practice unfortunately unless you have a policy in place than states your payment terms 30 days etc etc & honestly even that won't make a difference they pay when they want to pay. You'll get it but you will have to wait for it.

 

[VernUTA]

Im sure they will pay up. I mean its a school. Hardly the mafia headquarters

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