Small Claims Court - how to.

[rcproperty]

Debt Recovery – Solicitors’ Letter Before Action | Debt Guard

 

[Bruce Beck]

Very Interesting fellas! When I think of the money ive scrubbed over the years. It gets to a point of embarrassment calling round and not getting paid.

 

[CHWS]

What if they try and pawn off you done a **** job to get their way out of it?

 

[Duncs]

interesting thread ,i,m sure there is a lot of members have been shafted over the years

that and collecting must be one of the down sides to this job,

big thank you to green for sharing this experience with us all

 

[Duncs]

What if they try and pawn off you done a **** job to get their way out of it?

but the only problem is you know that you work to hih standards all the time so that wont wash

 

[CHWS]

but the only problem is you know that you work to hih standards all the time so that wont wash

Would it stand up in court though?

 

[Dave B]

Small claims court the customer has to prove you didn't do the job not the other way round

As long as you have record of you doing the job they can't say otherwise and are liable to pay..simple as that

 

[abs]

Hi, I've had a none paying customer that's owed me £45 going on 4 months, using your text as a template and changing bits to suite really did the job ,within a hour after reading it the cash was in my bank,t hanks for the fantastic advice

 

[Duncs]

Hi, I've had a none paying customer that's owed me £45 going on 4 months, using your text as a template and changing bits to suite really did the job ,within a hour after reading it the cash was in my bank,t hanks for the fantastic advice

gd result

 

[Hunty]

This should not have been done in this way for future ref, landlord instructs works u should bill landlord and it is for them to seek reimbursement from the tenant as this is there agreement not yours.

Direct answer is your contract is with the landlord and not the tenant, however before you seek funds through the court my advise would e speaker landlord (reg custie) and explain she needs to pay and chase her tenant, if you have email address I would also email her an invoice (this will be tax deductible on her account for rent income).

The reason I say this is you can't get a ccj when you have not even told them they are liable to pay the bill in the first place.

Best of luck with it all.

Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

Hello Chaps, I'm owed £150 by regular custy who got me to clean windows at her house she rents and then to send the bill onto the previous tenants who's supposed to settle it. But they haven't paid 7 weeks later after being reminded several times. So someone is getting a CCJ, but my question is should it be the tenant or landlord, I think landlord as she asked me to do the work and I've only really dealt with her and I don't think I should have to chase her tenant around. Any thoughts?

The bill goes to whom ever requested the work. :itwasntme:

 

[CHWS]

Ok so this is a brief guide / walk through as to how to recover a debt / file a claim with the Small Claims Court against a residential client.
Now many will say 'Oh just write it off, it's only £10' or whatever the price is but in my book the price is irrelevant, it is principal.

If I let a customer get away with two months of window cleaning and I do nothing about it except drop them when they see another window cleaner they will pull the same stunt and get away with more free window cleaning. Unacceptable. If I take action they will think twice before taking liberties with a fellow windy in future.

I have in the past successfully filed against a residential customer and done so as a matter of principal.

The key thing to remember is that being able to take action begins at day 1 when you sign them up as a new client, you need both first and last name and full address minimum, this will make your life easier as you go as you will file against 'Mary Roberts' instead of just 'Mary'

This is my final demand by text for payment.



Now many will say 'oh you don't have a contract etc etc' well the news for you is that a verbal agreement is still a contract under English law. Also you will be very hard pushed to find a Judge in England that has not had a window cleaner at some point and this is in your favor as the judge already understands that window cleaning is a verbal agreement.

I have sent three of these today and given them till Friday to make a payment.

Ruth Fern

Leila Simms

Jackie Cole

I will update you all on the process as it unfolds I know full well that Jackie Cole will not pay as she has ignored previous threats of action. But we will see.

Some on here may also suggest Thomas Higgins solicitors £2+ VAT letter but Higgins will only chase a debt above £25.01 and if proceeding to court can actually end up costing you money so really IMO only worth while for a sizable commercial debt.

Will keep you posted

Can you post up your final text , it's not letting me open the image, I'm going to post this on a letter to a couple of customers

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

Can you post up your final text , it's not letting me open the image, I'm going to post this on a letter to a couple of customers

Sorry mate. wont let me open it either and I have changed phones since then.

A demand for payment would look something like this.

Dear Peter Ian Staker,

We have sent you repeated requests for payment for the outstanding ammount of £30.00 for window cleaning services in July and August this year. We have also called by your property but as yet you have still failed to settle the account.

Payment can be made by Bank transfer to account #12345578 Sort code 11-22-33

Please be sure to put your surname and street name as a reference.

This is our final request for payment should the bill not be settled by this Monday the 7th November 2016 it will be filed withe the Small claims courts at which point you will also become liable for an additional administrarion cost of £40.00 plus £25.00 court filing charges.

We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Kind regards. Angry hard working window cleaner!.

Hope that helps.

 

[CHWS]

Sorry mate. wont let me open it either and I have changed phones since then.
A demand for payment would look something like this.

Dear Peter Ian Staker,

We have sent you repeated requests for payment for the outstanding ammount of £30.00 for window cleaning services in July and August this year. We have also called by your property but as yet you have still failed to settle the account.

Payment can be made by Bank transfer to account #12345578 Sort code 11-22-33

Please be sure to put your surname and street name as a reference.

This is our final request for payment should the bill not be settled by this Monday the 7th November 2016 it will be filed withe the Small claims courts at which point you will also become liable for an additional administrarion cost of £40.00 plus £25.00 court filing charges.

We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Kind regards. Angry hard working window cleaner!.

Hope that helps.

Brilliant mate, some ****** just doesn't answer the door !!

 

[A.K WINDOWS]

Ive taken action a few times its unreal how many people think they can get away with it,this a method of mine is 1st clean is charged a double this must be paid cash on the day if they do this then you know they should be 99.9% good people if not dont worry get rid.

I used money claim online and issued CCJ to more than a few cost £25 to issues a court order letter etc ,,they paid up apart from one who didnt show in court so she took a CCJ for £32 worth of window cleaning i was that down plus £25 but made me feel better knowing i had wrecked her credit rating

DO NOT LET ANYONE GET AWAY WITH A PENNY!!!

 

[4Weekly]

I use my own letters, knowing how the legal system works i know most of the ins and outs of how to get monies back. most people are scared of debt collectors but they have no more power than the local milkman. its just fear that makes people pay up 99% of the time.

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

No. Sorry.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Good man Hunty, Just in the process of emailing her, and your thoughts are exactly how I thought it might be, just needed the re-assurance. Many thanks

In Business I always deal with the person paying the bill. I once had a wife tell me to do

this and that but her husband was paying bill, had a hard time. good lesson for me!

 

[Bart90]

Just to add to this for anyone who's unfortunate enough to only have a first name for a non payer; I've used this electoral roll search twice and it's worked to get a surname.  

https://t2a.io/products/people/search-the-electoral-roll

 

[Bart90]

This has been a really helpful thread but I've just found out that since October 2017 the rules have changed in regards to taking individuals to court and it isn't particularly great for us Window cleaners who have smaller debts.  You're now obliged (if your debtor is an individual or Sole Trader) to send a Letter Before Action containing a load of red tape called 'Pre Action protocol' which gives the debtor 30 days to pay.  The idea is to help people reach agreement before  it needs to go further so it reduces the chances of court cases and saves court time. If your debtor is commercial the old rules still apply!

I currently have a debtor and have gone through this with a solicitor, I've done it for principals sake and if they pay I'll be left with a small amount in my pocket (under a tenner).  The LBA & PAP cost £24 with Thomas Higgins so if your debt its less than that I can see most would not pursue it.  You can send a PAP yourself but what a faff it is with the different documents! 

It's a shame as these people shouldn't be allowed to get away with it and I would still encourage anyone reading this to pursue it nonetheless as they'll just do it to the next guy.......  they say the law is an ass and in this case I think it probably is.

 

[Steam]

Just filed my first claim through the small claims court and have to say it was very easy and straight forward to do online. It was for a customer on one of my bin cleaning rounds who owes me £22.50 not a massive amount but still worth pursuing as I've been ripped off to many times in the past. If I win she's got to pay my fee plus the debt.

She now has until the 4th March to reply to the courts if she fails to do that I can then file a ccj against her. 

I have plenty of evidence showing requests for payment etc I also sent her a formal letter last week demanding the debt to be settled by the 8th which was Friday, I also included in the letter that I would pursue a claim against her if she failed to settle the outstanding debt. 

I will keep you posted as to what happens.

Thanks to you Darren for the info on the small claims as without it I probably wouldn't have bothered thinking it a waste of time. Like you say though why should people get away without paying.