What's your procedure on overdue invoices?

Nicola

Member
Hi There,
I have an overdue invoice from a client. My first step was to send them a friendly email on Monday as a reminder and then this morning another email where I asked if there was any clarification. They said they've passed the invoice onto their client and basically washing their hands of it. I've asked for a contact that I can speak to and have had no response as of yet. It's only £180.00 but to me it's still £180.00 which I can pay my bills with right? Would you just let it slide?
 
I do have 'late fees' in my t&c's but basically it's what stationary direct said... they're the one you have a contract with, not their client, so they're the ones that need to pay you and then they need to get their pay from their client.

Politely explain this and if they don't budge go via money claim or small claims etc. You might also be able to try for lost money from chasing it up etc too but not a lawyer so not 100% sure on that one.
 
It depends on who your client is. Firstly the invoice is owed to you so they cant pass it on to someone else.

However invoices are taking maybe 60-90 days to get paid, the bigger the company generally the longer that you have to wait.

As a rule of thumb, we do a lot of credit checks and have the money upfront with clients for a while before we offer any credit. If it's a School NHS or Government you're ok. But anyone else it's not worth it.

Chances are you will get your money, but you may have to wait a while. For £180 its more trouble to try and get it legally.

If a company cant pay £180 upfront for work, they probably are struggling to get it
 
Good point - typically a good idea to get a percentage up front. And then once it's completed you get the remainder of the fee before sending on the files.

I have a very good relationship with a small business owner, the only small client I have, but he's a friend of a friend. He often asks me to put things together for him. I tell him the price and the money is in the bank account within 24 hours.

It's never a lot of money - like Simon says - £180 is trivial amount for a business - and if they aren't paying it you have to wonder.

It's a good policy to have in place with people you don't work with often to get at least 50% up front.
 
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