Help with invoices and debt agency?

[Chris82]

Long story short I had a party wall surveyor draw up a contract where I agreed to pay 200 pounds per week for a temporary fence in a neighbour's garden until work is completed.
The exact wording was ", an immediate payment of 200 pounds on x date and further compensation off 200 for each week there after"
I fell behind by 8 weeks and agreed to pay lump sum of 4 weeks upfront and 200 per week until the work is finished and the remaining 4 weeks at the end.
She agreed and said she didn't want anymore missed payments.
I assumed all was OK and out of the blue a debt collection agency contact me saying I'm 3 weeks behind and want immediate payment plus interest and £300 for their fees.
Apart from the wording in the contract her company sends my company an invoice. She sent the last 3 weeks invoices 2 days ago and it doesnt say about payment terms anywhere.

Shes annoyed because this is a build project on my land which is through a bridging loan. She wanted proof of this which I haven't sent as quite frankly that's my business. Then this happens.

I feel like she's money grabbing and playing games. Legally where do I stand?

 

[WaveJumper]

Probably a lot more to this than meats the eye, but you failed to keep up your end of the agreement and now you are upset ?

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

She agreed and said she didn't want anymore missed payments.

Assuming you didn't miss any more payments, you did get that agreement in writing, didn't you?

it doesnt say about payment terms anywhere

, an immediate payment of 200 pounds on x date and further compensation off 200 for each week there after

It says it in the contract.

 

[Chris82]

I didn't miss any more payments. She's just decided to do this to make both difficult after receiving the first bulk payment.
Yes the agreement says £200 per week but if it's business to business that doesn't necessarily mean it has to be paid on the spot and invoices were only sent two days ago and there's no payment terms on them.Surely she can't just get her debt in Italy to suddenly start finally

Probably a lot more to this than meats the eye, but you failed to keep up your end of the agreement and now you are upset ?

I'm upset as we had an agreement going forward... And I'm only 3 weeks behind... Plus the fact she only invoiced for the last 3 weeks 2 days ago.
Surely there would need to be terms and conditions for her to set a debt collector on me? Her invoices contain no time frame for settlement.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Surely she can't just get her debt in Italy to suddenly start finally

Is the property in the UK or Italy?

 

[Chris82]

Is the property in the UK or Italy?

Sorry Paul, it's a typo. In uk

 

[Gyumri]

There is no basis for charging you a debt collector's fee but you are clearly behind on payments. So if you can't pay going forward then you ought to remove your temporary fence from her land and pay the balance as soon as possible.

An invoice is simply a demand for payment which you could have requested at any time but the lack of an invoice does not provide you with an excuse to hold back on your obligation to pay the agreed sums.

You are possibly in breach of contract if you agreed to pay £200 at the conclusion of every week, but on the other hand it doesn't seem like time was the essence so a "reasonable" time to pay could be construed as paying on completion.

Your party wall surveyor would have agreed the Award with your neighbour's surveyor so revert to him - but pay up in the meantime!

Your neighbour certainly has a right to feel upset to feel that you have cheated her in erecting a fence on her land while cocking a snoop about paying her what was agreed.

 

[Chris82]

I do see your point. And whilst I fell behind on some weeks that's why we had a discussion about paying a lump sum which brought me up to 3 weeks balance..which I did.
I continue to pay the amount each week.. I said when the bridging loan comes through I will settle the 3 weeks owing as its the only way.

She agreed to this.... Later in the week she wanted detailed information on the loan which I didn't want to disclose as she's caused quite a few issues
Then her debt collector writes to me demanding instant payment.... Interest charges and her fees.
The neighbour says without a final date for loan it's not a payment plan despite me paying her every week.

Surely she can't decide to do this?

 

[fisicx]

She can decide to do whatever she wants. Whether or not this is legal is a different matter and probably only resolved by getting lawyers involved.

Did you get the lump payment agreed in writing? Are you currently up to date with all payments?

 

[Chris82]

I paid a lump sum which we agreed via email. This meant 3 weeks were still owed but we agreed as long as I paid every week until the fence comes down I'd pay the outstanding 3 weeks at the end.
She then started asking a lot of personal questions about my loan which I politely said I couldn't share that information.
Next thing I know she's instructed her debt collector to issue these fines and saying without clear info on my loan she doesn't see it as a payment plan.

 

[fisicx]

In which case instruct the solicitor you used to set up the agreement to challenge the debt collector.

 

[WaveJumper]

Maybe she is asking all the awkward questions about your bridging loan as you seem to have indicated you could not pay her until this came through, What happens if your bridging finance for whatever reason does not come through. Have you started this project before all your "ducks" are in place.

 

[eteb3]

You owe her £600 and she has only your word for it that you’ll have funds any time soon to settle it. When she did some due dil, you got all cagey. You still owe her £600, your fence is still on her land, and you haven’t even mentioned interest or a bottle of fizz to take the edge off for her.

Her land is hers, the £600 is hers, and you are quite frankly taking the mick.

That said, you could try defending with “no payment date was set in the contract”, as Gyumri says. But your conduct of weekly payments suggests otherwise.