Taking on a customer from a private advert

[bobbybigbucks]

Hi,can anyone tell me the legal standing of customers obtained through an advert in the local paper.I'm a self employed electrician and the customer disputes the invoice on unjustified grounds.He has offerd to pay the material cost uppon supplying him with my wholesale recepits.Can I claim interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debt Act 1998?Or is there another act that deals with private customers.Cheers Bob

 

[Lewy_T]

Hi,can anyone tell me the legal standing of customers obtained through an advert in the local paper.I'm a self employed electrician and the customer disputes the invoice on unjustified grounds.He has offerd to pay the material cost uppon supplying him with my wholesale recepits.Can I claim interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debt Act 1998?Or is there another act that deals with private customers.Cheers Bob

If you quoted for the work, did the job with no complaints then you are entitled to your money. It's only when 'hidden' costs are applied later that people usually have problems and if you didn't quote it and didn't ask permission to carry out any extra work then the person might have issues.

Am I right in thinking that your customer only wants to pay for the parts and not labour? Did he / she have anything to do with fitting - and is there any paper work?

Small claims courts will normally resolve this issue and the losing side pays the costs.

Hope this helps, not judging you either way...

 

[Clarkmans]

What reason have they given for not paying?

If you are dealing with a consumer you can claim interest at 8% under the County Courts Act 1984. If it is a business then you can claim interest at 8% above base rate under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act.

Clare

 

[Bri]

Nothing more to say on the legal side as Clare & Lewy have made their points succinctly.

You sound new to this side of the game, have you only recently gone self employed?Or only started placing ads in the papers?

Either way, youve advertised your service, provided one and expect to get paid, the only causes of complaint usually are to do with workmanship or price.Never ever show your customer your wholesale prices, if there is some middle ground and you dont get your labour at least you will have put a mark up on your costs and got some dosh back.

Treat this as a steep learning curve, it'll cost you £80.00 for small court order, by the time you chase it and provide all the paper work is the principle worth the hassle, if the answer is yes then go for it.
Likewise I'm not judging you or the customer as there are no facts other than an unjustified claim.