Builders not paying!

[monkey5]

just after a bit of advice off some of you guys n gals please.

its quite long so please bare with me:

have been doing some work for a builder now for about 18 months, just little bits CU changes, kitchen sockets etc. i got paid pretty well for most jobs, well about 5-6 weeks after invoice but wasnt great amounts so could wait (invoice states 21 days but he obviously couldnt see that).

At the start of this year he got busier and had a few bigger jobs from him but then the payments took ages - never.

i then did the 1st fix of a rewire beginning of april, but still had alot of outstanding invoices so wouldnt do 2nd fix until at least the 1st fix was paid, this went on for a while, but as they really needed it doing they eventually paid up 1st fix money and promised the rest the week after.

as you can probably guess it never came so ive been chasing him since for just shy of

 

[revjames]

My advice would be never never ever give any certification until full payment made!

 

[monkey5]

My advice would be never never ever give any certification until full payment made!

i know mate regretting it now big style. have learnt my lesson and wont be so trusting again.

can you not get into trouble yourself for withholding certs though?

 

[sparky b]

If it's under

 

[m4tty]

Thats a good one rev. One i fell shy of when I emailed a pir through and got knocked by builder ffs.

What would you do if he said the customer won't pay until they've got the certs?

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If it's under

 

[monkey5]

Thats a good one rev. One i fell shy of when I emailed a pir through and got knocked by builder ffs. What would you do if he said the customer won't pay until they've got the certs?

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He could just wind the business up tho mate and monkey will get nothing. It's a difficult one ain't it.

thats wat im worried about, hes done it before so dont think hell be bother to do it again.

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hes a ******* company too if tat makes any difference.

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(l i m i t e d) not sure why thats starred out

 

[steptoe]

it is AFAIAA illegal to withhold the certs, payment or not, after all, you havent finished the job until you supply the certs, so he doesnt have to pay you until completion.

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

it is AFAIAA illegal to withhold the certs, payment or not, after all, you haven't finished the job until you supply the certs, so he doesn't have to pay you until completion.

Not sure about illegal, but most definitely bad practice....

Especially if you have energised the circuits....

Customer could make a complaint to your provider about you leaving an installation energised without any written conformation that you have proved it safe to be left in the control of a a non-skilled person.

:C :|

 

[Badger]

i know what you mean about people not paying, im owed 800 quid from another electrical contractot and im not getting very far at the moment by getting paid, its just not fair, you help people out and they just p ! $ $ on you.!!

 

[m4tty]

There's only 1 way to deal with people like this and it can't be posted lol. People who knock good honest tradesmen deserve what they get end of! All you need is a good debt collector who doesn't mind persuading people to pay you.

 

[Evans Electric]

Theres a law called , if I remember , Commercial Debt recovery 1988 or similar . The website will work out the interest you can legally charge . I can look it up later if thats not quite the title.

This is typical of a lot of builders , they are basically no account idiots with no business accumen whatsoever . Often they win a contract with a stupid price , then half way through ,realise its going mammeries up, also they get greedy, the problem is of course that all the monies come through them , but because they are mostly greedy , untrustworthy , big headed, merchant bankers who need to put petrol in their posers 4X4 s which give the impression that they are a successful businessman when in fact they are rip off merchants who couldn't organise the proverbial in a brewery and usually have a collection of local sub- contractors that they have ripped off in the past.

It is strange that they are often to be found living in posh gaffes in the best areas which they basically funded by ripping off their subbies over the years , then go bust and start off again in the wife's name and do it all over again .

If you come across a straight dealing builder , hang on to him , he is very rare but they do exist.

I also think that as he is paying you off , going legal may not be a good idea as long as the payments keep coming .

I appreciate what the wise Specs says , but I also hold back the cert until paid , its come in useful a couple of times , builder says "I must have the cert for Building Control" " And I must have a cheque for all the work I've done"

TBH as soon as I see the dreaded flashy 4x4 or the American type pick-up I'm very wary , its the final payment, when you have left the site, that is usually the one they can't seem to let go of.

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i know what you mean about people not paying, im owed 800 quid from another electrical contractot and im not getting very far at the moment by getting paid, its just not fair, you help people out and they just p ! $ $ on you.!!

Only p ! $ $ Badge you were lucky they usually $ h a t on me.

 

[Evans Electric]

Thanks Canal Hopper, thats the one !! Guinness

 

[sellers]

I wouldn't worry too much mate,

If it goes to court you cant loose, hes agreed to pay your x amount a month meaning he agrees with the price you have invoiced, you can go to the clients houses you worked on and get statements from them on your work.

If you work for bad payers make sure you always charge a lot, then when you add 20% on every job you have some gain when he knocks you 8job down the line if you fail to take them to court

 

[Cirrus]

To be honest, if he is Ltd and bumps it you get nothing. If he is honourable and it gets to court and then panics when he loses he may still bump it and you get nichts. My advice, stick with him and continue accepting his payments each week or month with a written and signed agreement. Even offer to keep working for him.............but only for payment in advance. You have to be subtle and the temptation is to bulldoze in but believe me, you will get nothing if you do that! Slowly slowly catchy monkey. It's a painful lesson to learn but we all go through it. Remember-the law is an ass and morals do not mean poop in a courtroom so avoid it and play the builder.

As a side note, it is NOT illegal to withold a certain. Notify LABC through your scam provider but do not issue cert. Perfectly acceptable doing this. I Always state on my invoices that certs are released upon receipt of cleared funds

 

[husky2013]

Here is a link to a decent Debt Collecter

Google Image Result for http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f37/ashdude1/Aluminium-softball-bat-1.jpg?t=1240064544

He is really persuasive and wins all the time

 

[Andy™]

As a side note, it is NOT illegal to withold a certain. Notify LABC through your scam provider but do not issue cert. Perfectly acceptable doing this. I Always state on my invoices that certs are released upon receipt of cleared funds

you could also notify, but get it sent to you instead

 

[monkey5]

thanks for all you advice, i think i will leave it as it is for moment then when its near the end tell him about the interest thats been added on due to long period ive had to wait for settlement.

wayne

 

[Andy™]

thanks for all you advice, i think i will leave it as it is for moment then when its near the end tell him about the interest thats been added on due to long period ive had to wait for settlement.wayne

also under late payment of commercial debt, as soon as the invoice is late, you can apply a late payment charge (starting at

 

[NozSpark]

Just had a thought,, don't you need to advise the debtor of any charges/interest as soon as they are applied to the account.

You'd be better off applying the charge/interest straight away and saying that you will waiver those charges so long as all payments are made on time and that as soon as the payment schedule is defaulted on then all charges will be applied/backdated.

Get any agreement in writing with witneses...

Get legal advice if you need,, maybe you have some insurance that has this in the policy?

 

[Apache]

I thought you had to explain that interest would be added when the invoice was raised if payment after x time. Don't think you can just add it on later.