Nic, Some great suggestions from the list thus far. Two additional points: 1. Send the LOD via registered mail (you may need to prove the demand for payment has been made, which will require proof the letter has been sent). 2. Don't bother sending the LOD if you don't intend to follow through. Most lawyers will tell you that people who are serious about suing don't *threaten* to sue - they just initiate proceedings. If you send a letter of demand and don't follow through, you've pretty well educated that customer (a) that they can ignore your invoices and (b) not to get too concerned should an LOD lob. And, of course, customers talk, so other recalcitrant customers will learn etc. Suing for debts can be time consuming. Unless you're talking considerable sums (i.e. more than $10K), you're going to be confined to the small claims court and can't claim costs, therefore you'd probably have to represent yourself (or spend $ you cannot recoup on a lawyer). Representing yourself is actually easier than it sounds, but it is bloody time consuming. Drafting the statement of claim. Getting it served. Producing evidence of service. Filing application for judgement etc. And if they decide to contest, then you've got to turn up on the day and wait to get in front of a magistrate. Sadly, the wheels of justice can be slow and frustrating. I don't want to sound too pessimistic, but suing for small debts is stressful and time consuming. Better to avoid if possible. So, as a new thread, what are the options for avoiding being in this position? - Establish credit terms (i.e. don't allow new customers to have anything on credit until they have demonstrated creditworthiness). I know it is difficult to say 'no' to a new client when you're starting up, but most customers understand it is a resonable request. - Structure progress payments. On bigger projects, I tend to use a 40:40:20 (or, sometimes, 40:30:30) formula. 40% payable on commissioning (with 14 day terms), 40% payable on delivery of project output, and 20% payble at client acceptance of deliverable. The benefit of this approach is that you stagger your work to coincide with payment, and if there are payment difficulties, you still have some bargaining chips (i.e. holding up completion of the project). There is still some risk - the second you have handed over the final deliverable, you lose your negotiating clout - but by then it is a much smaller component of the overall fee. - There is a proven impact of delay on successful recoupment of invoices. Basically, the day you invoice, the client is (presumably) happy with your product + service. That is when to strike and ask for accellerated payment. The longer the gap between delivery and payment, the less 'happy' the client is (in that they may no longer see the 'benefit' you have created, and now see only the 'cost' of having done business with you). So press for payment as soon as you can, and leverage the good will that exists. Regards, Mark
Does anyone have any experience in issuing Letters of Demand for unpaid invoices? Does anyone have a template they could share? Thanks in advance Nick --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Silicon Beach Australia" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
