Written by John Kruse, one of the leading experts on Bailiff Law, this consumer friendly guide is essential reading for anyone who comes into contact with a bailiff.
The book is easy to understand and clearly explains the rights
a bailiff has, and also what they cannot do when collecting debts and repossessing goods etc.
Hi,
6 Months ago i had a phone call from a publication company asking if we wanted our buissness logo in a local building regs brochuer.
The lady on the phone said that there was only room for one more builder to advertise in this brochure,we could have this space 1/4 of a size A4 paper for £1200 for 2 years.
Now,this brochure is sent out to every person who has planning permission granted. It contains building regs advice,and a list of builders,plumbers,electri cians etc etc that the council recommend.
I thought this was a great idea,but could not afford to pay this all at once.I asked if we could spread the payments over 12 months,and she said yes,no problem at all,we just need you to sign this today as we need to start this brochure for publication.(It was all done really quick and my mate had to sign this agreement on my behalf due to not having a fax on site).
I recieved an E-mail a month ago showing what out advert would look like,i E mailed back saying yes it is fine.They also informed after agreeing that the advert was ok we would be invoiced.
I recieved the invoice,it was for the full amount,not the 12 monthly installments which we agreed to.
I phoned them,told them my situation,they said that the person we dealt with would never agree to these terms and the maximum we could spread these payments would be 3 months,i told them the only reason we went ahead with this was because we only could afford to pay over 12 months and if we had to pay over 3 then we would not gone ahead with it.
The situation now is,we keep getting invoices for the full amount,they will not accept our payments over 12 months,we cant afford to pay the full amount due to lack of work for the last 2 months.
Do i have to pay this in full,or does the verbal agreement over the phone count?
I would really appreciate some help with this as i am expecting a final reminder for money before they send me through the court.
A verbal contract is as binding as a written one. The difficulty is to prove what was said.
You need to stop phoning and write to them to say that you are happy to keep to the verbal agreement made with XXX on (date) which was to pay £x over 12 months, and enclose payment for 1st instalment, advising that you will pay same amount monthly at same date (or whichever date works for you) until balance is paid in full. After that, you MUST stick to the monthly payment, whether they keep on hounding you for balance or not.
If they take you to court, your defence is that there was a verbal contract to pay in 12 instalments,and you put them to strict proof that it was otherwise. Either way, since they have a duty to try and resolve this without going to court, the judge will be less than impressed if you have been keeping to your monthly payments religiously and they still took you to court, and is more likely to believe your version of events if you have kept to the terms of the contract. ;-)
Apologies to people who I was in the process of helping, I may be gone some time.
Publication company-issues over payments.
from a publication company asking if we wanted our buissness logo in a local building regs brochuer.
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