Thank you for the feedback. Typos were noted. Hopefully there will be no further communication from him. We never did submit a claim against him so technically he should be able to counterclaim against us. We just asked for payment, again and again, the last time being a Final payment letter as per the Protocol Thank you for your support. We really appreciated it. Just to have a guiding help was so reassuring. We will make a donation but will first we'll wait a few weeks to be sure there is no further comeback from the client. S

Hi and Happy New Year. The Final Payment letter was sent on 20.12.21 giving 14 days notice. On 01.01.22 we received an email from the client, a redacted copy is attached. It didn't appear to be good news and so as planned, we prepared to send the Letter before Claim on the 5.1.22. Then to our surprise and joy, payment in full was received from the client on 2.1.22. What a relief. What a nice start to the year. Thank you for all your help and support. The question is - is it over and settled or is the client likely to pursue his counter claim. Would you please view the email attached and give your view. Many thanks S Redacted Client email dated 1.1.22.pdf

It does. The full amount he owes

Ok. Thanks for the thumbs up. We'll email the final late payment letter today and inform him that we'll send a copy by post to his address with your comments.

Hi, Could someone please comment on my previous post. 3 months have now passed since the project was completed and I feel it is necessary to send a final request for payment giving 14 days notice. This would take us to 3rd January 2022. On 5th Jan we would then send the Letter before Claim giving 28 days notice. That would take us to early Feb when we would apply online to the court. The advice on an earlier post was that the process could take up to six months so I am keen to follow a step by step approach that I hope you agree with .

I have downloaded and read the protocol. I note that it is slightly different for the Construction and Engineering Sector. I feel the next step is to send a formal final late payment letter which i have drafted and attach. I have also drafted a Letter of Claim in readiness for the next step. Copy also attached. Both letters are redacted and in PDF. Please advise if they are detailed and acceptable. Many thanks Redacted Final Letter for Payment to Client.pdf Redacted Letter before Claim .pdf

I called the Estate Agent and the person I spoke to knew the property. He informed me that it was refurbished to a high standard, that it was on the market for about a month and that it had recently been let. There had been a lot of interest in it. He asked why I was so interested in this property given that it was now let and I explained that I was owed £4900 for installing the new kitchen and bathroom and that the owner was refusing to pay. He asked if I wanted the information feeding back to the owner and I declined the offer. Before we start a Money Claim, don't we need to send a final late payment letter giving the client notice that if full payment is not received in 5 days then we shall, without notice, begin legal action. Please comment

Will do but it'll be in a day or two due to work.

We are prepared to do whatever the Small claims system requires to get the money we are owed even if it takes 6-9 months. We'll add lost interest and the court fees to the claim. By going though the Small claim process, we will learn from it and be better prepared to use the process should the need arise in the future. Your support and guidance will be most appreciated.

Ok. I'll call the agent tomorrow.

I walked by the property yesterday. It was occupied. The estate agents board was clearly displayed. The agent is long established and is highly respected in our city. As such it would be fair to assume that the property complies with all the regulations necessary to allow the property to be let.

Sadly no. The house is sited in an area that I don't visit very often. As it happens and purely by chance I will be around there tomorrow so I'll look for clues.

Yes sorry my error. The more info I get the better.

Returning the key is the excuse I wanted to use but you advised not to. To me it fits perfectly to speak to the occupants and just ask some simple questions about the improvements and occupants.

I can't think of any other way to get the info you seek and obviously I wouldn't let on who I was. Can you think of an alternative?

No one noticed any smoke alarms. No one knows who or how many occupy the property. All we know is that when we left the property it was still a 3 bed house. I could visit the property, just knock on the door and ask the occupants living there if you like. I'll take a friend for support. We have no intention of replying to any more correspondence from the client unless you advise to do so.

Re the key. We'll follow your instructions. Re the land registry. I have paid the fee and can confirm that the property is owned outright by the client. There is no mortgage. Re the gas engineer report. He is a close subcontractor friend. I will contact him and request a written account by email of his bad interaction he had the client about payment Re my enquiry about Money claim. We have no previous experience of the Money claim procedure but we are prepared to do whatever is necessary to get the money we are owed which is the full £4k for the project, the £967 for the extra work done and £360 for 20hrs of a Litigation persons support. I agree we need to step up the pressure on the client to show we are being more professional about this do. I presume we do this by referring the matter to the Money Claim or Small claims system. If so will you be able to guide us through the process and advise when should we start the application. In my view, anytime after 15th December which is after the 7 days notice we afforded him to pay.

The gas engineer had confirmed that he issued a gas safe certificate. The client would not pay him the £90 fee and so the gas engineer informed the client that the certificate would be cancelled. Only then did he pay. The client appointed the electrician and I have no contact details. I will research the land registry and advise what I find. Thanks for the tip. We will return the key to the address with a covering email to the client to advise him. Since moving out he has not provided a forwarding address and contact is by email only.

I understand. I'll contact the gas engineer and electrician to enquire. Please note that client had more than 2 months after project completion to sort out all of these issues. The only way to be sure would to be visit the property to check. Is this a wise. We still have a key unless he has changed the locks

In his counter claim against my business, he has stated 109 days at x pounds per day. So he is counting from the day the project was completed. Yes he is trying to say that I was responsible which is total fantasy. If he had a tenant lined up, they would surely understand that by waiting an extra 2 weeks, they would have a lovely new kitchen and bathroom. The primary objective is the get paid in full. It would be nice to claim additional costs but I can ill afford the time to work on it. My business is very busy and satisfying my existing orders is priority. This non payment by the client is seriously affecting my cash flow. Do you think we could claim? I would like to tarnish his character and reputation. Maybe report him to the governing legal body or his business MD. 7 days from our response letter which is the notice period that we have given him to pay. If no payment is received should we raise a Money Claim?

We have received no feedback from our response letter dated 7th Dec. The client has advised on one of his letters that he rented out the property on 29th Nov. Nearly 2.5 months after the project was completed. The property is a house. It was is home but he was moving out because of work commitments so this gave him the opportunity to rent it out. Yes I knew this was his intention. I am unable to comment on smoke alarm, gas or electrical certificates but I will ask the engineers that he used to see if they know.

Attached is the tabulated format of the Client points with my Business responses. I hope this helps 27.10.21 Solicitor letter point with Business reply 7.12.21.pdf

Attached is the timeline in the format you requested Solicitor project estimated timeline Business v Client.pdf

We have done this or at least most of it. We added our comments to his points. They are on the letter we sent on 7.12.21. Our points are written in RED. Please have another look at the last four pages of the redacted file of correspondence that i posted yesterday

There were no complaints raised about the quality of the workmanship. Only when we received the letter on 8th Sept did we realise that there were any issue at all. Then when we had completed the work, we raised the letter with the client and he said Tear it up. We shook hands and parted. Days later we sent the invoice for payment. I have edited my timeline spreadsheet to hopefully make it a little more clearer. Its not quite as you asked but i think its is clearer. Please view and advise. Solicitor project estimated timeline.pdf