What to Do When a Customer Won't Pay

First, work out which problem you have

Three different situations look the same on day thirty:

They cannot pay. Money ran out, or a lender pulled finance. They avoid you because the conversation is humiliating.

They will not pay. They are unhappy with something and have decided withholding is the way to raise it.

They are chancing it. A minority, but real. The job is done, they have what they wanted, and they are betting you will not chase.

The responses are different. Chasing harder works on the third and makes the second much worse. So ask before you escalate, one calm message asking whether there is a problem with the work will usually tell you which one you are in.

What does not apply, and why it matters

Most advice about getting paid is written for business-to-business work. On domestic jobs, two of the biggest tools are not available:

Statutory late payment interest and compensation come from legislation covering commercial debts between businesses. A consumer is not a business. Sending a homeowner a demand citing statutory interest is quoting the wrong law, and if it later reaches an ombudsman or a judge, it undermines you.

Adjudication, the construction industry's fast route to a binding decision, specifically excludes work on a dwelling that the customer occupies or intends to occupy. It is not available to you on domestic work.

You can charge interest on a domestic debt if your contract says so and the term is fair. That has to be agreed up front, not invented at the end.

What to do, in order

1. Ask what the problem is. In writing, calmly.

2. Send a clear statement of account. What was agreed, what was done, what has been paid, what is outstanding, and when it was due. Facts, no adjectives.

3. Set a deadline and say what happens next. A reasonable one, a week or two, and state the consequence plainly. Then follow through. An unenforced deadline teaches them nothing happens.

4. Offer a payment plan if they cannot pay. Something recovered over three months beats a judgment you never collect.

5. Send a formal letter before action if you get nowhere. There are pre-action requirements to follow before issuing a claim, and skipping them can count against you.

6. Small claims. Designed to be used without a solicitor. Straightforward if your paperwork is good and painful if it is not.

What weakens your position

• No written scope. If nobody wrote down what was included, the argument about what was included is unwinnable.
• Verbal variations. Extras agreed on site and never priced in writing are the single most common cause of a disputed final bill.
• Aggressive messages. They get screenshotted. Assume everything you send will be read out by someone else.
• Removing materials or work. Taking back a boiler you fitted, or disabling something, can put you in the wrong however justified it feels.
• Cash with no record. If you took part payment in cash, proving what is outstanding gets much harder.

The structural fix

Almost every case here traces back to the same thing: the money was not tied to the work.

When payment is agreed stage by stage and released as each stage is signed off, you are never far ahead of your own labour, and a dispute about stage four does not put stages one to three at risk. You also have something the customer signed, rather than a recollection of a conversation.