Can constant late payments be considered a breach?

[hugonoro]

Hi all,
I've been facing constant late payments since day one of my current contract.

According to the contract the payment should be done within 30 days of the invoicing. Since day one it's always a set of lame excuses and sales pitch apologies to justify late payments.

It's usually around 4 - 5 days but a lot of the times can reach 10-15 days late.

Since there wasn't one single month where the payment was done on time, could this be considered a potential breach of contract?

Thank you.

[northernladuk]

All the answers you need here.

late payment breach site:forums.contractoruk.com - Google Search

Are you looking to exit the contract quickly? Why do you want it to be breach?

I'd also be checking the stability of your agent. If it's down to cash flow issues you've got bigger problems looming.

[fidot]

Agreed. Charge them interest and compensation as per late payment legislation for each occurrence.

[DeludedKitten]

Since there wasn't one single month where the payment was done on time, could this be considered a potential breach of contract?

There is no question about it - it is a definite breach of contract. You have a contract to be paid on 30 day terms, they have not paid on 30 day terms, therefore they have breached the contract.

However, whether the breach is sufficiently serious to allow you to terminate the contract (which is what I think youmight mean) is a different question and you'd need professional legal advice about it. It comes down to whether it's a breach of warranty or a breach of condition, depending on how important the payment terms clause is in the contract when taken as part of the whole thing.

[northernladuk]

There is no question about it - it is a definite breach of contract. You have a contract to be paid on 30 day terms, they have not paid on 30 day terms, therefore they have breached the contract.

However, whether the breach is sufficiently serious to allow you to terminate the contract (which is what I think youmight mean) is a different question and you'd need professional legal advice about it. It comes down to whether it's a breach of warranty or a breach of condition, depending on how important the payment terms clause is in the contract when taken as part of the whole thing.

It's a lot more complicated than that and because of that complication then it's best avoided as it could go legal. Trying to terminate a contract while arguing the toss could put the OP in repudiatory breach so he's the one in trouble.

Really good article on breaches here.. But it's very long and complicated which is why it's best avoided.
Breach of Contract: Law, Consequences, Remedies and Legal Claims

Better is to think about what outcome you want and try negotiate it out or give notice and negotiate an early exit. Not sure why you'd want to leave a gig based on late payments alone personally but the OP might know other factors.

Been in a similar situation with small consultancy on 30 days but always late by a few days. A couple of contractors played Holy hell about it. Next renewal came through with 45 day payment terms take it or leave it. Everyone took it and they were never late again. Pretty smart really lol.

All that said it doesn't look like we will hear from the OP yet again so we'll never know.