Unpaid Invoice

[Simon1234]

Hi

I have currently been working for a small limited company via an umbrella company. My contract was recently terminated. My final invoice included days worked and sales commission. The company paid the days worked but refused to pay the commission. I wish to take them to court to recover the unpaid commission. How do I go about this? Do I take the company or the director personally to court? And do I take them personally or via umbrella company?

[Sockpuppet]

Speak to your umbrella company. Technically they should take them to court as the contract is with them. In theory you should take the umbrella to court as that is who your contract is with.

[MarillionFan]

Hi

I have currently been working for a small limited company via an umbrella company. My contract was recently terminated. My final invoice included days worked and sales commission. The company paid the days worked but refused to pay the commission. I wish to take them to court to recover the unpaid commission. How do I go about this? Do I take the company or the director personally to court? And do I take them personally or via umbrella company?

On what basis was the commission and why did they terminate?

[I Credit Enforcement]

I-Credit Enforcement - Debt Recovery

Mode Note: Hi Mark,

Please take a leaf out of Safe Collections book and read the T&C of this forum.

Feel free to offer advice, but just offering your phone no. is blatant advertising and not allowed - people will pm you if they like your advice.

[Simon1234]

Hi marillion fan

Commission was to be based on sales. However as we were busy in previous months I worked on surveying leads already in. My boss agreed verbally he would pay extra for these jobs as we were busy and he wanted to concentrate on these. This 'comission' was paid last time. The last few months I failed to bring in any new work but did service leads as before. I was laid off because of this but still put the serviced leads commission on the invoice. My employer paid the invoice but not the commission element.

Also should I be taking the company or director to court?

[Safe Collections]

Hi marillion fan

Commission was to be based on sales. However as we were busy in previous months I worked on surveying leads already in. My boss agreed verbally he would pay extra for these jobs as we were busy and he wanted to concentrate on these. This 'comission' was paid last time. The last few months I failed to bring in any new work but did service leads as before. I was laid off because of this but still put the serviced leads commission on the invoice. My employer paid the invoice but not the commission element.

Also should I be taking the company or director to court?

Whoah! First things first, you need to work out exactly where the liability to pay you lies.

If you are working via an umbrella it is normally a case that the chain goes:

You---------Umbrella-----------Client

You have a contractual relationship with the umbrella, the umbrella has the contractual relationship with the clientco.

If the end client has not paid, it should be the responsibility of the umbrella to chase the unpaid amount. Granted a lot of umbrellas try and palm off collection of unpaid invoices to the contractor but technically most contractors have no legal claim over the clientco.

You need to look carefully at your contract with the umbrella, specifically with regard to non-payment.

Assuming it is in fact you as a contractor that needs to recover the debt first take a look at this article that will give you a good idea of where to start.

Please also note that directors/shareholders are not personally liable for the debts of a limited company. Do not issue proceedings against a director of a Ltd company as you will be throwing your money away.