Letting agent not paying invoice

[Jojo71]

Hi, I've been getting jobs from a letting agent for just over a year. I invoice them, they invoice the landlord and then they pay me. They have always been late payers but they always eventually pay up. I did a job for them in in July last year and invoiced them the day after. I have been chasing this invoice ever since. They have now told me they no longer manage the property and that I will need to chase the previous landlord for payment. I explained that they contracted me to do the work so they owe the money and they are to recover it from the landlord, as they knew this debt was outstanding when the landlord ended his contract with them.

Am I correct in thinking that the letting agent owe me the money and they are the ones who need to recover it from their former client? They are currently telling me I should take the landlord to small claims or write the debt off as they don't have a contract with me.

Any help would be much appreciated

Many thanks

[enaid]

Re: Letting agent not paying invoice

Hi and welcome,
It sounds right to me that the letting agent owes you as they were the ones who contracted you and you invoiced. It is then up to them to charge the LL and they should have taken any outstanding amounts from rent collections before passing the remainder on to the LL if that was possible, or if not just billed the LL the amount owing.
Usually unless it's an emergency and it's not possible to contact the LL the LA should inform the LL of any repairs that need doing and get the go ahead.

[Jojo71]

Re: Letting agent not paying invoice

Hi, thanks for that. The LA no longer manage the property and are saying that we should either write off the debt or take the LL to small claims. The invoice is to the LA and they always pay once the rent comes in. I'm not sure exactly what happened but do know the property is now owned by someone else. I've written back to the LA and said the debt is theirs as they contracted me to do the work and they should pay me and they have to get it back from the LL. Fingers crossed otherwise it'll be a letter before action

[enaid]

Re: Letting agent not paying invoice

I would go that way tbh, good luck and keep us informed as to how you get on.
Enaid x

[Jojo71]

Re: Letting agent not paying invoice

Hi,

letter before action sent, fingers crossed it does the trick.

Will let you know how we get on

Many thanks
Jo x

[enaid]

Re: Letting agent not paying invoice

Good Luck x

[Jojo71]

Re: Letting agent not paying invoice

Hi,

it didn't work. I gave them the opportunity just to pay the outstanding amount without the late payment charge for the invoices (as the had been outstanding for over 6 months). The LA then sent a message that they would pay half as a gesture of goodwill, minus £6 that had been paid a few weeks before (that payment was as a result of an underpayment of another invoice, which I've got an email from them stating that).

We've now taken out a small claim against them with the added late payment charges. They filed a defence at the weekend so am just waiting for that to arrive.

Most frustrating xx

[Jojo71]

Re: Letting agent not paying invoice

Hi enaid,

just to let you know, the LA settled at the mediation stage, having had to pay a commercial late payment fee and costs so far on top of the original outstanding amount.

Good result in the end, thanks for your help xx

[ostell]

Re: Letting agent not paying invoice

Nice when it all comes together. Well Done.

[enaid]

Re: Letting agent not paying invoice

Great result and thanks for the update, really pleased for you x