right to sell goods

[yammyhb100]

I did some work for a customer in October 2013 but he refused to pay and has refused since,
I told him over a year ago that if he failed to pay and collect I would be charging storage of £10 per week plus the £250 he owes me,
what is my right to sell his goods to recoup my costs ?

[nemesis45]

Re: right to sell goods

I did some work for a customer in October 2013 but he refused to pay and has refused since,
I told him over a year ago that if he failed to pay and collect I would be charging storage of £10 per week plus the £250 he owes me,
what is my right to sell his goods to recoup my costs ?

Hi welcome to LB,

You will need to give formal written notice preferably by signed for post that if the item (s) are not collected say within 14 days they will be sold to meet the debt, and if the proceeds of sale do not meet the sum owed you will take further recovery action.

nem

[des8]

Re: right to sell goods

Hi and welcome
If you intend to sell the property you must first comply with the prescribed form of notice required by the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977.
The prescribed terms are stated in Schedule 1 Part II of the act

[dan_1207]

Re: right to sell goods

I did some work for a customer in October 2013 but he refused to pay and has refused since,
I told him over a year ago that if he failed to pay and collect I would be charging storage of £10 per week plus the £250 he owes me,
what is my right to sell his goods to recoup my costs ?

Can you elaborate on the works done, any agreement between the parties, etc?

[dan_1207]

Re: right to sell goods

By the sounds of it, you're going to be considered an involuntary bailee. An involuntary bailee is a person who has, without their consent, found themselves in possession of goods belonging to another. Unless you are prepared to store the belongings indefinitely, you will need to establish that the owner of the goods has abandoned them. Until you have disposed of the belongings, you must ensure that they are not damaged or destroyed deliberately or recklessly.

There is no precedent for a form of notice in accordance with Schedule 1 of the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977, so if you need help with that, we'll need information on the goods being stored - drafting that notice is a big task!

[Unregistered]

Re: right to sell goods

Ok I do motorcycle paintwork and was given a set of paintwork to "touch in and make good with new decals and relacquer fo free however the paint it was in was imposible to replicate as it was a home made colour so the customer "said strip it all of and start again and treat it as a new job" in different colour so when it was done I told him I was just charging him the material costs for he extra work ie: £172 plus he owed me £78 from previous work, normal cost is £550,
He has refused to pay anything and wants it all for free so I have retained his goods,
this has been nearly 2 years and after 6 months I told him if he did not collect I will be charging him £10 week storage.
still no outcome and we are now above £900