[Jonny 87]

For some stupid reason I broke my own rule of not returning to a contract if they hadn't paid me within 30 days.

I have a hotel that I clean and they have always been a pain to get the cash off. (Must admit I'm too relaxed in this area and in chasing up payments) But I kept being told "the boss is away but we will have a cheque waiting for your next visit".  Or "the boss is in a meeting" bla bla.

Stupidly I kept returning and cleaning the windows.

Long storey short but I've just been told by a friend of mine to cheque the paper. Yip....... The hotel is going under. Being forced into liquidation by hmrc as they owe £250,000 in unpaid taxes.

No wonder they have been holding out on my £700. Think I still have a chance of getting my money once they have assigned a liquidator but im sure it won't be easy.

Lesson learned, and now any sizeable contract that doesn't pay within 30 days isn't getting re-cleaned till outstanding payments are settled.

It's the first time I've been really stung, only had the odd customer owe me a few cleans and move house or something, so I suppose I'm fortunate in that way.

Moral of storey...... Don't be like Jonny.

[Ian101]

the list of payments in priority

liquidator
tax man
secured debts
you

so if lucky you may get pennies per pound ... on the positive side is you can claim it against tax so 29% of £700 (20% basic rate tax and the 9% is NI)

[Arnold Palmer]

Good luck getting it back. I have doubts that you will though, I still get letters through from liquidators after a cafe that was due me money (£150) went bust about 5 years ago.

The letters are very long winded and (in my opinion) deliberately complicated. I gave up on that cash the minute I heard about them going bust.

[AuRavelling79]

the list of payments in priority

liquidator
tax man
STAFF WAGES
secured debts
you

so if lucky you may get pennies per pound ... on the positive side is you can claim it against tax so 29% of £700 (20% basic rate tax and the 9% is NI)

FTFY. Not sure where it is in the list but it is above you unfortunately.

[Smurf]

Sadly you have no chance in getting that £700 owed through the process of liquidation.
Maybe there is still a chance if not got to that stage yet is to instruct a debt collector to get in quick to try to recover the said amount for you.

[Jonny 87]

Yeah I think you guys are right. I'm doubtful I'll see any of it if I'm being honest.

Thanks for the info about it being a deductible on my tax return! Didn't know that and it will pass it on to my accountant.

What makes things a bit more complicated is that they are actually still trading at the minute! Still open for business. Apparently they have till the end of this week to pay there tax bill. The quote from the manager in the paper said its still "business as usual and no comment".

What's really annoyed me is that last month they increased the frequency of the window cleaning to every two weeks with the promise of a cheque next visit.  Any business can fail and get into money problems but organising work to be done knowing your not going/want to be able to pay is out of order.

I might be wrong but my feeling is that they have wanted to just claw as much money in as possible, not pay any bills, and then they know they will be forced to close.

i thought about taking all the family in for a meal, fillet steaks all round and the most expensive wine they have..... Then just waking out and telling them to take it off the bill.    decided against it.

In reality any legal action i take isn't going to be arranged quick enough unfortunately.

[Smurf]

What I would do is walk in and present them with the bill and don't come out until you have been paid in full by cash.
Make a song and dance about it in front of customers if you have to.

Bring a couple of intimidating looking mates along with you just for good measure 

Good luck bude 

[CLEANCARE WC]

the list of payments in priority

liquidator
tax man
secured debts
you

so if lucky you may get pennies per pound ... on the positive side is you can claim it against tax so 29% of £700 (20% basic rate tax and the 9% is NI)

Cant he write the whole £700 off against tax??

[kempy]

Oh dear , even worse they are still trading .

I would take you and the wife and go fur a slap up meal . Then like you said , take them the bill .
If their not happy , then both of you are unhappy and both owed monies .

[Tosh]

For some stupid reason I broke my own rule of not returning to a contract if they hadn't paid me within 30 days.

I have a hotel that I clean and they have always been a pain to get the cash off. (Must admit I'm too relaxed in this area and in chasing up payments) But I kept being told "the boss is away but we will have a cheque waiting for your next visit".  Or "the boss is in a meeting" bla bla.

Stupidly I kept returning and cleaning the windows.

Long storey short but I've just been told by a friend of mine to cheque the paper. Yip....... The hotel is going under. Being forced into liquidation by hmrc as they owe £250,000 in unpaid taxes.

No wonder they have been holding out on my £700. Think I still have a chance of getting my money once they have assigned a liquidator but im sure it won't be easy.

Lesson learned, and now any sizeable contract that doesn't pay within 30 days isn't getting re-cleaned till outstanding payments are settled.

It's the first time I've been really stung, only had the odd customer owe me a few cleans and move house or something, so I suppose I'm fortunate in that way.

Moral of storey...... Don't be like Jonny.

I got stung in a very similar manner to you by a building company to the tune £960 5 years ago. It takes a long long time for these cases of businesses going under before any assets are realised. I got a cheque about 6 months ago for the sum of £1.45 in settlement for that debt. Expect the same, you're last on the list with many others.

[Tosh]

I would be taking them to court however if they're still trading. Force the issue.

[Ste b]

Sod taking the family for a meal we could have a free ciu night out 😀

[Dave Willis]

 :(You won't get it. The accountant will recover what he can from any assets which won't cover their debts so it's then broken down as a percentage which will be sod all. It's normal for them to keep trading for a while managed by the liqudation company whilst they look for a buyer or a way to generate some cash.

Just think Jonny, you had the Vision once to see that coming!

[Woody123]

Table for 20.. Spend £35 each  walk out

Reservation for mr smith lol

[Clever Forum Name]

Seriously I would rack up a £700 bill.

Then walk out.

Then tell the papers.

You could be famous.

[p1w1]

Seriously I would rack up a £700 bill.

Then walk out.

Then tell the papers.

You could be famous.

Yeah me too

[Dave Willis]

Is it a five star hotel? Send Dazmond there for his monthly vacation followed by a runner.

[mgba_78]

We had a commercial go under and owed 3 cleans, £900 i think, again, always a bit of a pain to pay but never a real problem over the years we had been doing it. Eventually we were told that the hotel was going under and everything was to stop whilst it was sorted.
Eventually after about 6 months we received a letter saying we were to be paid something stupid like 55p for every £100 owed or something crazy like that.

As said above window cleaning or probably any service is way down on the list of  people to pay back after liquidation.

The loss can be written off though!!