• Visitors can check out the Forum FAQ by clicking this link. You have to register before you can post: click the REGISTER link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. View our Forum Privacy Policy.
  • Want to receive the latest contracting news and advice straight to your inbox? Sign up to the ContractorUK newsletter here. Every sign up will also be entered into a draw to WIN £100 Amazon vouchers!

Help - Client won't pay Umbrella company and umbrella company won't pay me

Collapse
X
  •  
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Help - Client won't pay Umbrella company and umbrella company won't pay me

    Hi
    I need your help please.
    I started working for an end client 5 weeks ago - and I have 23 billable days that I have invoiced to them (via my umbrella company).
    This week, I found out that the end client is ignoring the invoices and refuses to pay them, even though I have signed timesheets, due to an admin error on their part, which is going to take weeks to resolve.

    I've not been paid, and I am down to my last pennies, and cannot even afford to get to work now. The umbrella company won't give me an advance, because they say they have no guarantee that the end client will pay my invoices.

    My contract is with the umbrella company, the umbrella's contract is signed with the end client (it's a household name international company)... the client say they need a certified copy of the umbrella company's bank statement (to be signed and stamped by their bank) - the umbrella are refusing to provide this. The end client only asked for it this week, after I've already worked a few weeks,so it has come as a nasty surprise...they refuse to pay any invoices until they receive it.

    The details: the umbrella tell me it is not standard practice to provide a certified signed and stamped bank statement to an end client, and they are not in a position to go to their bank (30 miles away) to get this. The director of the umbrella has refused. They have provided the bank statement and a copy of their cheque book to the end client, but the end client says it's not acceptable. Without this signed document, the end client will not "set up the umbrella company as a vendor on their internal system" and without a new vendor being set up, they will not pay invoices.

    I'm honestly at my wit's end, and can barely pay for food now...I can't even find a new job, because I will not be able to afford to go for an interview. It is an absolute nightmare.

    Any ideas on where I stand legally on this? I tried Which legal but they only cover permanent job advice. I cannot afford a lawyer now, because I have no money left.

    Thanks
    Last edited by ECommerceConsultant; 4 May 2018, 13:44.

    #2
    Don’t Panic.

    Take a deep breath and read this Late Payment Legislation Letters Forms & Templates - Pay on Time

    You can do most of this yourself , just be methodical and take it one step at a time.

    This is a good step-by-step guide to go with the above letters https://www.1and1.co.uk/digitalguide...minder-letter/

    Also look up ‘dunning’.
    "I can put any old tat in my sig, put quotes around it and attribute to someone of whom I've heard, to make it sound true."
    - Voltaire/Benjamin Franklin/Anne Frank...

    Comment


      #3
      I thought the umbrella can pay NMW now the invoice is late?
      'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

      Comment


        #4
        Before you go sending letters off get written permission from the director of the umbrella company - email will do - to chase the debt. Otherwise the client will use it as an excuse to ignore you, and you won't be able to use a debt collector as the debt is not owed to you directly.

        In the meantime start looking for other work.
        "You’re just a bad memory who doesn’t know when to go away" JR

        Comment


          #5
          No, I would chase and dun the umbrella, it’s for the umbrella to chase the client.

          The umbrella is your employer and there’s a reason that they take a chunk out of your day rate - make them earn it.
          "I can put any old tat in my sig, put quotes around it and attribute to someone of whom I've heard, to make it sound true."
          - Voltaire/Benjamin Franklin/Anne Frank...

          Comment


            #6
            Have you been out of work a long time before this. 5 weeks of not being paid and you can't eat is a bit surprising.
            'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
              Have you been out of work a long time before this. 5 weeks of not being paid and you can't eat is a bit surprising.
              There's food banks, thanks to the Tories....

              Comment


                #8
                Thank you for your responses. The umbrella company is a bit useless...they absolutely don't give a toss if a client doesn't pay...because it does not affect them. So, they will do SFA.

                Time to get rid of them, to be honest.

                IT's 6 weeks without being paid, I was out of work for a while prior to this contract, and also had my normal monthly costs of living for 2 months to pay, plus business travel expenses for mandatory work trips, and some large unexpected expenditures, which wiped out my reserves. Other contractors told me it took 4 months to get paid by this company at the start. It's the problem of going direct to a client, instead of using a recruitment agency - the recruiter has to pay you when you're through them - but a direct client will postpone paying invoices for as long as possible, and make excuses not to. This is the issue. Lesson learned. I thought it would be better to not use a recruiter, but in this case, it's turned into a financial nightmare.

                The client has now involved one of their recruiters, and all the contracts have to be re-issued and updated to be with the recruiter...and then the recruiter will pay me ASAP. The end client was saying it was going to be several weeks more before getting paid...so at least this is an interim solution. Hopefully I should get some money through this week...it has to come through, or else I can't go and run several workshops in Europe at the end of the week... which is required.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by ECommerceConsultant View Post
                  or else I can't go and run several workshops in Europe at the end of the week... which is required.
                  you clearly care too much about the client.
                  How can the workshops be 'required' when they haven't paid you? They don't seem that important.

                  If they have a history of bad/late payment (which they do) I'd be very cautious about spending a load on travel and accommodation. In fact I'd insist they pay for all the travel and accommodation themselves and provide an up-front per-diem allowance before I went anywhere.
                  See You Next Tuesday

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Umbrella name?
                    Rhyddid i lofnod psychocandy!!!!

                    Comment

                    Working...
                    X