New to the Forums, where to go next with not getting paid...

[mzivtins]

Hi Guys,

Scoured the forums many times as a lurker, some great advice here!

My name is Mark, relatively new to contracting and i have hit my first issue...

My current agent appears to not be willing to pay me as my Ltd company bank account has unfortunately been declined by barclays (Due to my photo ID having an address different from my current address/business address, yes even though the application was for a BUSINESS account)

From this, SJD has advised my agent to pay into my personal account, under the guidelines that it IS legal and simply any money from the original invoice not returned to the companies account would be given as dividend... SIMPLE!

Nope, the agent is refusing. Something about company policy

From here the agent advises me that i should obtain the bank details of my accountants and have the money paid into thier account haha! yes... thats right, completely mix company money lines! excellent advice... The agent has even said that i can sign for the monies to be paid to another Ltd company... but yes, not my own account

So far the Agent has not replied to a single email in around 6 weeks, and will not return any of my calls... i am faced with massively unhelpful people who exclaim that if i miss the invoicing deadline they will NOT process the invoices for another 4 weeks (Currently waiting 7 working days for another account to be opened)

So my last ditch effort was to simply use and umbrella company... these guys were great! spoke last friday and had confirmation today they would be contacting my agent to further proceedings...
Turns out my contact at the umbrella company was rudely told by my agency that they refuse to deal with his company (Assigned by me) So again... no way for me to be paid the money i am owed to allow me to continue working...

All the while this has gone on i have not received a single email or phonecall from the Agency.

To top things off, i had an email early Dec to tell me Compliance were happy and all my documents where in order and i was 'compliant' i was then told by somebody at the Agency 'Well you're not even compliant anyway' this was last week, im still waiting for a phonecall back to explain what the hell is going on as i have documented receipt that compliance was all sorted!

So... here i am... running out of company and personal funds because i have now been 6 weeks without pay whilst weekly business costs are eating into my backup... do any of you have any kind of experience/advice on what i should do in this situation? Both my accountant and umbrella representative are shocked at how rude and difficult the Agency are.

I have a meeting tomorrow with the IT director of my Client to go over the obstructions i have faced to carry out my contract... more as a heads up, i like where im placed and they are very happy with the work i am doing.

So, i apologise for my long first post, also please move this to a more appropriate area of the forum if needs fit.

Nice to meet you all! And ignore my typing errors, writing as a fast as i can on the train all cramped up!

Mark

[Wanderer]

My current agent appears to not be willing to pay me as my Ltd company bank account has unfortunately been declined by barclays (Due to my photo ID having an address different from my current address/business address, yes even though the application was for a BUSINESS account)

Oh dear, you are attacking this problem all wrong. There is exactly one problem here and exactly one solution. Your company is a separate legal entity to you and as such your company MUST have it's own bank account. The agency won't pay company money into a personal bank account for good reasons and they are ignoring you trying to argue the point because asking to be paid into your personal account or someone else's account is just going to cause problems. Your company needs a bank account. End of story.

The way to resolve this problem is to get a company bank account opened ASAP. Don't go chasing your accountant or agency or umbrella or client around in circles, it's absolutely NOTHING to do with them and quite categorically NOT their problem and there is NOTHING they can do until you get a bank account.

Speak to Barclay's again and try to resolve your problems with them. Be polite but persistent, ask them to escalate it if necessary. If that fails, speak to your accountant and ask if they help you get an account opened, lots of people use Cater Allen and your accountant may have a relationship with this bank whereby they refer their customers and get a quick service.