7 Dec 2021 / Back to latest updates

Your Terms & Conditions – How can they help you?

If a Debtor refuses to pay your invoice then your terms and conditions can significantly strengthen your position. As a firm of Solicitors at Devonshires Solicitors LLP we have knowledge and experience in reviewing terms and conditions and contracts.

Some examples of terms that may be useful to include in a contract: –  

• Entitlement to a Late payment fee should your invoice be paid late;
• Having a term specifying how much interest you can add if the invoice is not paid on time;
• Being entitled to payment of your costs for any legal advisors you use. If your court claim is valued under £10,000 as it can be difficult or impossible to receive legal costs, other than certain court fees and fixed fees (which are usually quite low).

Some Tips for drafting your Terms and Conditions:

• Your terms should be clear and in a standard type print;
• You should provide these to the customer on entering into a contract with them or you should let them know where they can find the terms so that they are fully incorporated into the contract;
• They should be dated and possibly signed by the customer on entering the contract; and,
• Should you have any terms such as a high cancellation fee, high interest rate or a term that limits your liability then you should point these out to the customer directly.
• Make sure you keep a copy of any letters/ emails/ text messages with the customer that relates to your terms and conditions.    

We appreciate that from a commercial and practical perspective you may not always wish to enforce this type of contractual entitlement with your customer. However, it is useful to have terms such as this and for interest for late payment in the “back pocket” should you find yourself in a dispute about an invoice or its late payment.

Late payments can significantly affect businesses cash flow and it is important to ensure that if you need to recover a debt the cards are stacked in your favour as much as possible.

Should you need any assistance with any clients/ customers that are disputing your invoices or have not paid your invoice(s) then please do contact us.