Is it worth suing for 500€?

R

runner

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I am owed around 500€ by an individual (not a company) for services provided. Even though there is no dispute regarding the debt owing, he seems to have no intention of paying it. It was invoiced to his home address which he owns and to him personally, and he can afford to pay it.

The question - is it worth my while following it up legally, or would I be better off forgetting about it?

If someone could summaries the costs and timescales in taking the legal route, it would be a great help.

This would include sheriff costs if judgement is got, and time it would take to get that far.
 
Re: Is it worth sueing for 500€?

Why don't you get someone to call this person saying something like: "This is John Murphy, from Murphy and Associates. I am calling on behalf of Mr./Ms. runner regarding the €500 unpaid invoice. As this has not been paid in a timely manner my client has asked me to start procedings. Before we go down the legal route I would like to give you a last chance to pay the outstanding invoice."

A friend of mine did this a few years ago and it worked a treat.
 
Re: Is it worth sueing for 500€?

Thanks Chris.
This unfortunately will not work. Have tried approaches like this to no avail.
He might pay if a Sheriff arrived at the door. I want to know if its worth my while going that far from a cost perspective.
 
Re: Is it worth sueing for 500€?

Why not try the Small Claims Court ??? Doesn't cost much and you represent yourself.
 
Re: Is it worth sueing for 500€?

Mercman thanks, I didnt think that the small claims courts can be used for debts.
I thought it was only for consumer issues. This is a debt for a service provided.
Perhaps Im wrong ..
 
Re: Is it worth sueing for 500€?

If you are sure that he has resources, and if you have reasonable documentation to support your claim, then you might as well go the legal route. He will be obliged to pay your reasonable costs as well as the amount due to you.

Prior to consulting a solicitor, I would write a short and very formal letter (non-argumentative) telling him that if he does not pay in full within, say, 10 days, you will refer the matter to your legal representative to take steps to enforce collection.
 
Re: Is it worth sueing for 500€?

Hi,

In my very recent experience it is very unlikely to be financially worthwhile to pursue this. It would certainly be worth it to send a solicitor's letter (cost approx. €50) but if you feel that nothing short of the sherriff would make him pay you will have to go down the legal route. Go to court, get a judgement and get it enforced. This assuming he doesn't mount a defence which will delay things and increase costs.

My husband was owed €30k and had to go legal. 18 months later and approx €3k in costs to date he has not yet had a court date (they defended) . He has received €17,500 of the debt and it is now at the stage where it will probably reach €5k in costs to recover €9,500 and that assumes we win the case. (They are extremely dishonest and manipulative). There is never a guarantee that you recover costs. Sometimes you get your judgement but no ruling is made in terms of costs.

I imagine like our case you are taking this very personally. It's hard not to when they get your service and just won't pay and don't care about your circumstances. However I would say that the psychological damage of dragging this out can totally outweigh the benefit of getting €500. Forgive me if I'm making assumptions. In our case we had to pursue it due to the amounts involved but if it were €500 for us and we knew then what we know now, we would walk away and wish them bad luck with it .

A
 
Re: Is it worth sueing for 500€?

Padraigb said:
If you are sure that he has resources, and if you have reasonable documentation to support your claim, then you might as well go the legal route. He will be obliged to pay your reasonable costs as well as the amount due to you.

Prior to consulting a solicitor, I would write a short and very formal letter (non-argumentative) telling him that if he does not pay in full within, say, 10 days, you will refer the matter to your legal representative to take steps to enforce collection.
Click to expand...

Thanks Padraighb and Ali.

Ive done that and its been ignored.

Even if I succeed (never guatanteed) in court, it will still cost me money and hastle.
Im inclined to forget about it!
 
Re: Is it worth sueing for 500€?

runner said:
Im inclined to forget about it!
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Sorry for getting the small claims court thing wrong. Shows how much I know !!

In relation to forgetting about it, this is what the debtor wants you to forget about it. These people are pathetic.
 
Re: Is it worth sueing for 500€?

I do not think it worth the legal costs, but if I were you, I would not let it go. For the cost of a phone call every few days you can keep nagging away at the debtor until he gets fed up. Make it part of your routine to keep asking him for the money.
 
Re: Is it worth sueing for 500€?

I take your point Gervan.
However being pre-occupied with it would only serve to put me in bad humour every morning thinking about it, and probably still get nothing!
The odd phone call maybe, but he wont take the calls anyway.
I suspect Im not his first victim in this respect.
 
Re: Is it worth sueing for 500€?

There was a thread a while back about someone who was owed some money. He called to the house and politely asked for his money and was prompltly told where to go.

So he took out some banners/signs and stood outside the house and told all & sundry how he was owed money by Mr X. If I recall, he was there for about half an hour & left with all his money !!
 
Re: Is it worth sueing for 500€?

For a debt of €500 you will only get scaled costs in the District Court which would be very small and not anywhere near the cost of using a solicitor to take the case. For debts under €1000 if is generally not worth it.

As for standing outside a debtors house with placards etc, it would not be advised as it may well be in breach of the public order act and be a civil trespass which would leave the person open to being sued by the debtor. He could easily call the Gardaí and have you removed.

There are times when you should simply cut your losses.
 
Re: Is it worth sueing for 500€?

The legal route is not worth it because of the cost. I can't abide people who can and won't pay their debts so I would do the phone calls every day, the standing outside his home with banner and the standing outside his workplace. I don't see how any of this is illegal. Someone on here did this before and had a cheque within 2 hours. Make sure your banner is good and big and says Mr A B of x street,and y business of z street owes me 500 Euro and won't pay.
 
Re: Is it worth sueing for 500€?

Chris said:
Why don't you get someone to call this person saying something like: "This is John Murphy, from Murphy and Associates. I am calling on behalf of Mr./Ms. runner regarding the €500 unpaid invoice. As this has not been paid in a timely manner my client has asked me to start procedings. Before we go down the legal route I would like to give you a last chance to pay the outstanding invoice."

A friend of mine did this a few years ago and it worked a treat.
Click to expand...

A lot of the advice is here may be well meaning, but is really horrendous and may lead to the OP landing himself himself in trouble. For example not only is the above a daft suggestion, it is also a criminal offence to pretend to be a solicitor or take or use any name, title, addition or description or make any representation or demand implying that he is a, solicitor!

The idea of calling to his house with banners is equally daft and may result in legal difficulties for the OP and himself being sued.

I acknowledge that whilst we might like to do these sort of things, mature and balanced adults will usually think better of it. In fairness, I really don't know why people who have very limited knowledge of an area feel compelled to offer advice when they clearly don't know what they are talking about.

Ring a local solicitor who practices in debt collection and is willing to take on such cases for a quote.
 
Re: Is it worth sueing for 500€?

bond-007 said:
For a debt of €500 you will only get scaled costs in the District Court which would be very small and not anywhere near the cost of using a solicitor to take the case. For debts under €1000 if is generally not worth it.

As for standing outside a debtors house with placards etc, it would not be advised as it may well be in breach of the public order act and be a civil trespass which would leave the person open to being sued by the debtor. He could easily call the Gardaí and have you removed.

There are times when you should simply cut your losses.
Click to expand...

Thanks all - including the extreme actions suggested!

The above post reasonably summarises the actual practicalities of the situation quite well. Basically its not worth the hassle. If one personalises these things it consumes too much time. Life's too short!
 
Re: Is it worth sueing for 500€?

Mr. C.J.H. said:
The idea of calling to his house with banners is equally daft and may result in legal difficulties for the OP and himself being sued.

.
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I don't see anything daft about it, I was deadly serious. The debt is owed the the debtor is refusing to pay and can pay. How could the OP be sued, sued for what?

The gardai will do nothing and will say it's a civil matter.

Murphy & Co could be a debt collection agency, all you need is to sound official.
 
Re: Is it worth sueing for 500€?

The debt may be legitimately disputed. The debtor may have told the creditor to sue him if he thought there was any basis to the debt. If the creditor refuses to use the legal process to recover the debt due to the costs involved that is their problem, they cannot take the law into their own hands. The debtor could sue for defamation if it turned out the debt was not owed as described. The silly creditor could even be trespassing on private property leaving himself open to being sued for that.

The gardai will do nothing and will say it's a civil matter.
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Obstruction of the public highway. Behaviour likely to lead to a breach of the peace. Various public order offences. He could be even moved on for his own safety.
 
Re: Is it worth sueing for 500€?

Mr. C.J.H. said:
A lot of the advice is here may be well meaning, but is really horrendous and may lead to the OP landing himself himself in trouble. For example not only is the above a daft suggestion, it is also a criminal offence to pretend to be a solicitor or take or use any name, title, addition or description or make any representation or demand implying that he is a, solicitor!
Click to expand...

I should have pointed out that the terminology used does not refer to the caller claiming to be a solicitor and no professional title is used. Murphy and Associates could be a barber shop or anything else.
 
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