I'm owed money for services I provided - how can I get this?

I work part-time as a self-employed personal trainer. In January I heard an advert on the radio asking for personal trainers. Keen to earn myself some more money, I met with the owner of a personal training business who said that he would provide me with clients and he would pay me a set fee for each hourly session (obviously he would charge the clients more and keep the rest for himself). He gave me one client who signed up for 8 sessions. I received my payment for those sessions once I had completed them. The client then signed up for a further 8 sessions for which the owner of the business was paid in full. After the 4th session the client told me that they would not be signing up for anymore as they felt that it was too expensive and they had been oversold some extras such as nutritional guidance etc. At this point the owner had still not got me any more clients and I was starting to get more clients of my own. I called the owner and told him that I would see out my commitment for the remaining 4 sessions but I would then be going it alone as he had not got me any more clients. He said that was fine and wished me well. I was never paid for the last 4 sessions and after phoning and emailing him he eventually replied via text stating that he would not be paying me because I was now working with his client. I explained that he should have assigned her another trainer when I told him I would be leaving rather than letting me finish those sessions and remaining unpaid. It is not my fault if the client felt that the owner had oversold his product. I am now out of pocket and I'm not sure how I can get this money back. I have been told that the small claims court is no use to me as it's for consumer claims and that the employment rights people are also of no use to me as I'm self-employed. Any ideas anyone? I feel really strongly that I have been wronged. If he had said that I couldn't train that client for a set time period or something I wouldn't have minded but he said nothing. Obviously there was no contract signed by either party.

did you send him an invoice for the 4 outstanding sessions?

A solicitor is one route open to you if he is refusing to pay, how much are we talking about? if its 300-400 quid it will disappear in solicitors fees very quickly.

ali247 said:

he eventually replied via text stating that he would not be paying me because I was now working with his client

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If I understand correctly, your former boss's client is now your own client, i.e. the client is paying you money directly?

contemporary said:

A solicitor is one route open to you if he is refusing to pay, how much are we talking about? if its 300-400 quid it will disappear in solicitors fees very quickly.

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Good point. If it's a few hundred just chalk it down as a cheap life lesson and move on. Whatever you do base your decision on business rational and not emotional ire.

What I would do is to send a formal letter by registered post requesting settlement of your account within say, seven or fourteen days, after which you will need to seek legal advice to collect the debt.

When I have clients who do not look like they are not going to pay I do this. People dont like registered post. It either gives them a little jolt and they pay, or you hear nothing, which means they are prepared to go down this route, in which case you can then make the decision as to whether it is worth it to refer them to a Solicitor.

If it's more than a few hundred euro you could hand it over to a debt collector. They usually keep a percentage of the debts they collect, but some money is better than none

Did you sign any kind of contract? If you poached his client, you could be on shaky ground.

Thanks everyone for your comments and advice - really appreciate it