Advice for student working as a consultant for late paying company

As a PhD student I fund my studies working as a sub-contractor/consultant for environmental survey work. I signed a contract written the company that hires my services which covers them for copyright, data, termination of contract etc. It also states in the contract that they will pay me up to 30 days after they receive my invoice. However, they are often very late paying me.

I had read (or thought I had read) that I could write on the invoice that "late payment will incur a late payment fee....". To try and insure that they pay on time, I added a line about a late payment charge to my last invoice.

When they received my invoice they replied saying...

..."We do not accept the late payment condition you tried to introduce on your invoice....Should you wish to negotiate different terms then I suggest you do this before you sign any contract with us".

So now I am unsure if I do actually have the right to enforce this or whether the fact i signed a contract actually voids my right to charge them a late payment fee. If it does void my rights I am left to wait until they decide to pay me - late or not.

Any advice or thoughts are appreciated.

Hi David,

Thanks for your reply, although I'm a student, I guess I could be classed as working freelance - although I do not have my own business set up.

I would be interested to hear I'm still covered as a PhD student working freelance etc.

Regards

Aaron

Wilkinson wrote:

Hi David,

Thanks for your reply, although I'm a student, I guess I could be classed as working freelance - although I do not have my own business set up.

I would be interested to hear I'm still covered as a PhD student working freelance etc.

Regards

Aaron

In our experience if you are not an employee you are effectively a freelancer and would be covered under the legislation.

You do not have to inform any government agency that you have begun to trade (with the exception of the taxman!) and you can effectively wake up one day and begin to trade as a sole trader.

With regard to enforcing the legislation if the contract you have signed prohibits the addition of late payment charges, then they could argue you are barred from such action. But as David said if they are paying you after the contractually agreed period they have already breached the contract anyway.

Can you clarify any clauses of the contract relating to payments?

I'd imagine that any contract term that tries to over-rule your statutory rights enacted in law, without putting in place reasonable alternative terms in place of them, would be in itself an unreasonable contract term, and unenforceable under the UCTA 1977.

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