Can I charge interest/compensation

Hi,

I have a bit of an odd situation and need some help - I'm sorry if this has been covered in detail before.

My partner and I run a business, he did some work for a client in 2007 and three invoices were issued on the 24th November 2007. The invoices have remained unpaid until two were paid on 3rd March 2011 (that was the day the cheque was posted) and the third one is still unpaid.

We have filed with the local small claims court for the third invoice and are claiming for the initial invoice cost, interest ( at 8%), compensation of £70 (as the amount > £1,000) plus the court filing fees (£120). We have also included the part about the daily interest amount and have emailed the client to tell them that the cheque they posted today would be considered part payment and the amount deducted from the interest first (ie the £980 balance would still be subject to interest at 8% until paid). I think we have the third invoice situation in hand....

My question pertains to the first two invoices, normally we wouldn't enforce any late payment interest/charges etc but this person really is a piece of work and they have been disputing the invoices since Jan 2010 with me personally (when I started trying to get payment) and I'm sure with my partner prior to this.

I want to know specifically (and sorry for being so long-winded). Can we charge the client interest and compensation on the first two invoices even though they have paid and we have never said that we would?

Secondly, if we can charge the interest and compensation are my calculations below correct?

Invoice XXX5 was issued on 24th November 2007.
Invoice XXX6 was issued on 24th November 2007.

Both invoices were due for payment within 14 days. Interest is calculated from the date the amount was due, for which I will extend the period to 30 days (rather than our usual 14 days as stated in our invoices). This made both invoices due for payment on or before 24th December 2007. Both invoices were paid by cheque which was posted on the 3rd March 2011. However, there is the unsettled matter of the interest and compensation for these invoices.

The Act also defines the statutory interest rate as 8 % that above the Bank of England base rate, making the statutory rate currently 8.5 %.

Thus, we are entitled to charge £544.55 and £545.94 in interest for invoices 2225 and 2226 under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts [Interest] Act 1998 as amended and supplemented by the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2002.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated?? My partner is worried that pushing the interest/compensation will just inflame this person but I personally feel we have wasted a HUGE amount of time (I personally have spent in excess of SEVEN days answering emails and trying to negotiate with them). He is also worried about them "badmouthing us" but I tend to think that filing in the small claims court would probably result in that...

Thanks again for taking the time to read this - Sorry it's so long! I'm new to alot of this and still trying to get my head around it.

Thank you,
Katherine

Oh, I forgot to mention in my earlier post - the client is claiming they only received in the invoices in January 2010. I know they received them then as I have it in an email but I really doubt this.

At the time these invoices were raised, the invoicing was done from our clinic in London and all the invoices were sent 1st class (whereas I now send everything electronically).

If, I can charge interest (which my reading tells me I should be able to) can I claim it back to the December 2007 date?

If it went to court, I could get a statutory declaration from the person who would have typed and posted the invoices saying they were typed and posted in November 2007. Do you think that would suffice?

Thank you again,

Katherine