Create my accountPhase 5 · The aftermath
The job is finished, well done, and the client doesn't pay.There, everything replays on what you kept.
An unpaid invoice isn't a fate, but it isn't settled with a phone call. What carries weight isn't your reminder: it's the file from the earlier phases, the accepted quote, the amendments, the handover. Without it, you chase with empty hands.
What you live
The reminder that goes nowhere.
You call, you resend the invoice, you wait. The client promises, then contests the price, some extra work, the quality. Each objection sends you back to a phase where you may have kept nothing.
For want of a file, you give up or slash the price to "settle". The unpaid invoice turns into a dead loss, while the work, itself, was done.
An unpaid invoice is won upstream, not at the reminder.
The "aftermath" phase invents nothing: it reveals the value of the earlier phases. An accepted quote, recorded amendments, a signed handover form a file that speaks for itself, far more than an invoice alone.
That's why the unpaid invoice is a phase of the contract, not an accident: what you held from the first visit to the handover decides, here, your balance of power.
From the reminder to the file, without starting from scratch.
You move from a friendly reminder to a formal notice, from everything that already exists: the accepted quote, the amendments, the handover, gathered into a structured file, ready to be handed over. The client can also acknowledge the debt, which clarifies the situation and interrupts the countdown of the limitation period.
The day you have to step things up, you don't go empty-handed: the accepted quote, the amendments, the sign-off, the acknowledgment of debt, all already gathered into a file that's ready to hand over. Not an empty folder, a file that stands on its own.
What we get asked
The unpaid invoice, in plain terms.
Unpaid invoice: what to do as a tradesperson?
Proceed in steps: a friendly reminder (a nudge, a fresh sending of the invoice), then a written formal notice to pay if it stays without effect. At each step, lean on your file: accepted quote, amendments, handover. It's what makes your demand solid. If the non-payment persists, that file is what you'll hand to a recovery professional or to the courts.
How do I get paid by a client who won't pay?
By making the debt incontestable before escalating. A clear file (what was ordered, accepted, carried out, accepted at handover) deprives the client of their objections. An acknowledgment of debt, when they accept it, secures the amount and interrupts the limitation period. Many unpaid invoices unblock at this stage, without any procedure, because the client sees the file is solid.
Is a formal notice enough to get paid?
Not always, but it's an important step: it officially marks your demand, starts late-payment interest running and prepares what follows. Its strength depends, once again, on the file that accompanies it. If it stays without effect, the next steps (recovery, procedure) will use that same file, already assembled.
Does Probatoryx recover the money for me?
What we do is arm you: a ready file that makes every step far stronger, the reminder, the formal notice and, if needed, the handover to a professional. You no longer face the unpaid invoice empty-handed, you come with a file that speaks for you and shifts the balance.
Never chase with empty hands again.
Create your PRO account and face every unpaid invoice with the file from the earlier phases, already ready.
€29.99/month, no commitment.