In my field (editing) many are saying that freelancers benefit from the recession, as publishers still have books to publish (some work on a long timescale of planned titles) but are laying off staff, so needing to outsource the work. I've certainly not seen much (if any) of a decline in such work.
Work from private individuals has, however, become more scarce, except for non-native students, who often have funds for this.
Sorry to hear about your problem, web-design-uk - that is a large amount of money to lose out on.
That's a very useful article, Sarah. Thanks. One thing I would like to add is that it seems to depend on whether your non-paying client is a company or an individual (assuming the co is still trading, of course), as it is very difficult to check the credentials of a private person.
I had an unfortunate experience with work for an author. I had done all the sensible things (contract with payment terms, including a late payment clause, checked that the address given was legit, sent a series of polite and increasingly firm reminders, all recorded delivery). And I had an email from him saying how delighted he was with what I had done. But it all came to nothing when it turned out he had given me a false name.
As it was quite a large sum for me at the time (but less than £1,000), I used a debt collection agency recommended to me by a networking colleague to pursue him through the courts. I paid to take it to the county court, and they ruled in my favour, and when he didn't pay up, I paid again (small sums each time, but it all adds up) to send the bailiffs in. They came back with 'not found at this address', and I never saw a penny.
I'm not recounting this to elicit sympathy - it was a few years ago and I used it as a learning experience - but to warn others that even a court ruling in your favour will not necessarily help.
What I learnt:
1. I decided to encourage up-front payment, by offering a discount. Ok I get less, but at least I get it.
2. For larger projects where it would be unreasonable to ask for the whole amount, I offer staged payments, usually 50% up front, with the balance on completion, but I can be more flexible if needed. Clients seem to like this, and if they have been happy to pay some amount up front, I feel more confident that they will pay up at the end.
The combination of these two methods has meant that the problem has not arisen again (yet...)
3. I'll use a different debt collection agency should the need arise again. They charged me nearly £200 to send letters and prepare court proceedings, on top of the court fees, so I ended up considerably out of pocket. I felt that they should have been able to check that he existed at that address before going to court, especially since after an initial phone call (mobile) he failed to respond to all our communications, so there was a suspicion in our minds, but they still recommended the court action.
