NSW Company has ignored Letter of Demand for unpaid invoices, what are the next steps from here?

[OSW_0101]

I'm a sole trader based in NSW who has been doing work sporadically on behalf of a company based in another state; have been previously paid via invoices that I submitted after the work was completed.

One of my invoices from earlier this year was disputed by the Company and they are refusing to pay the full amount I quoted; the amount in question is over $4,000.

This is despite my prior invoices being approved and paid under the same terms and rates, as well as a subsequent invoice (an invoice I submitted for work completed AFTER the disputed invoice had the same rates and a similar total $ amount and was paid in full ).

While we did not have a conventional contract, I have full documentation of our email logs, showing that the aspects of "an offer, consideration and acceptance" in regards to terms of payment were present prior to the work being conducted.

I sent a letter of demand regarding the unpaid invoice along with the documentation of the agreements we had in place; I have a signed Proof of Delivery card indicating that they have received it but their deadline to respond has expired (been over 3 weeks now).

Looking for any suggestions for how to best proceed from here. Based on my understanding, some of my options are:

1. Send through a second Letter of Demand
   
   
2. File a Statement of Claim and go through my local NSW Small Claims Court (what happens if Company does not respond within 28 days?)
   
   
3. Go to NCAT (any issues with this option given that the company is NOT based in NSW, but I am in NSW and the work that I did also took place in NSW?)

 

[Tim W]

The next step is you make a second demand, so as to look (later on) like you're being reasonable.
When that fails, which it will, then you carry out the threat you made in the letter.

 

[LostEcho]

Small claims court is a solid next move if they keep ignoring you. Might also be worth looking into professional debt recovery services—had a mate who used debt collection Manchester for a similar issue, and they handled everything quickly. Saves you the hassle of chasing it yourself. If the company keeps dodging payments, sometimes having a third party involved is enough to make them take it seriously.