Recovery of Non-payment Under a Contractor Agreement

Legal services (legal assistance) for debt collection under a work contract. Preparation of a lawsuit under a contract in court.

In accordance with Art. 702 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, under a work contract, one party (contractor) undertakes to perform certain work on the instructions of the other party (customer) and hand over its result to the customer, and the customer undertakes to accept the result of the work and pay for it. The contract specifies the price of the work to be performed or how it is determined.

In practice, quite often there are situations in which the work performed by the contractor is not paid by the customer or is paid improperly. As part of the settlement of disputes on the collection of debts under a work contract, it is important to determine the reasons for the lack of payment. Perhaps the non-payment is due to temporary economic difficulties. But there is also a possibility that the customer considered the transferred results of the work to be inconsistent with the requirements for their quality. In addition, the reason for the formation of debt under a work contract may be the unfair behavior of the customer with the intention to evade payment of the cost of work performed.

To clarify the reasons for non-payment of debts, it is recommended to negotiate with the customer, send a claim to him, analyze the financial condition of the customer based on open sources of information.

The procedure for considering disputes on the collection of debts under a contractor agreement

Before choosing the means and method of legal protection, we conduct an in-depth analysis of the case materials and form an action plan, since from the very beginning there must be a plan and strategy for a legal position in a court case.

When collecting debts under work contracts, compliance with the claim procedure for settling a dispute is mandatory.

Disputes on the collection of debts under a work contract related to entrepreneurial activity are within the jurisdiction of arbitration courts. Other categories of disputes in which the customer is an individual who expects to use the result of the work performed for personal, family or household needs are considered by courts of general jurisdiction.

For the collection of debts under work contracts, the designation in the contract of the payment procedure and the actual price of work is of particular importance. In some cases, wishing to reduce the taxable base, the parties to the contract deliberately indicate a reduced cost of work. However, such underpricing creates the risk of debt collection from the customer.

Features related to representing interests in court in cases of debt collection under a work contract require an individual approach to each specific case and careful legal analysis.