Time and the Tide Wait for No Man

 

It is therefore sensible to present bills promptly on completion of work.

 

However, there is also another reason for the prompt presentation of bills: the fact that they can become ‘time-barred’.

 

The Court of Appeal recently had to deal with a claim in which a surveyor’s delay in rendering a bill proved fatal to it being collectable.

 

The surveyor had done work for a client in 1998 and the work was to be covered by insurance. The bill was presented to the insurers (not the client) in 2001. The insurers disputed the size of the bill and demanded that further details be sent to them. The surveyor suffered from ill health and, as a result, did not provide the further particulars sought until 2007. The insurers still did not pay.

 

The surveyor began legal action for payment in 2008, claiming against the estate of the client, who had died in the intervening period.

 

The Court decided that the surveyor could not claim, becausehe was ‘out of time’. Because he had the right to raise an invoice at any point (and thus did not have to finalise matters with the insurer before raising his bill), the Court ruled that he could have raised the invoice in 1999. As more than six years had passed, he could not enforce payment of his invoice.

 

It is important to remember that unless a contract specifies that the invoice can only be raised when all matters have been dealt with, it is usually preferable to raise bills ‘on account’ where there is a danger of exceeding the limitation period, which is generally six years.