Client want my expenses back?

[Lance Hooper Bartlett]

I had a letter through the post yesterday morning. Intriguingly, it was from an agency I worked through no less than 14 months ago - that's more than a year to the average layman. It appears that my former client has refused to pay expenses that I incurred in the line of duty which were subsequently invoiced (and paid) by the agency.

My initial thoughts are 1. Why on earth are the agency only invoicing the client now, not 14 months ago? 2. Do I really give a damn? and 3. Should I pay back the money?

We're not talking pocket change here. In total, the expenses amounted to the princely sum of £1,249 + vat. Now that's a lot of money to all of a sudden hand over to the agency when I quite clearly agreed with them and the client that the expenses would be reimbursable.

Your thoughts please...

Lance

[Pistachio]

Were the expenses signed off by the client?

[curleyted]

No idea. I'd go in the Ask An Expert forum...

[Bel]

Originally Posted by Lance Hooper Bartlett

I had a letter through the post yesterday morning. Intriguingly, it was from an agency I worked through no less than 14 months ago - that's more than a year to the average layman. It appears that my former client has refused to pay expenses that I incurred in the line of duty which were subsequently invoiced (and paid) by the agency.

My initial thoughts are 1. Why on earth are the agency only invoicing the client now, not 14 months ago? 2. Do I really give a damn? and 3. Should I pay back the money?

We're not talking pocket change here. In total, the expenses amounted to the princely sum of £1,249 + vat. Now that's a lot of money to all of a sudden hand over to the agency when I quite clearly agreed with them and the client that the expenses would be reimbursable.

Your thoughts please...

Lance

My first course of action would be to take this up with the client, not the recruiter. For one thing, the recruiter may not be telling the truth or may have made a mistake, so you do need to substantiate the recruiter's claim, first of all.

If the client does say that they want your expenses back, I would ask for their reasons. If it was a mistake then pay it back, via the recruiter. It's not your money to keep. But it doesn't seem to me that it was a mistake.

If these were legitimate expenses, agreed by the recruiter and hirer at the time you incurred them, I would refuse on the grounds that too much time has passed for reimbursement and they should have taken the matter up with the recruiter earlier.

It seems a very odd request to me. If the recruiter really does have a case they could always take the small claims route. Not that they're likely to succeed.

[curleyted]

I think sign off has to be important here. If there is a signature agreeing to them (and I'm sure your contract would also suffice) then what recourse do they have now?