non paying customers

This is never easy. You can either walk away and make sure none of the rest of us work for her by giving us her details and accept that you will not get paid, or... You can write to her stating that you are considering court action. To do this, state the facts, keep out the emotions and state that this will be the only letter and that you are giving her 28 days, 'a reasonable amount of time to respond and hopefully pay' before you take this to the small claims court. Assuming the claim would be worth less than £5,000 I think it is now. Make sure you include all possible means of communication and payment methods she can use. Keep a copy of your letter. Send the letter by recorded mail so you can prove it has been received. To take her to court is easy and only costs about £35, last time I had to do this. But just google for the local small claims court and have a look at their information. You don't need a solicitor or anything, just take the details you have and proof. This would include emails back and forth, invoice, diary if you have one with the job shown in it along with others and anything else you have including the signature of the letter's receipt and a copy of the letter. The worst case scenario is that for some reason she can't pay, like illness or worse. In this case there is not much you can do apart from pass the bill on to the executors of the will...

I've had it before. Went back to the property and reminded the customer that although verbal it was still a legal agreement i.e. You saying you'll do the work and she saying she will pay. I also stated that all supplies remained property of my company until paid in full. So you reserve the right to call the police and have them escort you while you remove the tap. This helped me out as they realised it was more hassle than it was worth and I was paid. Try this before going through a small claims court as this is a lengthy process.