Pls help - Self employed & mistakenly paid by client

[AdviceRequired]

I am a self-employed freelancer and someone I worked for as a freelancer has been in touch to say that I had been paid nearly £2K in 2007 for which they never received an invoice and I must send them a copy of it as 'proof'. Having looked back through all my invoices and bank statements, I cant seem to allocate this payment that I did receive (although my books for that year made sense when I did them). If it appears they may have mistakenly paid me, how on earth could that happen without an invoice and PO, and presumably I need to pay this back?

I am struggling to find work and pay my credit card bills currently so cannot currently afford do pay anything back. Is this onus on me to spot this error or them? They paid me way after asked and lumped together invoices randomly so it was very hard to keep track. Help, this is very upsetting.

[cosalt]

Hi and welcome to CAG !

 

If it were me I would go back to them and ask them for proof that it was paid, how it was paid and when it was paid.

 

I think they may have a right to have it back, however I would imagine the onus is on them to supply proof.

 

If it does end up that you do owe them the money then you should offer them no more than you can afford, if they took you to court then thats all you would be made to pay anyway.

 

You also mentioned you were struggling with credit card payments ? How old are these accounts ? If more than about 5 years old they may well be unenforcable debts.

 

Let us know how you get on.

 

Cosalt

[squidward]

Hi There AR

 

Could it be a case they have just lost an Invoice and require a copy ?

 

IF there are asking you for a invoice presumably you would want to be paid for the work it relates to so I would ask do they owe you !

 

Regards

 

Squidward

[pinkmoomin]

I also work freelance. If someone pays me for anything without an invoice, I do one as a receipt.

 

But, regardless of who does what and how - if the same happened to me, I would stick it out until they can show me copies of the cheque stub/BACS payment reference/etc that they must have to know that they've paid it.

 

Enchashment of cheque or end location of electronic payment should be able to be confirmed by the banks involved.

 

Pain in the backside as it will be, you will have to gather together all of the invoices/receipts you recorded for them and bank credits, see if it all tallies.