They stopped paying hire but the scaffold is still standing

The hire keeps accruing under the contract, and that is usually the largest part of the debt rather than the erection. The danger is letting it run unchallenged for months and then arguing about the whole sum at once. Invoice the periods as they fall, chase each one, and make the position clear early. A single enormous hire invoice at the end is the one that gets disputed.

They say they off-hired weeks ago and I never got it

This is the argument the trade lives on, and it is decided by evidence rather than assertion. Whatever your contract says about how off-hire must be given, in writing, to a named person, is what matters. If you cannot show a valid off-hire was received, the hire generally continues. Confirm every off-hire in writing the day it is claimed, even when you dispute it.

Can I remove the scaffold if they have not paid?

Not as a debt remedy, and it is a genuinely dangerous instinct. Striking a scaffold that others are relying on creates safety obligations and potential liabilities far larger than the invoice. There may be contractual rights around continued hire and access, but removal as leverage is not one to act on without advice.

The account has been on stop twice and they keep ordering

Then the credit decision is the problem rather than the chasing. A customer who repeatedly clears a stop and reorders is managing your patience deliberately. Decide the terms before the next hire rather than after: payment of the arrears before further supply, or nothing. That is a commercial call and it is much easier to make before the kit is on their site.

For Scaffolders and plant hire · England and Wales

It came off three weeks ago. The account has not.

Hire is the only trade where the debt keeps growing after the customer stops caring. Every week it stands is another week billed, and the bigger the number gets the less likely anybody is to pay it in one go.

What we do about it

We chase every overdue invoice in your name, add the interest the law already says you are owed, and escalate through a regulated firm when somebody takes the mick.

Start Ledger Cover, £199 a month

Or one debt as a 60-day trial, with nothing charged unless we get it back.

The one that actually stops you

You already know which invoice this is about.

The off-hire dispute is the shape of it: they say they rang, you have no record, and the fortnight in between is the argument. Meanwhile the account has been on stop twice, they are still on site, and somebody in your office is deciding whether to be the one who stops the job.

Where you stand

You are probably covered by the Construction Act

Not legal advice

Most commercial construction work in England and Wales falls under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. It exists because Parliament decided cash flow down the supply chain mattered enough to legislate for, and it gives you rights your contract cannot take away.

If nobody served a valid pay less notice by the final date for payment, the notified sum is payable. Not arguable, payable.
Pay-when-paid clauses are outlawed. Being told the client has not paid the main contractor is not a reason you do not get paid.
You can refer a dispute to adjudication at any time, and a decision normally follows within 28 days.
Where a notified sum has not been paid, you have a right to suspend performance, on notice.

We are not solicitors and this is not legal advice. Hound is credit control: we chase, we add the statutory interest and compensation the law already gives you, and we assemble the evidence. Anything that needs a letter before action, a claim or an adjudication goes to a regulated firm, on your instruction, and only after you approve it.

The bit almost nobody claims

A £6,000 invoice at 68 days is really £6,201.34.

Statutory interest runs at 11.75% a year on a commercial debt, plus fixed compensation per invoice, under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. On that invoice it is £201.34 on top, and it is yours, not ours. Most trades never claim a penny of it, because claiming it means writing the letter that says so and then meaning it.

Work out what you are owed →

How we chase for scaffolders and plant hire

Same machine. Not the same letter.

Hire debt ages badly and it is the trade where starting early matters most, because the sum grows while the goodwill shrinks. We start on day three, not when it has gone cold, and we put the statutory interest and fixed compensation on it from the first letter so the delay costs them something instead of costing you.

See the whole ladder, day three to the county court →

Start

Hand us the worst one and see what happens.

Nothing is charged unless we get it back. If we have recovered nothing by day 60 we cancel it ourselves and you are charged nothing at all.

Start a rescue

Scaffolders and plant hire, specifically

The questions this trade actually asks

They stopped paying hire but the scaffold is still standing: The hire keeps accruing under the contract, and that is usually the largest part of the debt rather than the erection. The danger is letting it run unchallenged for months and then arguing about the whole sum at once. Invoice the periods as they fall, chase each one, and make the position clear early. A single enormous hire invoice at the end is the one that gets disputed.
They say they off-hired weeks ago and I never got it: This is the argument the trade lives on, and it is decided by evidence rather than assertion. Whatever your contract says about how off-hire must be given, in writing, to a named person, is what matters. If you cannot show a valid off-hire was received, the hire generally continues. Confirm every off-hire in writing the day it is claimed, even when you dispute it.
Can I remove the scaffold if they have not paid?: Not as a debt remedy, and it is a genuinely dangerous instinct. Striking a scaffold that others are relying on creates safety obligations and potential liabilities far larger than the invoice. There may be contractual rights around continued hire and access, but removal as leverage is not one to act on without advice.
The account has been on stop twice and they keep ordering: Then the credit decision is the problem rather than the chasing. A customer who repeatedly clears a stop and reorders is managing your patience deliberately. Decide the terms before the next hire rather than after: payment of the arrears before further supply, or nothing. That is a commercial call and it is much easier to make before the kit is on their site.

General information about the law in England and Wales, not advice on your debt. The money side is the same for every trade: the interest rate, the fixed compensation, and what to do when they will not pay.