u/loroz8

I’m recently self employed as a graphic designer. With over a decade of agency experience I’m not new to handling tricky clients but I am new to all the nitty gritty admin side of things such as chasing for invoices, and where I actually stand!

I’m looking for advice on how to deal with clients ghosting when it comes to getting paid. How do you enforce interest on late payments? And has anyone experienced the legalities of intellectual property ownership?

I’m aware that payment terms in big companies can be long and it’s a waiting game, but this was agreed to be instant credit card payment (as per a project I did prior) and despite me emailing a couple of times with the invoice they have ignored me for two weeks.

It clearly states in my terms and conditions, that they did sign, that interest will be added to late payments and that ownership of the designs does not transfer to the client until complete payment. However, they haven’t paid as was promised, and have definitely used my designs at an event, as well as likely in other applications as I did a range of work.

Clients being very slow to reply is something I am having to get used to compared to agency life, so maybe I am being hasty but I’m anxious as it’s quite a substantial amount of money and I haven’t even received an email of acknowledgment. If anyone has experienced this before, any help would be appreciated!