How do I politely remind someone that they owe me money?

Question

The person indebted to me is aware of the amount they owe me.

They asked me to let them know how much they owed me and when my credit card statement came through for the month, I relayed the information. However, they have yet to repay me or even mention the debt.

I hate bring it up repeatedly, but I need the debt to be repaid soon.

Answer 1

One of the best, least confrontational ways of approaching this touchy situation is to draft a sympathetically worded invoice - something that makes light of their negligence. Often people have things on their mind and just plain forget. It may not be intentional. If your client is a personal contact with whom you have had prior contact, you can include a personal letter with the invoice. State that you know they've been busy and the matter has probably just slipped their mind. For their convenience, you have included a self-addressed stamped envelope for their payment. Make it as easy as possible for them to pay. The self-addressed stamped envelope obligates them, but in a polite way.
Clients may not respond to your first invoice letter. Most companies send several, with increasing urgency in tone. If time and budget allows, this is your next step. If you provide an ongoing service, you could warn them that their service will be discontinued if payment is not received. There are a few circumstances in which this is illegal. Check your local and state commercial laws to confirm.
Either in place of or after written contact, a more personal approach is to contact the client in person. Place a phone call, tell them that you hate to inconvenience them but you are balancing your books and need to get all payments in. Or, if your debtor is a businessperson as well, go to their place of business and ask to speak with them. Once in private, casually ask if they ever sent payment. They will probably pay you then and there. For in-person contact, setting a meeting in advance is ideal, but not always possible.
One of the most common approaches, good cop/bad cop can work just as well in bill collecting as on Law & Order. If your other efforts have failed, try to have a third party (i.e. secretary, accounting department, assistant, co-worker, etc.) make contact. Hopefully they will pay on their own at this time. But if they do not, or they become sensitive, you can intervene politely and tell them you will handle the situation personally. This brings the issue to the forefront and allows you to get personally involved without making your client feel they've been ganged up on
Maybe you are spending too much time trying to collect overdue payments, and it's starting to affect your business. Or maybe repeated attempts at collection are in vain. Sometimes it's best to turn to a collection agency. These agencies work to collect payment of past-due bills for you. Professionals from doctors, retailers, and mail-order companies rely on them.
Much like lawyers, collection agencies take a percentage of the amount owed once it has been collected. Before you wash your hands of debt collecting forever, be aware that agencies often use severe tactics such as obtaining court orders requiring forfeiture of the debtor's wages, and/or reporting the offendor to the credit bureau, which could affect the debtor's credit record for years.

Answer 2

This is the same problem everybody faces when they lend their friends money. It is an everlasting problem. The moral of the story is never lend anyone any money. Then there won't be such a problem.

Keep sending them e-mail reminders or text message reminders if you hate talking to them face to face. Tell them you are in dire need of the money and if they are a friend to you as you had been to them they should help out by repaying you the loan NOW. If they take more than a month to repay, sever ties with them. If they are your friend they would even pawn their jewelry or watches to repay you.

Answer 3

just bring up the topic non-chalantly like you are assuming that it is not a big deal at all, and ask them how the whole deal went ( I mean, w/e they needed the money for ) and once they tell you like "oh, yes thanks for that, everything went fine, thanks to you" just say something like, money well spent, and try to keep on the topic w/out actually pertaining to the fact that they haven't payed you back yet..and wait a little while, and if nothing yet, you might want to just ask politely when you could expect the money, because of BLANK reasons. They won't be upset, and NO THAT IS NOT RUDE, think about it..you lent them money, now you should get payed back..it is a common decency. Just be respectful. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 4

Just come out with it. Or wait until you are talking about money and say "Well speaking of money you still owe me some. Do you think you can get it in sometime soon?" And if she cant get it in soon say " Well I need to have the money you owe me so when you get it just let me know" or something like that.

Answer 5

#1 lesson in life .... never expect to be repayed for money you lend and absolutely never put urself in the position where your financial well being depends on repayment. the only thing you can do is ask them for it or file a civil suit. Even immediate family cant be trusted on money ... most people will naturally start to assume after a certain amount of time passes that they no longer owe you the money and they even turn it around in their minds that somehow you owed them that money in the first place lol .... yes, never lend more than you can safely give. hope u get it straightened out peacefully.

Answer 6

Ouch! Well, I think Shakespere had it when he said "neither a lender or a borrower be..". I never lend what I can't afford to never have again. Believe me, I learned this the hard way. I hope you have better experiences. If you don't, just remember that it's better to give up being comfortable than to give up a friend for life. Some people are just bad at repaying debts. It deosn't make them bad, just bad investments. Good luck, and may you be blessed with the good will that you give out.

Answer 7

Just don't be rude or confrontational about it, but it's okay to be a little forward. I mean, they do OWE YOU MONEY! So, just very matter of factly work it into the conversation, saying something like (seeming a little caught off guard yourself by the realization): "Hey! I almost forgot. Do you have that 20 bucks I loaned you?"

Answer 8

I'm afraid you may not see your money again. Perhaps the person is unable and embarrassed about it. I would send them a personal note indicating that you understand something is preventing them from repaying you and that you respect their privacy and will not inquire further. However, you will send a reminder every three months (or six months or a year depending how you feel about it). Assure the person that you will not charge interest so you do not appear greedy... you only want returned what you gave.

Answer 9

They remember to ask, so they should remember to pay it back. Trust me they have not forgotten. They are simply hoping that you would.

You need to be assertive without being aggressive, unless of course it is warranted.

Simply say:

You know ____________ you borrowed $$$$$ from me last month. You asked me to let you know how much you owed and i have relayed the amount to you however you are not forth coming and i need to get my credit card paid off before it ruins my credit.

I would suggest you let them give you day and date when it is to be repaid, or work out a payment plan with the person.

Make sure you get it in writing, do not do anything on a verbal contract, it is not binding whereas something in writing with their signature is. Make a copy and give it to the person and keep a copy for yourself.

It would be mindful of you if you exercise caution when it comes to giving/lending on your credit card because when all is said and done you will be the one holding the bag.

Answer 10

well you could just sit them down and tell them that you really need that money soon. Make sure and be firm about it and make sure they know it is very important. A different approach would be if the topic of money arises, just jokingly say you still owe me (blank) amount of dollars. and also, im sure you know this by now is never lend family or friends a significant amount of money, because you get these kinds of problems, and no money back. good luck!

Answer 11

mention something you just bought and then mention how much it cost (it doesnt matter if it was expensive or not) then just say something like "hey, do you have that money you owe me yet, cuz i'm gonna need it by "blah blah blah" for "blah blah blah" Tell them a spesic date, preferably a few days before you really need it, then you'll have a day or two to spare. If you want, you can thrown in an "or else this will happen to me" if you don't have the money in time.