UK Invoicing error

[Martini]

I have incorrectly invoiced a customer, she queried it with me but I still read the contract wrong and under invoiced. I now find she was correct so I have issued another invoice for the undercharge (not backdated) she is saying that because she has paid this invoice she does not have to accept the additional charge and this practice is illegal? Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[MSK]

Well, I registered some moments ago, this is my first read and contribution. What you normally do is - first issue a credit note to cancel the first invoice and then issue a new invoice. Because you have issued two invoices in error, you have to raise two credit note each cancelling the invoices issued in error, then issue a new invoice with the correct details.

 

[aziankool]

Either you have create one credit memo with total amount and put details on description and apply the credit memo on two invoices instead have to create two invoice. Hopefully it's make sense.

 

[Steve-LevelUp]

With regards to the legal status, an invoicing error is not a binding contract, the binding contract is the binding contract. There is a certain reasonableness regarding timing (cannot really come back years after the invoice to try to collect) but there are no legal issues and the customer must still pay.

 

[Fidget]

Contract law is quite tricky in the UK. There doesn't need to be a piece of paper - such as a purchase order, agreeing the terms of the sale. A simple transaction in a shop for example, of a seller offering something at a price that a buyer pays for, and crucially - the seller accepts that amount *before* realising an error, is enough to deem that transaction completed because the seller offered at a price that the buyer paid. The seller has no recourse should they realise afterwards that they made a mistake with the selling price.

If there is a formal document in place agreeing the selling/purchase price, then that would take precedent over an invoicing error as an invoice does not supersede an agreement to purchase at a stated price.

They grey area here is that the buyer queried the amount with the seller before paying and the seller agreed the (incorrect) amount with the buyer, who has then paid that incorrect amount. Transaction complete.

I can see both sides of this, but usually when there's an invoicing error there isn't an issue between buyer/supplier - it just gets corrected.

Yet, it would seem that in this case, you should take formal legal advice if you want pursue the shortfall.