Question for any lawyers in Singapore
I’m a videographer in Tokyo and was hired by a Singaporean agency last November to film an event for one of their clients here in Japan.
Six months later, they’ve only paid 1/4th of what they owe me and keep moving the goal posts on when they’ll pay the rest. Looking at their Google reviews, this is what they do to every freelancer they hire.
While I didn’t have a formal contract with them, I have every aspect of the transaction (explanation of the services they were looking for, agreeing on a price, acknowledging receipt of the finished files, acknowledging receipt of the invoice, acknowledgement of them missing payment deadlines, etc.) in writing between emails and text messages.
Would this be enough to hold up in a Small Claims Tribunal case, or are only formally signed contracts considered valid?
Netizens’ comments
- I am a liti lawyer
You don’t need a written contract for a contract to be formed, although it’s better to have terms recorded.
You better SCT soon though I think there’s a 1 year time bar for when they do it.
Once you get the judgment send a debt collector. Should be cheaper than going to a lawyer to enforce. Would only recommend lawyers only if it’s like at least 50k - tell them you will have to include their client in on this process. seriously. they will fold relatively quick. they don’t want the embarrassment. when i was living in japan (kinda still do), this SG company didn’t pay for a service rendered. we just explained we would start discussing with a lawyer and would be speaking to their client as the services also included them. got the payment within a week.
- Unfortunately, this is how some businesses work in Singapore. They bank on not having to pay their vendors as a way to cut costs. That’s because it’s cheaper to write off the invoice than to hire someone to chase a bad debt. Got this from the CEO of one of largest meat suppliers in Singapore. He says he writes it off for that reason.