Always give notice in writing first. Give 7 days for payment. If nothing back send a reminder stating notice was given on such date and that nothing has been recieved by the due date and give notice of a further 3 days to address the issue.
If still nothing send notice that court proceedings are to follow. Keep copies and take them to court witb you. It is the standard 3 step process and if you think about it, you get exactly the same from any company when you dont pay a bill on time. Or a speeding fine for example. Notice of intended prosecution. Next you get a reminder saying you missed the deadline so here is another chance but you have to pay more. Ignore that so then you get a notice of court proceedings.
Giving notice is key and make sure it says NOTICE on the documents you send.
Good luck. 2007 Vogue TDV8 in Zermatt Silver with Charcoal

Thanks Cass/Grofus, will follow your advice on notice given. David

2012 Range Rover Westminster 4.4TDV8
2004 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 V8 (LPG) (Not quite gone)
2021 Mazda CX-5
2003 Porsche Boxster

What you need to do is to write a "letter before Action" There are rules which you need to follow to make it effective. See here for details of the pre-action protocol which you should follow before filing a Small Claim http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure...on_conduct