My wife used to work in the magistrates courts & cannot understand why someone homeless & hungry can be prosecuted & given a criminal record for stealing a chocolate bar worth pence, yet some middle class, so-called "backbones of the communmity", can deliberately refuse to pay thousands, & the police cannot become involved. If the amount owing is higher than the small claims court limit, you may as well forget about it, & even if you can sue, it takes months to get your money, by which time some small businesses could fold. Even when people say they are happy with the work, they often find some fault, never previously mentioned, when weeks later they receive their final demands. A tiny superficial flaw on the underside of a washbasin, behind the wastepipe, which no one could ever see has been enough for a customer to refuse to pay for a complete fully tiled bathroom. It is time for the law to recognise that small businesses going under can put whole families & their employees out of work, cause a knock on effect to other businesses, & ultimately the tax payer picks up the cost!