Brussels software house withholds 11k as the contract nears its end

I am contracting with a software consultancy based in Brussels and have been subbed out to another consultancy. I have submitted invoices on a regular basis, timely and correctly. My first invoice was submitted at the end of April, and was due to be paid at the end of May. However, two weeks have passed now and the software house (Bolshie of Brussels) still refuses to pay.

My relationship with the end client, Yankee Doodle, has been excellent, so much so that he's invited me to write my own reference and he'll sign it! He's also been very understanding and has tried to pull strings at his end. So there's clearly no problem there.

Bolshie of Brussels has been both arrogant and dishonest. Arrogant because Bolshie knows I'm the little guy and there isn't much I can do. Dishonest because I was told that I would receive payment at the beginning of the first week of June. When I contacted the MD again, he admitted that he hadn't paid me, because Yankee Doodle hasn't paid Bolshie of Brussels. Then he said that he'd pay about 70% of the first invoice immediately (Tue 10 Jun) and the rest at the end of the week (Fri 13 Jun).

Now call me a cynic, but I don't trust him. To give you an idea, I'm owed €11k from the first invoice alone, of which I need to find GBP 7k to pay my expenses for this gig (which is invoiced to Bolshie of Brussels). On top of that, before this I'd had no work for 18 months, so there's no cash to flow!

My questions are:

· What can I do to get this money out of him?

· What legal action can I take, given that this is not a UK company?

· Do I run the risk of him digging his heels in still further if I resort to legal action?

The one option I could take is that I could simply walk out. However, with a week to go before the end of the contract, that's hardly a big stick. Furthermore, it would damage the excellent relationship I have built up with Yankee Doodle.

What irritates me most is that Bolshie's account manager has been phoning me up on a regular basis checking that everything's all right. Now that I have a problem, and that problem is with Bolshie, he doesn't want to know.

I'm probably being impatient, but a contract is a contract and should be honoured.

(In case you haven't guessed, the names are not entirely true!)

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80F