Q: My firm (based in the UK) is owed $57,500 for providing materials and event management services for a Dubai-based business called International Premier Tennis League. They have failed to pay my invoice or any of the individual skilled craftsmen and technicians I recommended they hired to deliver the events which we delivered in December 2016. What I'd like to do is recover my money and possibly make sure that the business behaviour of the IPTL management team is not repeated (it must be a crime to commit business services to a project without ever having the means to pay for it). Any help or advice appreciated, please.

Q: I am an individual working in Dubai and photography is my hobby/passion. I did a time-lapse project for a person here in Dubai. He owns a free zone company and also works with different media agencies in Dubai. My 3 movie clips from that time-lapse project are being used in a documentary running in 1 airline (I watched while travelling through that airline). I never had any signed agreement. It was all mutual understanding and all conversations happened through emails. Now, after knowing my time-lapse clips already been used in airlines without paying me anything, I have been following up with this person for the last 1 year. He's not paying me my money. I even tried to approach the airline and the response I got from them is "Airline already paid the agency hired to get that job". What does the UAE law say in this case and if as an individual I can sue the airline or how can I get my money? Any help or advice will be very much appreciated. Thanks.

Q: Dear Legal Experts, I have a client who had hired me for a film production project in 2020. He cleared some advance but then during the filming, some more services were added to the job and he owed me around USD 7000 after the filming was completed. However, despite several follow-ups, he finally refused to clear my payment citing damages made by models provided by us - which is baseless. I passed the case to a collection agency but there was no result as he is not responding to any communication. What should I do?

Q: My firm (based in Dubai) is owed AED 140,000 for providing manpower services to support catering operations for a Dubai-based business head office in Abu Dhabi. They have failed to pay my invoice since Sept 2017, we keep chasing them all but management changed and they don't bother to attend any emails or calls. What I'd like to do is recover my money with late fees and all legal fees. It's quite a long time now. They are a reputed group of companies and it seems they are not willing to pay. Please note that all documents are in place such as the agreement, invoices, and delivery notes. Any help or advice is appreciated, please.

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, We are a registered company that provides accommodation in Dubai. One of our guests partially paid for his stay and claimed to have an issue with the bank. He promised to pay the remaining amount before departure, but left the property without informing us and left an unpaid bill of 6000 AED. After departure, the guest apologized for the delay in payment and assured us that it would be paid shortly. However, the payment has not been made yet. It has been over a month now, and the guest continues to acknowledge the debt and promises to pay as soon as he has funds (there is proof of this through multiple messages). The Dubai police have informed us that they cannot assist with this type of claim. Please advise on the best course of action and whether there is a chance to recover the unpaid funds.

Q: Hi, We are a company in Dubai specializing in floral decoration projects. In Ramadan 2023, we did a project for a hotel in Dubai and at that time, it was discussed that half payment will be done after the project gets finished. But it's been more than 2 months and we haven't got the payment yet. We have all the legal LPOs and emails from them. Now, they won't receive calls or reply to emails. When we send the team to the hotel, the security won't allow us to go inside. Is there any legal way to deal with this? Please help.

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, How can we get a company to pay us for the services provided? We are a medical center in Abu Dhabi that provided round-the-clock PCR services to the staff of a Marine company in Abu Dhabi between July and November 2022. The credit period for payment has expired more than 4 months ago, and the company has not provided any updates regarding our outstanding payment of over 100,000 AED.

Q: Good day, I am from South Africa and worked for a well-known company in Dubai. I have a signed contract, and they paid 50% of the agreed project amount. However, two years later, they are refusing to pay the outstanding 50%, giving irrelevant excuses. What is the correct course of action to take to get my outstanding invoice settled?

An interview-format article covering the topic of getting paid for small businesses in the UAE. This is from the legal podcast of lawyer Ludmila Yamalova, the founder of Lawgical with LYLAW.

An interview-format article covering the topic of how to increase chances of getting your invoices paid in the UAE. This is from the legal podcast of lawyer Ludmila Yamalova, the founder of Lawgical with LYLAW.

An interview-format article covering the topic of payment orders in the UAE. This is from the legal podcast of lawyer Ludmila Yamalova, the founder of Lawgical with LYLAW.

تبرز الحاجة عند وجود تعاملات بين الشركات التجارية والأفراد لإيجاد طريقة ناجعة وسريعة لتحصيل الحقوق للدائنين، ومنها أوامر الأداء. الأصل حق الدائن في الالتجاء إلى المحكمة للمطالبة بحقه قبل خصمه، و الاستثناء الالتجاء إلى طريق استصدار أمر الأداء. وقد أجاز المشرع الإماراتي لكل من لدية سند دين مستحق الأداء ومعلوم المقدار وغير معلق على شرط أن يسلك طريق أمر الأداء لإقتضاء حقه.

The provisions of this law, promulgating UAE Civil Code, govern the civil transactions in the United Arab Emirates. The commercial transactions remain subject to the laws and regulations applicable in their regard.

The law promulgates UAE Civil Procedures Code (Civil Procedure Law) which governs civil procedures in the United Arab Emirates, including the prosecution before the courts, litigation and execution.

This Law applies to merchants, as well as to all acts of commerce carried out in the UAE by any person even though he be not a trader. Commercial matters regarding which specific Federal laws are issued shall be subject to the provisions of such laws, and to the provisions hereof which do not contradict with said laws.