Petition Protect tradesmen from "Cowboy Customers"

Across the country many tradesmen find themselves in the position of having completed work for a particular customer who subsequently does not pay. Often these tradesman are small self-employed businesses to whom the issue of timely payment is an urgent one, and when non-payment occurs the consequences can be devastating to the tradesman, his employees, and his family. Despite the fact that hundreds of small struggling businesses have to face this harsh reality every day, there is very little legal protection for them. In fact they can face prosecution for harassment, for simply asking for what is owed to them. There are debt recovery agencies but most require a lot of paperwork and even then the tradesman will have to settle for a small slice of what is due. This is completely unfair! The law must be changed to provide more protection for hard-working individuals, and less loopholes and get-out clauses for "Cowboy Customers".