If you are owed money by a gallery, you should check your contract and communications with the gallery to see if there has been a clear breach of your agreement.

In the case of galleries, if there was a contract between you and them there would have been an implied duty of care in it that the gallery would look after the works and safely return them or send you the money made by selling them, less their commission; if there was no contract between them, the law imposes a duty of care on the gallery in any event (i.e. you lend me your gear; I must look after it and safely return it, unless we clearly agree otherwise at the outset).

In the case of a small amount of money (under £5000), you can apply to the County Courts for a small claim, for people with straighforward-ish claims for financial loss under £5000.  This is designed for people who cannot afford their own lawyers or to pay for the other side's lawyers if they lose.

To apply, go to the County Courthouse nearest your home and ask for application forms; fill them in (they are easy to complete), attach copies of any relevant documentation, and hand them back together with a small court fee. The court gives a receipt, and serves a summons on the other side, giving 14 days in which to register a written defence (or to admit the claim and / or pay the artist what is claimed). If there is no response within 14 days, you can apply to the court for a 'default judgment', which means that the court formally confirms the artist as successful and orders the other side to pay.  If the other side does not pay as ordered, you can then apply for enforcement of the court's order - by the court, which will pursue the debtor until payment in full is made.

If the gallery / other side defends the claim, a hearing will be fixed for both sides to tell the (junior) Judge in their own words what their case is: such hearings are conducted very informally, and such Judges are used to getting to the heart of the matter very quickly. The Judge then decides, and tells the parties accordingly. This is very user friendly process and the County Court staff will be able to help with any queries. The beauty of this procedure is that, win, lose or draw, the court has no power to order anyone to pay any costs - this discourages anyone from using a lawyer.

It is also possible to file an online money claim via the Government's Money Claim website.

Some other sections of the Artquest website might also be of use to you when thinking about money.  Try:

• Our Living and Working section, with information on benefits, employment and childcare;
• The Money section, with lists of funders, information on applying for funding, tips on tax and rates of pay;
• Areas in Artlaw that could be useful include Artists Resale Royalty Rights and Ways of Working.