Member Article

Top tips for recovering debt

It is an inevitable part of any business that at some point companies will have to recover outstanding debts. With £5.8bn written off by British SME’s during the last financial year, it has never been more important to have a solid, debt recovery plan in place. Here are Commercial Domestic Investigations Top Tips for Recovering Debt.

Communication is key

Keep in contact with the people that owe you money. Firstly, ensure that they are aware that payments have been missed. See if you can assist in setting up a new payment plan, if they are unable to make a one-off payment to clear the debt. This will help resolve the debt as quickly as possible. The client has breached a contractual agreement and you are well within your rights to chase it. Make sure that any agreement that you are able to make with the debtor is put in writing.

Putting it in writing

Debt chasing letters are always an option and sometimes they can apply the necessary “push” that your client needs to make the outstanding payments. This can be done in-house, you can always pay a solicitor to deal with them, however this can be costly. Commercial Domestic Investigations are able to send debt chasing letters for you, to save yourself and your company time and money. We continue to chase the debtors for you until a resolution can be made or the decision to take legal action is made.

Taking it further

Taking legal action should be considered as a final resort as it can be a lengthy process. Make sure that you have tried to contact the debtor numerous times and in numerous ways, calls, letters and emails, etc. If the client refuses to respond, then you have no other option but to take things further. Recovering business debt can be difficult and a collection agency, like Commercial Domestic Investigations, are able to ease the stress. Our debt collection experts have a wealth of experience and knowledge and can easily recognise the difference between “can’t pay” and “won’t pay”. Our agents are renowned for their speed, efficiency and professionalism.

Going legal

If no agreement can be made between the collection agency and the debtor, then it may mean taking the debtor to court. A County Court Judgement (CCJ) orders a defendant to pay a sum of money to the claimant and is recorded against the debtors name on the Register of County Court Judgements for six years. This option should be considered carefully before proceeding. Make sure that every attempt has been made to resolve the debt. You may find yourself incurring extra charges when taking someone to court, take this into account when making the final decision.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Steve Hall .