Changes to Late Payment Legislation

Changes were introduced to the Late Payment Legislation earlier this year that affect contracts formed after 16 March 2013. The main change that will be of interest to creditors is that you will now be able to recover the 'reasonable costs' of recovering your money.

Therefore in future and where a contract is formed after 16 March 2013 Creditserve debt recovery services will be automatically adding the commission charge for a successful collection to the initial letter that is sent to your debtors and where possible we will be adding legal fees onto the value of any legal action issued for you.

It is not going to be possible to anticipate in advance all the charges you may face during the course of a debt action because we do not know at the outset what course the matter is going to take but rest assured we will be using the new legislation to your advantage wherever possible.

There are other features of the legislation that deal with the length of payment terms and the legislation now extends to covering European debts rather than just UK

If you would like further information regarding the new legislation or debt recovery in general please contact Laura Ferrie on 01992 414222 or email
lauraferrie@creditserve.co.uk

Creditserve offer all different types of credit services which include, debt recovery, online UK and European company credit reports, consumer reports, Anti money laundering/ ID checks. These can be purchased on a 'pay as you go' basis, for more information please visit www.creditserve.co.uk/Online-Shop

When carrying out good credit control, where is the line between being clear and being rude?  Well, after being a commercial debt collector for more years than I care to remember (or to put in black in and white!) in my view there is no place for the latter and every need for the former.

In my experience though many debtors perceive clarity as rudeness, perhaps because they are feeling defensive?  However, effective credit control is all about clear, unambiguous communication both verbally and in writing.

Part of the secret to getting paid on time is to be explicit with your customers about what you want and what, if they have signed your terms and conditions, they have contracted to.

When you first open an account, advise the new customer what their credit limit is and when their payments must be made by.  Also tell them what the sanction will be if they don't adhere to your terms.  Will they have to pay late payment interest, or go on stop?   Will you pass the account out to a commercial debt recovery agency? Will you, ultimately, take legal action? 

Make sure that your invoice has arrived with your customer, "Hi it's George from George & Sons, just checking that you have got our invoice and that it is being processed for payment by the thirtieth?  You have? Great.  Have a good weekend, are you going to watch the game?"   Suddenly credit control does not have to be hostile, it can be used as an opportunity to build and enhance relationships with your customers.

Creditserve Collections is a good debt recovery agency, I think, one of the best.  But by the time you have to pass a debt out for collection, even to the best agency, you will have missed so many opportunities to get paid.  Don't wait until a customer is late paying you before you contact them.

So be clear, be proactive and if all else fails ring Creditserve Collections on 01992 414222 for expert debt recovery, credit control out-sourcing and credit control advice.

Do you charge interest to your slow payers?

Where the right to charge interest to late paying customers is not stipulated as part of a commercial contract there is a statutory provision to charge interest to late payers.

Under The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, as amended and supplemented by the The Late Payment of Commercial Debt Regulations 2002 a creditor can charge their commercial debtor interest.  Interest is charged at what is called the "reference rate" this rate alters depending upon the current bank rate, it is set twice a year and it is currently 8½%.

To calculate the interest due from your debtor use the following equation:

Invoice value X 8.5% (current reference rate) divided by 365 to obtain the daily rate per invoice.

Then multiply the number of days the invoice is overdue by with the daily rate to give you your total, your are entitled to charge interest up until the date the payment is made.

Under the same legislation, if you have to take the step of passing the debt out to a commercial debt recovery agency you are entitled to charge Statutory Compensation.  Statutory Compensation is charged on a sliding scale depending upon the debt value:

Debts up to  £999.99 - fee of £40.00 is chargeable
Debts of £1000.00 up to £9,999.99 a fee of £70.00 is chargeable and on debts over £10,000.00 a fee of £100.00 is chargeable.

Good commercial debt recovery or commercial collection agencies such as Creditserve Collections will automatically add these additional fees to your outstanding account and pursue them for payment as well as your overdue sales ledger balance.

For more information on commercial debt recovery, credit control procedures, collection of overdue accounts and credit management advice please go to our website at www.creditserve.co.uk or contact us on 01992 414222

Credit Control Advice for 2013 which can help with commercial debt collection..

If you are looking for Credit Control Advice for 2013, we posted in interesting Article on our Corporate website (in the blog section of our media page) and also on our Corporate Blog.

The article gave tips on how to safely open up a new credit account and the process you should follow, which if followed will help you when it comes to commercial debt collection.

Should you want to read the full article please visit: http://www.creditserve.co.uk/Media-Centre/Blog/January-2013-1/Credit-Control-Tips-for-opening-a-new-Credit-or-Cu

Should you have any questions about the credit control article or you require more information on our outsourced credit control or commercial debt collection services please get in touch via our contact form on our website or 01992 414222.

Commercial Debt Collection Advice for 2013

When considering what advice to give in recovering outstanding debts or debt collection generally it is wise to consider the old proverb, "prevention is better than cure" Trite but true.

Debt recovery, cash collection and aiding your cash flow are always going to be easier if you have established before you extend credit EXACTLY who you are dealing with and what they have in terms of asset.

When considering offering a credit account is is vital to know whether you are dealing with, for example, B Baggins & Co Limited (purely a management company with no assets whatsoever), Bilbo Baggins & Nephew Limited (a non-trading company) or B Baggins (The Shire) Limited that has very healthy accounts on file and included amongst it's large assets is one very shiny, (highly transportable and easily converted into cash by  High Court Enforcement Officers) ring.

How do you know who you are dealing with?  The answer is painfully obvious.  Ask them.

Make sure that any new customer THOROUGHLY completes an application form.  I see many perfectly good application forms that are only half-completed  where a rep has been eager for the sale (but not necessarily for payment) and missed the opportunity to find out exactly who is being contracted with.

If you are dealing with a limited company, get their registration number. It is also useful to ask for headed paper that must display a company registration number. That way no matter how many times they may change their name you will know precisely who you will be dealing with.  Once you have established who they are, take a look at their accounts filed at Companies House.  Accounts are easily accessible via our online shop http://www.creditserve.co.uk/Online-Shop

If you are not happy with the accounts filed, don't be afraid to ask the directors questions about the company or their past businesses and experience or seek Personal Guarantees from them.  If they are not happy to give them, ask yourself the question; if they are not prepared to take any risk on behalf of their company then why should I?

It is true that even companies with the best and most exhaustive credit checking and credit control procedures will incur bad debt from time to time but when planning your debt collection procedures the best place to start, as Julie Andrews would say, is at the very beginning.

Please come back and visit my blog for tips and advice on commercial debt recovery, insolvency and credit control.

Post about Company Filing Requirements

Please visit our Business Credit Report Blog for a post about UK Company Filing Regulations:

http://www.creditservebusinesscreditreports.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/company-filings-requirements.html

You can also read more about this on our company website: www.creditserve.co.uk

More About our UK Business, Corporate or Commercial Debt Collection Solutions

More about the Debt Recovery service we provide and the set up process:

All our UK (England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales) commercial debt recovery is undertaken on the basis of no collection: no commission*

We accept instructions by telephone, fax and mail.  

All we need is a statement of account or details of the invoices that are outstanding and we can get to work on recovering the debt.  

On receipt of a debt, interest and Statutory Compensation under Late Payment Legislation is added.  

When these charges are recovered they are all passed on to the client. We contact the debtor in writing on the day of receiving an account.  Our notice will go by email, fax or post depending upon the client’s requirements.

If the the debtor has not already made contact with us within a 2 to 3 day period we will contact them.  

Thereafter we will report to the client on our progress until the commercial debt has been paid.

We contact all of the debtors to qualify your debt, to make sure they have not absconded and to ensure there are no queries helping to avoid a costly and protracted defended legal action.

Occasionally it is necessary for us to escalate matters in order to obtain the payment.  This can result in legal action, bankruptcy or a winding-up petitions all being instigated on behalf of our clients.

If required we will carry out a "Pre-Legal Report" on the debtor to ensure that they have the means to pay the debt and that you, as the creditor, will not be "throwing good money after bad".

For a quote on our commercial debt collection and recovery or for details of our legal charges please feel free to contact us on Tel: 01992 414222 or by email to: legal@creditserve.co.uk .

We offer a competitive pricing structure, which is based upon volume, age and type of debt.

*Our no collection – no commission pricing policy applies to pre-legal debts only.  If legal action is necessary (and only issued with a client’s express permission) legal fees and Court Disbursements are payable irrespective of the outcome of the case.