Debt Recovery: Is It Time to Lawyer Up?
Article last updated 5 September 2023
Maintaining cash-flow in your business is essential to staying in the black and remaining a viable, vibrant business and nothing is more frustrating than having all your hard work in your business compromised by debtors not paying their Invoices as and when due.
Enterprise Legal has a number of clients who, despite best efforts, have found it difficult to manage their debtor ledger effectively and consequently found themselves in the position of having to take steps to recover debts due and owing to them.
Typically, by the time clients come to see us they are frustrated by the debt recovery process, they have several debts owing to them and in most instances significant time has passed since the provision of the services or goods, and the unpaid Invoice(s).
Whilst ‘better late than never’ rings some truth, we always provide the following advice to our clients who find themselves in the position of having to recover debts due and owing:
1. Prevention is better than cure, so make sure your business has a credit health check and appropriate debt recovery policy and procedure in place from the outset, to optimize the chances of being paid on-time and in-full. Sometimes, spending time and money up-front saves you significantly long-term.
2. Don’t delay! The moment a debt is overdue and the debtor appears non-responsive to ‘chasers’ by your business, come and see the team at Enterprise Legal. The longer a debt is outstanding, the more confident the debtor gets that they can get away with non-payment. Debtors will always have an array of reasons why they can’t pay, it is about knowing the law and how to have the conversation with the debtor, to ensure payment is made swiftly.
3. Sometimes it is as simple as sending a letter of demand on a legal letterhead to recoup payment in full! At Enterprise Legal, we have a 70% success rate at the letter of demand stage, and for a fixed-fee we often save our clients from headaches and compromised cash-flow down the line.
4. On the occasions where the letter of demand route was not successful, Enterprise Legal has an array of cost-effective strategies and methods to recover debts for our clients, and by combining our knowledge of the law, our pragmatic thinking and our experience in dealing with debtors, we often assist our clients to recover their debts in a cost-effective manner.
If you or your business would like a credit health check, a debt recovery policy or assistance with recovering debts, contact Enterprise Legal’s Disputes team today: