Treasury accused of scaring lenders with insolvency clawback - CPA

Treasury accused of scaring lenders with insolvency clawback.

16/07/2019.

Business groups have warned that new rules making HMRC a preferential creditor in the event of an insolvency could harm access to finance for small businesses.

By leapfrogging over other types of creditors, including floating charge lenders that offer loans against assets such as stock in a warehouse, critics of the move say the government is likely to make it harder for businesses to secure credit.

Asset-based lending and invoice finance was worth £22.7bn at the end March. It is a form of lending that has been growing for the past five years, according to UK Finance.

Matthew Davies, director of invoice finance and asset-based lending at UK Finance, has previously made known his concern about the revival of so-called crown preference, noting that while the trade group supports the objective of protecting taxpayers’ money, an unintended consequence of the move could be that “a certain cohort” of SMEs may find it harder and more expensive to borrow.

Crown preference is a ‘cash grab,’ say critics

The return of the crown preference is being described as a “cash grab” by business groups.

The change, confirmed in the government’s draft Finance Bill, reversed a 16 year-old law that that placed the government as an unsecured creditor during an insolvency.

Under the change, certain debts owed to HMRC, including PAYE, employee National Insurance contributions, and VAT, will be repaid in priority to debts owed to floating charge holders and unsecured creditors. At the moment, all HMRC debt is unsecured.

HMRC expects to make around £195m a year from the policy.

‘A self-defeating policy’

Duncan Swift, president of insolvency and restructuring trade body R3, said the government is “shooting first and asking questions later.”

He said: “The government should have gone much further in cutting back the scope of its proposals. Unlike the earlier, pre-2003 version of this policy, the size of the government’s priority claim is uncapped, creating significant uncertainty in insolvencies for lenders, businesses, and others. A cap on the age of tax debt eligible for priority status would have been an obvious way to limit the downsides of the proposal. Ensuring that tax debts don’t take priority over pre-existing floating charges would have made these proposals much fairer, too.

He went on to say: “The downsides of this policy are plain to see. More money back for HMRC after an insolvency means less money back for everyone else. This increases the risks of trading, lending and investing, and could harm access to finance, especially for SMEs. This means less money is available to fund business growth and business rescue, and, in the long term, could mean less tax income for HMRC from rescued or growing businesses. It’s a self-defeating policy.”

HMRC said: “This measure represents a balanced approach by ensuring that a larger amount of taxes that people have paid in good faith for vital public services are not distributed to other creditors. The government does not expect this reform to significantly impact access to finance.”

See our previous post on the Governments efforts to push small creditors aside

See our previous post on how the reforms will harm business

CPA’s view

This means any SMEs out there who get caught by the insolvency of a customer are going to suffer even more.

Already business owners know that the insolvency practitioner was going to take a large slice of any realisations from the wind -up of their customers business. They know that banks and other preferential creditors are also going to take most of the remaining capital that was freed up by the collection of debts and sale of assets.

Those SME businesses new they were only going to see maybe pennies on the pound of what they were owed.

Now, the chance of even that have diminished with HMRC putting itself as a preferential creditor.

The chances of an SME, unsecured creditor getting anything when a customer with outstanding invoices goes bust look even more unlikely.

So it is even more paramount that they do all they can to avoid being over extended to companies in danger.

CPA provides its members with credit checking facilities and gives its members the ability to monitor their customers so they are alerted should anything in their status that might affect their credit worthiness change.

CPA doesn’t tell it’s members to not do business with those clients. No, just set appropriate credit policies for them. Don’t let them over extend, maybe request payment on delivery or payment by card.

CPA can help you avoid those companies who are in danger.

Our credit reports predict 96% of insolvencies before they happen.

CPA is passionate about late payment

The Credit Protection Association has been protecting smaller firms against poor payment practices for over 100 years.

We are extremely passionate about breaking the late payment culture that holds back the UK economy and threatens many SMEs with cash flow difficulties being the single biggest killer of Britain’s small businesses.

If you were regularly paid late we can help. Those former customers used you to boost their own cashflow, regularly paying you late.

As a result you had extra costs, you had the distraction of having to chase payment, you had opportunity costs because your capital was tied up in their late invoices.

Under little used legislation, you are entitled to compensation for those late payments.

Now you can boost your own cash-flow.

CPA can help unearth the those hidden treasures.

We have the technology to reveal the compensation you are due and we have the extensive experience and expertise to then turn those claims into cash.

Yes, CPA can help you boost your business cash-flow.

Don’t let your bankers control you, contact CPA today.

The Credit Protection Association – Prompting Punctual Payments – Ethical, Effective, Efficient, Economical collections

Read our blog here on how to crack down on the late payment culture.

Read our blog here on how to give late payers the slap they need.

The “Why” of the late payment culture.

Paying late is “crack cocaine” to big business.

Late payment culture risks “spiraling out of control”

New warning over catastrophic effects of late payments

visit our late payment compensation page

See our full blog and FAQ on late payment compensation

Do you realise you could be sitting on a fortune?

Late payments often result in a cash flow crunch and leave SMEs in need of a cash injection.

If you sold B2B on credit then there may be a hidden source of capital you can call on.

If you fancy an bit of extra cash in your business, rather than jumping through hoops with your bank, you could look to uncover the resources from an unexpected source within your own business.

Not many are aware but there could be a hidden fortune within your business, sitting there, just waiting to be uncovered and released.

We can help you uncover the pile of gold, you didn’t even know you were sitting on.

If you trade with other businesses and were often paid late then you could be entitled to significant compensation.

Under little known and under-utilised legislation your business could be due huge amounts in compensation that you didn’t even know about.

Let’s be clear – this is not a way to weaken any customer relationships you value. It is one that identifies who’s been paying late and then recover the potentially significant sums in compensation using Late Payment Legislation from businesses where the relationship has already ended.

You can pick and choose who you want us to follow up – but once we’ve agreed which companies you’d like to pursue compensation from it’s a fast process and there’s no financial outlay to you whatsoever. My team at CPA put its expertise to work to recover the compensation due and fight late payment culture.

That compensation could provide the cash boost your business needed.

But don’t delay, that compensation evaporates if not claimed within six years of the late payment.

How can CPA help?

CPA has developed a unique technology to dig into your accounting records and discover the cash injection you are due by means of compensation. The software does all the hard work. Our software interacts over the cloud with over 300 different software packages, working directly with your accounts package, just so long as it’s stored on a computer.

We recognise that most companies do not have the resources to spend time on the identification and calculation of Late Payment Compensation. Our service can produce an Analyses within just a few days with (usually) less than 30 mins of co-operation from our clients. We work directly with over 300 accounting packages but can also work with bespoke accounts packages. Indeed, speed is essential as the oldest invoices may fall foul of the 6-year time limit.

Once the Sales Ledger Analyses is made available to clients, all that is required is that management decide which commercially sensitive ex-customers to remove from the list and return it to us.

CPA then uses its years of collection experience to explain and recover the Late Payment Compensation Claims. Clients do not handle any part of the recovery process as our team will take all communications from the companies against who the claims has been made. Often, it’s simply a case of explaining the legislation, sometimes we have to go all the way and enforce the legislation through the courts.

The result is that we are realising clients’ claims worth tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of pounds which, of course, is pure net profit. You may also be among the recipients of “hundreds of thousands of pounds” should you elect to take advantage of our services.

We do the work, you receive the cash.

If you have supplied goods and services to businesses on credit and were regularly paid late then you could be due significant sums in late payment compensation.

We are talking to companies and unearthing claims in the hundreds of thousands from former business customers who paid them late. Large business customers who abused their power to inflict unfair and sometimes illegal payment practices.

We are helping business owners who are looking to boost the returns from their business before they retire. We are helping businesses who have lost major clients after years of loyal service to get properly compensated for systematic late payment. We are helping companies that were looking to close down, who looked insolvent and finding that cash injection they need to avoid insolvency.

Those former clients who regularly paid you late can finally be made to pay.

Ready to speak to an advisor?

For help or advice on credit management, entirely without obligation.

Call us today

0330 053 9263

Do you sell on credit?

With pressures on the cash flow it is essential that you stay on top of the credit limits you grant customers and watch carefully for any late payments.

Those customers will look for the easiest option to boost their cash-flow. Don’t let it be you.

You can’t just assume your customers can and will pay you eventually, no matter how big their name is.

It is essential to have credit management systems in place to monitor and check your customers credit worthiness.

It is also best practice to use a trusted third party like CPA to make sure you are paid on time by customers, no matter how good a name they have.

See the section below – About CPA.

About CPA

The Credit Protection Association can help!

Formed in 1914, CPA has been providing credit management services to SMEs for over 100 years.

At the Credit Protection Association, we provide first class credit information that can help you avoid being over extended to customers who are at risk. Our monitoring service can flag up warning signs long before the end, giving you the chance to adjust and reduce your exposure. We provide recommended credit limits and credit scores on a traffic light system and can help you set appropriate credit policies for your customers.

We regularly publish lists of the latest insolvencies but by then it is too late. Our credit reports however predict approximately 96% of company insolvencies long before they arrive.

Companies in trouble usually have very bad cash flow and they try to deal with it by delaying payment to their suppliers, increasing your exposure to them.

If you supply on credit, help us help you identify the risks.

Why use a third party collector?

As a third party collector, we can also get your payments prioritised over those who are not as hot on collections. When you customer receives a letter from the Credit Protection Association regarding their outstanding account, they are going to want to get that resolved as a priority. Our overdue account recovery service can get your unpaid invoices to the top of their “to do” list and get your invoice paid.

Over the years we have collected billions in overdue invoices for our customers.

Our debt recovery and credit management services give our members the financial freedom needed to grow and prosper, while our new Late Payment Compensation department could unlock hidden potential and offer the compensation needed to springboard your business to success.