We like a challenge at CPA. In March of this year our Member who is the waste paper recycling industry sent our Litigation Department a £600 debt that was nearly 5 months old. Unfortunately, the Member only had the first part of the debtor’s name. After some investigation, we identified the debtor (who was in the wholesales clothes trade) and passed the debt to our solicitors for a claim to be issued. Last week we were delighted to send the Member a cheque for over £800 which included the full debt amount, Court fees, compensation and interest. The debtor also paid CPA’s charges. Our member did not lose out by a penny.
As mentioned in earlier posts, make sure you have the correct legal identity of your debtor, that all orders are confirmed in writing and that the correct details are shown on the invoice. Use our credit analysis forms to collect this data from your customers. Get all this information before the work is done or goods are supplied. It will be a lot less forthcoming afterwards.
Keep all documents such as proof of delivery to support your claim. Then if payment is not forth coming, chase quickly and suspend the account if necessary to limit your exposure. Pass the matter to us as soon as possible as the quicker we act, the more likely we are to be successful.
We at CPA are pretty good at resolving these issues but why take the risk? Find out all about your customer and it will make getting paid a lot easier and more likely.
Ray White – Litigation Manager – 11th July 2017