The creditor, based in Cambridgeshire, has been established for over 15 years. They specialise in commercial floor finishes and screeds, supplying equipment and labour to construction sites and companies throughout the East of England. The company founders, a husband-and-wife team, still operate the business on a day-to-day basis and now employ 12 staff members.
Also based in Cambridgeshire, the debtor is a much larger company in the construction industry. Operating from several offices and depots with a multi-million turnover and employing over staff.
The work was carried out in accordance with the creditor’s client’s instructions on the date required and signed off by the site manager. The creditor’s invoice was issued promptly using the invoicing details supplied in the order on the agreed 30-day payment terms. What followed was typical of a smaller company’s challenges in the UK when trying to obtain payment from a larger company.
The Debt Recovery Chase Begins
A statement of account was issued by post and email in anticipation of payment by the due date. No payment was forthcoming, and the creditor began chasing for payment to be met with the usual excuses. Your invoice is not on our system. Can you resend it? Yes, of course, and 7-days later, the invoice was still not on the system, so another copy was requested and delivered. The debtor (or, as with many large companies, its underpaid, under-trained and incompetent staff) then moved on to the next stage of delaying payment. The invoice had been passed to a manager for authorisation. The chase then shifted to the manager, who was always unavailable, on holiday or off work sick. Finally, after months of chasing for payment, the creditor was informed that payment had been processed and would be credited to their bank account the following Friday.
The payment did not arrive on the date advised, and when it did not arrive the following Friday after again being notified, it would. The creditor had had enough. They began a search for debt recovery online and found Advocate. When the creditor called us, they were intrigued about how we could offer a free service. They were happy with our explanation that under late payment legislation, they were entitled to claim the costs of using a debt collector to recover payment of a debt and that we would claim those costs on their behalf from the debtor.
Fast, Free Debt Recovery
Upon receiving instruction, we commenced action the same day. A 7-day notice of intended court proceedings was issued by post. Copies of the notice were sent by email the next day, and we commenced telephone contact with the debtor on day three of our action. We were assured that our client’s invoice was now being prioritised and that it would be authorised and processed as a matter of urgency (our client was previously advised that the invoice had been authorised and processed over a month earlier).
We received full payment on day five of our action, including the debt recovery costs claimed. Within an hour, the full invoice value was transferred to our client’s bank account via a same-day faster payment.