For over 30 years, this East Anglian family business has specialised in producing and delivering Partridge and Pheasant eggs and chicks to the game industry and shooting estates. The business has slowly expanded over the years to become the UK’s leading game farm with extensive facilities and a reputation for excellence.
Debt Recovery Instruction
The client received an order for 5000 French Partridge fertile eggs from a sole trader operating a shoot based at a farm in Herefordshire. Following safe delivery, the client issued their invoice for £3,100.00 on 60-day terms. The client carried out their usual credit control procedures once the invoice became overdue for payment. These procedures included statements, letters, emails, and telephone calls, all of which were ignored. This resulted in our instruction that the invoice had passed 120 days.
Historical Bad Debt
The client included some interesting historical information in the instruction form. It transpired that the debtor had failed to pay an invoice back in 2015 that the creditor eventually wrote off to claim tax relief after 12 months of chasing for payment. The debtor’s credit facility was restored after they paid in advance for two large orders in the months leading up to the issue of the outstanding invoice.
Initially, we fared no better than our client, with the debtor ignoring our first Notice and follow-up emails and telephone messages. It was only when we issued a Final Demand Notice giving the debtor seven days to pay and advising on the serious consequences of a County Court Judgment being registered against them that we received a response. We received a telephone call from the debtor’s partner explaining that her partner tended to bury his head in the sand and he was not very good at running the financial side of the business. We were assured that clearing the account was now a priority and that they would remain in contact.
Payment Plan Agreed
A payment plan over six months was requested and flatly refused, followed by an offer of payment over four months, which was again refused. At this point, we discussed the matter with our client, and it was agreed that if the debtor paid 50% immediately, our client would be prepared to wait a month to receive payment of the remaining 50%. The debtor was advised that this was the only offer available, and they accepted.
The initial payment was received the following day as requested and forwarded to our client the same day. We contacted the debtor 7-days before the final payment was due and again the day before the payment was due to ensure that it was paid on time. The payment duly arrived on the agreed-upon date and included Advocate’s debt recovery fees. Again, the balance was forwarded to our client the same day.
Payment Plan Completed
A payment plan is often a cost and time effective alternative to issuing legal proceedings, provided that the terms are favourable to the creditor. We will always negotiate the best possible outcome for our clients, and they will always make the final decision on whether or not to accept a payment plan.