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Time to tackle bad debt

With a second wave of Covid on the horizon, this is a good time to deal with unpaid payments

Oliver Cummings Aug 06, 2020

The Office for National Statistics recently revealed that 54% of businesses were owed outstanding invoice payments as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. The truth is that the  full effect of the pandemic has not yet been felt, it’s probable that we won’t see the repercussions of the first wave until late next year. 
 
This means we’ve got quite some way to go. Bad debts and late payments could come to have a worrying impact on the health of businesses. A delay in starting the recovery process can result in a knock on effect. Our Learning from Recovery series covers a recent case study where acting sooner could’ve changed the outcome. Without access to cash, business owners might struggle to pay their own suppliers and staff – and, in some cases, they might even be unable to survive.
 
With the number of Coronavirus cases starting to increase significantly, now is the time for management teams to start getting back the cash that they’re owed. It’s important to make your cash position as strong as possible ahead of what could be a challenging winter period.
 
The good news is that there’s now a way of unlocking cash from bad debts and late payments without any upfront payments or negative impact on your client’s cashflow: Recovery. Powered by the multi-award winning Escalate process, Recovery provides a complete end-to-end service, removing the hassle and financial risk while prioritising a successful outcome. All it takes is a simple referral from you to kick off the process - we’ll handle the rest. 
 
Case study: Freelance web developer recovers full debt from client
 
A website developer had a claim against a client who refused to pay for search engine optimisation work that it had carried out. It was asserted that no benefit had been gained from the work done, despite the nature of SEO work being one of long-term reward rather than short-term gain, which had been highlighted to the client at the start. Many reasons were provided for not paying, but none seemed genuine and it was felt that the company was simply trying to avoid paying.
 
When Escalate got involved they were also rebuffed after first contact. So, they drafted all of the court papers and gave the defendant one last chance to pay. In response, the defendant offered payment of 80%.
 
The defendant then asked to pay in instalments over two years. Escalate refused, and ordered that either full payment or the offered 80% balance needed to be paid within seven days or they would issue court proceedings. Full payment was made shortly thereafter.
 
Escalate and Capitalise are working together to help businesses unlock millions in cash that’s tied up in bad debts; please get in touch or speak to your Partnership manager to find out more.

 

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