Opal Fee Recovery

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Opal Fee Recovery

Opal’s mission is to free you from stress of dealing with unpaid or disputed recruitment fees.

Opal Fee Recovery has been established by a team of recruitment company owners and legal experts with years of experience in successfully recovering many hundreds of thousands of pounds in disputed fees for our own businesses. We possess extensive experience encompassing a wide array of scenarios, affording us a profound understanding of effective fee recovery strategies. Our comprehensive exposur

e to diverse recruitment fee disputes equips us with the expertise to adeptly address various objections and challenges, extending beyond conventional excuses for not paying or avoiding payment of a fee – including:

* Back-door hires
* Candidates who were engaged but did not work out
* Engagements several months after the introduction
* Multiple introductions of a candidate by different agencies
* Denying any contract exists
* Sometimes just blatantly ignoring requests for payment! You name it we’ve probably seen it and we have achieved extremely high recovery success rates. Our experience has also taught us that getting the right Terms of Business and systems in place is critical to good fee recovery and we want to share that knowledge with other recruitment businesses, to maximise fee recovery and minimise the risk of future disputes.

02/09/2026

Imagine this.

Your fee is worth £15,000.

The client admits the candidate was introduced by you.

But instead of paying, they say:
“Forget this invoice and we’ll give you five new roles.”

Tempting?

Maybe.

But ask yourself one question:

Would you normally pay £15,000 for five vacancies?

Because effectively, that’s what you’re being asked to do.

And those vacancies come with no guarantee of placement.

No guarantee of exclusivity.

No guarantee they won’t go to another agency.

The fee you’re discussing relates to work that has already produced a result.

Don’t let vague promises about tomorrow distract you from what happened yesterday.

🚩 More business can be great.

But it shouldn’t automatically replace payment.

01/09/2026

“Yes, we hired them… BUT…”

Those words should immediately get your attention.

The client admits your candidate has joined.

Great.

Then comes the explanation for why they apparently don't owe you anything.

And sometimes the conversation ends with:
“Tell you what… forget this fee and we'll give you more vacancies.”

Sound familiar? 👀

Future business can sound tempting.

But before walking away from an existing fee, ask yourself:
Did you introduce the candidate?
Can you prove it?
What do your terms say?
Can you establish the chain of events?
Is the client genuinely disputing liability — or simply trying to negotiate the fee away?

Don’t make a commercial decision just because the conversation feels uncomfortable.

What would YOU do?
A — Take the future business
B — Pursue the full fee
C — Negotiate
D — Depends on the client relationship
👇 I’d be interested to see where recruiters land on this one.

31/08/2026

You contact the company.

And surprisingly…
they admit they hired the candidate.

Great. Problem solved?

Not always.

Then come the reasons why they apparently shouldn’t have to pay:
“We hired them much later.”
“They contacted us directly.”
“A different manager hired them.”
“We didn’t realise they came through you.”
“They had already spoken to us.”

And one of my favourites:

“Forget the invoice and we’ll give you more vacancies.” 🚩

Future business does not automatically erase an existing contractual obligation.

-Listen to their explanation.
-Check it against the evidence.
-Check your terms.

And separate a genuine factual dispute from a commercial attempt to make the invoice disappear.

Have you ever been offered “more business” in return for dropping a fee?

30/08/2026

You Get the Feeling Something Is Off

One of the biggest mistakes agencies make is ignoring their instincts.

If something feels off, it probably is.
And if you don’t get the answer the first time?
That doesn’t mean the matter is over.

In recruitment, time kills deals.

But in backdoor hiring disputes, the opposite can often be true.

Sometimes more information comes out later.
Sometimes the candidate resurfaces.
Sometimes the hire is only confirmed months down the line.

And importantly:
You may have up to 6 years to raise an invoice.
So stay calm.

Don’t assume the opportunity has gone.
Don’t let a weak explanation close the matter too early.

What goes around comes around.

A suspected backdoor hire today can still become a recoverable fee tomorrow.

Have you ever uncovered a case long after you first suspected something wasn’t right?

29/08/2026

The best kind of credit control?

The type you never have to think about.

Invoice sent.
Follow ups handled.
Payment chased.
Updates provided.

You get on with recruiting.
We get on with collecting.

28/08/2026

You’ve made the call.

The client has admitted they hired the candidate.

What should you do next?

Firstly…

Stay calm.

This isn’t the time for an argument.

It’s the time to gather information.

After the call, confirm the conversation in writing.

Something as simple as:
“Thanks for speaking today. As discussed, we understand that [candidate] commenced employment with you on [date]…”

You’re creating a paper trail.

-Dates matter.
-Emails matter.
-Admissions matter.
-Candidate submissions matter.
-Interview evidence matters.

The stronger your evidence, the less the conversation becomes about opinions.

It’s not what you know. It’s what you can prove.

27/08/2026

The candidate disappeared.

The client went quiet.

You assumed the role had gone.

Then three months later you see:
“Delighted to announce I’ve joined…”

And guess who they’ve joined?

Your client.

Before immediately assuming someone has deliberately gone behind your back…

investigate.

Back door hires aren't always malicious.

The client might use multiple agencies.
A new hiring manager might know nothing about your original introduction.
The candidate might have declined the role initially and then contacted the company directly months later.
Or somebody may genuinely have forgotten where the introduction originated.

That doesn't automatically mean a fee isn't due.

It means you need to establish the facts.

Investigate. Document. Build the timeline.

Then decide what happens next.

Recruiters — have you ever discovered a placement months after you thought the vacancy was dead?
How did you find out? 👇

26/08/2026

The client denies the hire.
The candidate isn’t answering.
LinkedIn hasn’t been updated.

So… case closed?

Not necessarily.

Backdoor hires don’t always reveal themselves immediately.

-Three months later the candidate changes their job title.
-Six months later the client adds them to its team page.
-A former colleague confirms when they started.
-A hiring manager mentions the placement during another conversation.

Suddenly the picture looks very different.

This is why I wouldn’t always treat the first “no” as the end of the matter.

Keep your records.
Stay professional.
Review the evidence periodically.

Because:
What goes around comes around.

And sometimes the proof arrives much later than the placement.

25/08/2026

You Feel Left Out

Sometimes there is no dramatic moment.
You just start to notice you’re no longer being included.
You’re not copied in.
The updates stop.
Calls are not returned.
The candidate goes quiet.
Conversations seem to be happening without you.

And you’re left thinking:
Why do I suddenly feel out of the loop?

That feeling matters.
Being left out is often one of the earliest signs that a process has moved on without the agency being properly included.

At that point, don’t ignore it.
Instead:
- ask direct but professional questions
- confirm interview status
- clarify the position of your introduction
- keep records of all communication

You don’t need to accuse anyone.
But you do need to protect your position.

Have you ever had that moment where you knew something was happening, but nobody would say it out loud?

24/08/2026

Most recruiters hate two things:

Admin.
And chasing money.

Unfortunately, they're often linked.

We help recruitment businesses get invoices paid without adding another monthly expense to the business.

No recovery. No fee.

Address

1 Manor Court
Fareham
PO155TH

Telephone

+441329559100

Website

http://www.opalfee.com/

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