AVC Debt Recovery

25/07/2022

Business Debt Recovery

Starting legal proceedings, whilst a powerful tool to have in the armoury, should always be the last resort when it comes to debt recovery. That’s because reminding a debtor of their responsibilities, along with the potential consequences of not paying, can often be the catalyst to secure payment. Within correspondence this is done through a document known as a Letter Before Action, or LBA.

However, if you are forced into claiming your monies via the court it in important to be able to show you took all reasonable steps to avoid taking legal action. This is where a good LBA can help you even if it failed to secure payment beforehand. A clearly written LBA will also contain a number of important details in order to give the debtor little or no room for manoeuvre when attempting to defend the action.

Sounds difficult? Well don’t worry because help is at hand. To make sure you get your LBA right, we’ve compiled a list of 12 things to include, and here it is:

1. Ensure you use the legal entity and correct address so the debtor cannot deny receiving the LBA.
2. If sending an LBA by email, always make sure it is a letter attached to an email not just an email.
3. Use your reference code that identifies the works and relates to the works and issued invoices.
4. Similarly, always use their reference if requested.
5. Be certain that you use the correct date(s) of works enacted and invoices issued
6. Make it absolutely clear that you are seeking your monies as debt recovery and quote the relevant Acts and issue a Statutory charge under the relevant Act (s) .
7. Always specify the exact amount that is outstanding.
8. Notify how the debtor can contact you in case the amount owed is disputed.
9. Include a payment deadline and explain the consequences of failing to pay.
10. Also include any details of additional debt recovery fees, interest and/or compensation.
11. Remind the debtor that any CCJ, if obtained, will affect their credit rating.
12. Specify how and where the payment should be made.

With these 12 important points included you should be able to construct an LBA that give you a better chance to get paid the monies you are owed..
Alternatively you can seek to hire a professional such as AVC debt recovery. We are the only company to offer a Free LBA on our website as well as a Free no obligation consultation and offer no win no fee business debt recovery as standard.
www.avcdebtrecovery.com

24/09/2020

Free Debt Recovery Tips

Richi Sunak has set out a Winter Economy plan, but this will not stop the fallout that the Coronavirus outbreak has created which has torpedoed the finances of thousands of successful and healthy businesses across the UK.
Consumers have tightened their belts, clients have cancelled orders and debtors are slower or unable to pay. The impact is widespread and cuts deep.
Whilst many companies will continue to be able to pay their invoices and debts there will be businesses and individuals in business who will seek to become slow payers or worse still non payers.

Increasingly, businesses are trying to understand their debt recovery options and whether the use of profession debt recovery agencies is a better way forward whilst the ned to focus on sales is paramount.
For a free no obligation debt recovery consultation and free tips, including a Letter before Action, on best practise debt recovery visit www.avcdebtrecovery.com

Business Debt Recovery and Commercial Debt Recovery. Offices in Surrey and Dorset. Debt recovery and debt collection from experienced contract law professionals. A debt recovery agency that collects your monies successfully in Surrey, Dorset, London and all counties across the UK..

14/08/2020

Contracts Post Covid

The gradual return of business as we know it will start to roll out over the coming months and then on December 31 2020 we may or may not enter new phase of contractual relationship with the EU or WTO.

Commercial contracts are the bedrock of every business transaction and whilst it is possible to conduct business via a handshake or nod a written commercial agreement is best practise and precludes the word we hate : ambiguity .
The primary purpose of written terms is to provide a clear framework as to how the parties in a commercial relationship propose to work together.
Agreements that form a legally binding contract but drafted with vague conditions, may lead to uncertainty and often contracts that are heavy on the legalese but light on the ways of working are a prelude to costly legal disputes.

A well drafted contract will seek to ameliorate risks and roadblocks within a business relationship and clarify the responsibilities of each party and every contract should have a simple waterfall disputes procedure; not disagreement call the lawyers or an expensive arbitrator as 90% of disputes are solved by people communicating, so why make a contract different to real life.
It also makes sense to minimise liability outside of what cannot be excluded by law.

Even under ideal circumstances, minor breaches of a contract can occur, especially if the contract spans many years.

However, an international unprecedented incident such as the Coronavirus pandemic can result in breaches of contract law that are unavoidable. Having your contracts reviewed is a simple low-cost step to ensure that your interests are protected. Would you go on holiday without travel insurance?
There are different types of breach in a contract.
Minor, Material, Fundamental and Anticipatory breach
A minor breach of a commercial contract has little or no impact on the outcome of the agreement and most contracts include a simple remedy clause if the parties cannot use their nous to solve the issue.

A material breach may well have a detrimental effect on the way the contact is delivered, but unless it is a breach without remedy then good contracts will seek that breaches can be remedied within a time period. The law states that remedy for a material breach is the cost of breach plus damages from the breach.

A fundamental breach goes right to the heart of the agreement and presents a clear break in terms of the agreement. The injured party can seek to terminate the contract under the law regardless of what is written.
An anticipatory breach refers to situations where one party tells the other they cannot perform all or part of an agreed contracts. The non-performing party can be liable for damages.

Can a force majeure clause limit liability for a breach resulting from Covid-19?
The Coronavirus pandemic has been seen to cause a breach of existing contracts in several ways. Supply chains may have been disrupted and deadlines might have been missed for delivery or payment or fulfilment of services. A force majeure clause can mitigate a party’s liability if they are unable to perform part or all of the contract due to an unforeseen event. However, careful wording has to be included to cover pandemics. So, for breaches to date, a careful examination of the contract would be required to see if the criteria for force majeure had been met. If not specifically covered, it may be the case in future that Covid-19 is no longer be considered a force majeure event in law as it has been with us since the beginning of 2020, so its impact can therefore be anticipated by the contracting parties. However, there will be precedent at some pint regarding this as SARs was a coronavirus which caused disruption and it is reasonable to assume that in the future more viruses will break out. Whether a force majeure clause can cover this and what precedent will be set by Judges is awaited.

Contract reviews can save time, money and stress
Uncertainty causes issues in business. A recent study by the Legal Services Board found that 20% of businesses reported ill health impacts for staff from prevailing legal issues. Having your commercial contracts drafted and checked by an experienced legal practitioner will assure that the legal advice provides clarity around the obligations and liabilities within the law of contract. It is the old holiday insurance peace of mind. The insurance does not give you carte blanche to tombstone, but you know you are covered against most risks.

Whatever business you are in the basic premise of contracts and the law of contract applies to you. It was sonly 50 years ago that George Best was used for breach of promise when he decided not to marry one of his many girlfriends he got engaged to. Whilst that law was removed from the statute books everything is governed by the law of contract and in life and business you will have disputes.

Here is sample of the types of contract we draft and check:
a. Supply and purchase of goods and services
b. Export and import of goods and services
c. Agency and distribution agreement
d. Leases
e. Partnership Agreements
f. NDAs
g. Software and IT contracts
h. Contractor and outsourcing contracts
i. Licenses and development agreement
j. Business Terms and Conditions
k. Franchise agreements
l. Joint venture agreements
m. Shareholder and investment agreements

Legal issues in contracts post COVID
Contract reviews may well become important to minimise performance or legitimately get out of the contract and the resultant liability for breach in the future, or you may want to be in a position where you can enforce the contract against someone else who is trying to avoid it.

There are some simple clauses we always include:
a. Having a cap on liability for you if you are in breach
b. Minimising your warranties to the other side;
c. Making sure there is no indemnity (or a diluted indemnity from you if you are in breach
d. Excluding performance guarantees from you, e.g. sales targets
e. Back-ending any payments due from you, so that if something goes wrong you have not deployed all the cash required by the contract
f. Having a disputes resolution procedure clause
g. Setting out ways of working (lots of lawyers miss this simple insertion into contract ever fails because of the liability of severability or contract rights of third parties) it fails because of the lack of clarity of how people wish to work together. When you get married on a Friday its always a good idea to tell your wife you go to football every Saturday afternoon.
h. Choose the jurisdiction of English law if your business is in England & Wales.
i. Cutting down or not including which make it easy to avoid performance
j. Having clear remedies for any breach.
k. Maximising warranties from the other side
l. Make sure your remedies for late payment are clear and concise.

CW Contract Law and Legal offer a free no obligation consultation on all matters relating to contract law and business terms and conditions and business debt recovery.

Fixed cost legal services and business terms and conditions. Contract checking. price starts from £90.00. Legal services for for start ups, SME's and owner managed businesses. Delivering affordable legal services,business contracts. debt recovery and building trade dispute resolution under English ...

30/07/2020

Small Business Debt collection

Keeping on top of late-paying customers or clients is crucial for business success. There have been several studies which highlight the problems caused by late payments. Research suggests that around 76% of all UK businesses are being paid late and it may only get worse. This can place businesses into serious financial difficulties, and perilously close to becoming insolvent. The Federation of Small Businesses have long shouted about the need to end the late payment culture, which is a very real problem impacting the majority of businesses in the UK.

Small business credit control/debt collection is an important part of the way we work as we are one of the few debt recovery companies that look at the debt the reasons for the debt and better ways to stop debt issues. Whilst our remedies effectively put us out of the business of business debt recovery, we seek to be proactive in preventing bad debts accruing and minimise the disruption (and maximise the return) when they do.

How to keep late payments to a minimum
Completely avoiding late payments is never realistic (even we get them) but there are ways you can minimise it.
Here is our checklist for effective credit control:
1. Have a clear credit control procedure.
a. Invoice promptly.
b. As soon as payment is late pick up the telephone as this will tell you whether there is an issue will help to flush out any disputes or problems with the invoice.
c. Follow up with a letter
d. Follow up in 3 days with a telephone call and get a fixed date for payment
e. If this is not adhered to send a stern letter or LBA demand for payment
f. If nothing is received pass the debt over for small business debt collection. Do not delay.
2. Get some Terms and Conditions and use them.
a. If it’s good enough for Amazon a t he world’s most successful company then it should be good enough for everybody.
b. Do not trade without sending your Ts & Cs.
c. Do not have set? Visit www.cwcontrcatlaw and legal .co.uk for a set for around £240.00
d. Always confirm an order with an email that clearly satte4s. Please find attached a set of our Terms and Conditions and always send you Ts & Cs last.
3. Know your customer and obtain as much information about them as possible at the outset.
a. Who exactly are you contracting with? A sole trader, a limited company or a partnership? Simply having the name of the business e.g. the shop name or restaurant name is not enough. You need to know the entity which you are contracting with
b. Credit check customers where possible.
How to keep a good relationship with your customers when dealing with debt
It can be tricky dealing with late payments, but if someone is offended by you asking for money which they agreed to pay you on a certain date we wonder whether you can afford them as a customer.
By using a specialist professional agency such as AVC Debt recovery you can depersonalise the collection process and play good cop bad cop.
Inform debtors that the last thing you wish to do is pass the matter on.
In most cases, threatening us of debt recovery won't do any damage to your business relationship; but if it does you may consider you can afford not to be a busy fool.

Of course, debt recovery is not a free lunch and despite what some companies say the average recovery of the index debt is around 85% , but in most cases AVC Debt recovery recover 100% of the index debt thanks to HM Government late payment law.

Small business debt recovery: issuing a County Court Claim
If no payment or response is received during the pre-litigation stage, then recourse can be sought via a County Court Claim. Taking a customer to Court can be a difficult decision and AVC Debt recovery are one of the few companies that manages the debt recovery legal process at no charge.
There are pros and cons:
Pros:
a. The debt may be taken more seriously by your customer when they receive a claim from the Court
b. It is a relatively cheap way to pursue the unpaid invoice as the Court fee varies from £60.00 to 5% of the value of the claim, dependent on the claimed amount. This fee is recoverable from the debtor, should you be successful
c. The claim often acts as an incentive for the debtor to pay
d. They do not want to spend time and money defending the proceedings
e. They do not want a Judgment to impact their ability to gain credit
f. There are many ways of enforcing the Judgment, depending on the debtor's circumstances.
Cons:
a. It is not an exact science. Only a fool seeks to sit in front of a Judge if there is a better way.
b. The claim itself may not result in payment. We always say the easy part is obtaining judgement.
c. The debtor may still refuse to make a payment or ignore the claim. If this is the case, we will need to proceed to enforcing the Judgment
d. The debtor may defend the claim, which could lead to complex proceedings
e. Enforcement of the Judgment is not always successful. Numerous factors come into play, such as the debtor's assets/finances, or the debtor's employment status.
What happens if a debt is defended?
We take on your case with the creditor as the Claimant in person. We have a 90%-win track record in court cases.
Enforcement of your Judgment
If we are successful with your claim for unpaid invoices you will obtain a County Court Judgment, which is an enforceable Court Order. This will usually order the debtor to make payment of the debt, interest and costs immediately.
As we only take business debts on that are above the High Court enforcement threshold, we enact enforcement via the High Court.
Insolvency
We also seek recourse to insolvency procedures.

Why use a debt collection for a small business service?
Using a debt recovery service, which is based around the analysis of the law of contract means you have expertise and experience on your side. Typically, using our modus operandi means the chances of recovering the monies owed to you are greatly improved, as debtors will often take the claim much more seriously after receiving a claim from us. Chasing debtors is a time consuming and potentially frustrating part of running a business. From small debt recovery services to dealing with large amounts of unpaid debt, passing your unpaid invoices over to a debt recovery agency will give you peace of mind that the debtor is being chased for payment, whilst you continue with the day-to-day running of your business.
www.avcdebtrecovery.com

Business Debt Recovery and Commercial Debt Recovery. Offices in Surrey and Dorset. Debt recovery and debt collection from experienced contract law professionals. A debt recovery agency that collects your monies successfully in Surrey, Dorset, London and all counties across the UK..

03/04/2020

Implementing an effective credit control process

As at today and every day Cash is King. It’s not a cliché. You can run a business without profit, but you can’t run it without cash.
In these unprecedented times many businesses are unsure of what will happen when the current lockdown is lifted and business starts again. Some companies will seek to start all over using their tried and tested methodologies of cash collection, but things may have changed and the potential for late payers to become bad debts will definitely increase. During this down period, it might be prudent to look at your future credit control procedures.

Credit control is one of the many components needed for an effective business model, but implementing an effective credit control process can be a difficult task as it may involve change and managing change. When asked to look at any issue we look at some of the key strategies for success.
1. Research current and new clients
Simple research is pivotal in credit control because it allows a business to assess the risk that an existing client or prospect could pose in terms of making payments. A simple credit check via companies house beta is free and many serial offenders have dissolved companies yet are offered credit the day after they shut a company down. A cost option is something like Experian Business, which provide full credit reports on any business and it can help with a risk assessment. These reports allow you to gain clarity into who you're doing business with, and if they have a history of bad credit and payments.
2. Act on the information.
Don’t let the carrot of a sale and more work cloud you into forgetting that big stick that will beat you if you do not get paid. swiftly
3. Issue terms and Conditions
Sounds simple. Issue your terms and conditions, not a culled copy form Joe Bloggs Does it Best from the internet (we see this every day). You can get a bespoke set for as low as £240.00 from a reputable legally insured company such as CW Contract law and Legal. Don’t plan to fail by neglecting the most powerful legal document in contract law.
4. Get any Issued contract Checked
You can have this done for as little as £90.00. Ok, so none of us ever read the Amazon contract we tick, but we have seen horror documents with no rights of termination and other nasties that invoke open ended liability and the wrong party paying the costs of the other parties legal action on the other side’s breach of contract.
5. Track and Manage
Keeping track of clients does not have to be onerous. Effective communications and effective business relationships (personal one’s as well) – are built on trust and transparency. Something as simple as a courtesy call or reminder email could be as much appreciated by your customer as it is at your end. In addition to tracking, you also need to manage the days that debts are allowed to go overdue before further action is taken. It’s a good idea to cultivate an understanding of how different payment amounts and time scales are met and the average time taken by a debtor to pay different amounts that are due. This data will also allow you to prioritise specific invoices and from there you can also consider outsourcing some of your more difficult debt chasing to a third-party service provider.
6. Involve the whole team
If you are a one-man band involve yourself., otherwise communicate the message internally and remember you are only as strong as the cash being collected. Use simple practices via KISS to explain to everybody who is involved in a sale (even a note to self) that explain step by step how to issue invoices and what the standard follow-up process for chasing invoices is. We find that the companies who use what we call KISS and show procedures use the services of debt recovery agencies far less. That gives you more cash as no debt recovery agency works for free as no win no fee payment is nearly always paid by the creditor.
7. The right tools
If you attempt carpentry with blunt chisels you will get the job done but not as well and it will take more time, so why approach cash collection the same way Finding and suing the right tools to meet your businesses cash flow requirements can be an important piece of the puzzle in effective credit control management. While advanced software is becoming increasingly integral to credit control departments, it’s essential not to over complicate the process and to find the right tools for you. A simple process and a spreadsheet is just as effective, but we eschew the back of a fag packet. Anything that is simple and works for you and simplifies the process and gets you more cash is the right process.
Ultimately, implementing an effective credit control process is about thinking about the entire journey from invoice creation, to client communications, to how to deal with late payments. Here at CW Contract Law and Legal and AVC Debt Recovery we are on-hand to help you with this every step of the way, and you can find out further information on our transparent and ethical service at our websites and for our delivery of contracts, debt recovery and terms and conditions.

Fixed cost legal services and business terms and conditions. Contract checking. price starts from £90.00. Legal services for for start ups, SME's and owner managed businesses. Delivering affordable legal services,business contracts. debt recovery and building trade dispute resolution under English ...

16/01/2020

The use of Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (CRAR) waives the right to forfeit the lease
This article was written and published by HCE High Court Enforcement who are AVC Debt Recovery’s preferred partner for recovery and enforcement.
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The recent appeal in the case of Thirunavukkrasu v Brar heard on 6th November 2019 confirmed that if a landlord has used CRAR to recover rental arrears they cannot then forfeit the lease by re-entry.
The recovery of money owed by way of undertaking CRAR, gave an unequivocal representation that the lease was continuing. This is in juxtaposition with the use of forfeiture which ends the lease.
In the case of Thirunavukkrasu v Brar, there were arrears of over £8,000 and the landlord instructed enforcement agents to exercise CRAR. The tenant then paid the total amount owed directly to the enforcement agents and this money was then received several days later by the landlord.
The timeline of events
• Rent was due on 25th December
• 18th January the landlord instructed enforcement agents to undertake CRAR
• 1st February enforcement agents went to the property and took control of goods to recover a total of £10,533.20 including fees
• 4th February the tenant transferred the total amount owed by bank transfer to the enforcement agents
• 12th February the lease was forfeited by the landlord
• 17th February the landlord received the money owed (totalling £8,270)
Before the landlord received the money that had been paid to the enforcement agents, the landlord decided to undertake forfeiture of lease. The tenant argued that the landlord had acknowledged the lease and therefore the right to forfeit was waived. The tenant took the case to the county court seeking damages for trespass and breach of covenant.

The court’s decision
The court’s decision was that, as the landlord had already asserted and undertaken CRAR, this was evidence that a lease was continuing and that there was a contractual agreement in place.
This is conclusive evidence that if a tenant is in arrears, landlords need to decide which of their these being either forfeiture of lease or CRAR.
If a landlord exercises CRAR then rent must again become overdue in another rental quarter before they can undertake forfeiture.
The landlord must therefore carefully consider which of these options is most suitable for their individual circumstances.

For the full article and the link to the Judgement visit www.cwcontractlawandlegal.co.uk

For the full review of the case visit
https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2018/2461.html

Fixed cost legal services and business terms and conditions. Contract checking. price starts from £90.00. Legal services for for start ups, SME's and owner managed businesses. Delivering affordable legal services,business contracts. debt recovery and building trade dispute resolution under English ...