Berwick Solicitors have an experienced and cost effective debt collection service for both its business and individual clients. James Seymour is the partner in Berwick Solicitors who supervises the debt collection team.
The team has put together the simple 3 step procedure below for use by all businesses both multinational and domestic which should help to increase the number of outstanding invoices collected without the need to resort to legal proceedings.
1. When dealing with a limited liability company, always ensure that one or more of the directors of that company signed a personal guarantee for the company’s debts when opening an account with your business. This will focus the minds of the directors to deal with the debt as they will have a personal interest in ensuring it is paid.
2. Nominate someone in your business to deal with outstanding invoices. That person should be given exclusive control of those accounts where the invoices are overdue. Often a debtor will try and deal only with the person in your business providing the service to them and it can be awkward for that person to raise the issue of the outstanding debt. Giving one person in your business the task of chasing up on invoices allows for the collection of invoices to be centralised and focussed.
3. Never engage verbally with a debtor who is abusive towards you or your staff. Try and keep your cool and if the debtor continues to be abusive, engage a solicitor as such abusive debtors only cause you stress and take up time which could be better spent on your actual business.
For more information, please contact James Seymour at jamesseymour@berwick.ie