At ACUMEN BUSINESS LAW we recognise that cashflow is the lifeblood of any successful business.
A robust attitude to credit control can help to increase overall profitability, reduce interest charges and borrowings and help the cashflow of your business.
The strength and speciality of our Credit Control Department is in reducing the amount of bad debt for our client’s businesses. It is astounding to see how many businesses who have large amounts of money owed to them, simply write off this hard-earned cash.
As part of the Legal MOT we offer to businesses, we have developed a simple 5 step internal process that helps to substantially reduce the bad debt within a company. This, along with other simple yet effective tools, has proved very successful in helping clients to combat bad debt and improve their cashflow.
When needed, the Credit Control Department at ACUMEN BUSINESS LAW can assist at all stages of the debt recovery process, from pre-action debt recovery through to court proceedings and enforcement.
For all undisputed debts, where the debtor is simply avoiding payment and not contesting their liability, we can instigate fast and effective recovery action, designed to recover your money in the most efficient way possible. The first step in this process will usually be sending a letter before action demanding payment of the sums due to you. Typically this will cost between £150.00 and £350.00 plus VAT, although we will give you a tailored estimate when we have discussed your case with you fully. We are also able to offer an alternative funding option including a ‘no win no fee’ for any pre-action debt recovery meaning that we will seek recovery of the debt on your behalf up to the point it becomes necessary to start court proceeding and you will only pay us a percentage of any sums we recover for you. In the unlikely event that your debtor still refuses to pay, we can issue proceedings and we also offer a number of enforcement methods in order to give you the best prospects of recovering the money owed to you.
As with all contentious matters, we operate on an hourly rate basis, with our rates for uncontested debt recovery ranging between £150.00 and £250.00 plus VAT. However, as an estimate, if a debt recovery matter remains uncontested by the debtor it will usually cost between £500.00 and £1,000.00 plus VAT to obtain judgment and between £300.00 and £700.00 plus VAT to enforce your judgment against the debtor if necessary, depending on the method of enforcement which is most suitable. The best enforcement method will in part depend on who the debtor is, whether they have any assets and, if they are an individual, their employment status. Again, get in touch and we can discuss a tailored estimate based on the facts of your case. In some cases we are also able to offer an alternative fee option such as no win no fee for pre-action work and no win lower fee once a claim goes to court. Cases will vary according to the amount of the debt and whether costs are recoverable from the other side (for example, costs are not usually recoverable in small claims with a value of less than £10,000). We will be happy to discuss your options with you in more detail.
Throughout all this, we consistently apply business acumen to ensure that all strategies deployed serve the commercial as well as legal needs of our client’s business. We recognise that no two matters are the same and consequently take a stance that is tailored to each individual case.
Additionally, the Commercial Dispute Resolution team is well equipped to deal with all matters where the other side is refusing to pay due to a dispute between the parties and all other manner of contested debt recovery. In these instances the facts are all important and so the team will be able to discuss an estimate and potential funding options once they have discussed the matter with you.
All credit control relating to undisputed debts is carried out for a fixed fee. Should the matter be contested, the Commercial Dispute team is well equipped to deal with the relevant proceedings.
“We have used Acumen Business Law several times, not once have they failed to deliver the right result. Highly recommended.”
Kevin Byrne, Checkatrade