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Information Guide For Small Business Owners On Unpaid Debts

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Information guide for small business owners on collecting unpaid debts

Are you constantly chasing clients for outstanding payments? If so, this information guide will give you a brief overview of the routes you can take to resolve such disputes.

Preliminary steps
If you haven’t done so already, it is good practice to send written reminders to your clients via recorded delivery to attempt to resolve the issues. When sending such reminders it is recommended you impose a certain time frame in which you can expect a response; the standard is 28 days. It is also helpful to keep any copies of correspondence which maybe useful if you need to issue proceedings in the County Court at a later stage.

Some business owners can often resolve the …show more content…

A typical letter before action will often include:

• Details of the goods/services provided - often done by attaching the invoice and the date at which you provided the service
• You may well have had terms listed on your invoice such as “All invoices are payable within 28 days of the invoice date” and it is often good practice to mention details of this in your letter
• Details of any attempts made to resolve the dispute, including the dates of reminders sent
• A timeframe for replying to your letter before action – the standard is often 14 days any less than this is unreasonable
• Outlining the consequences of failing to reply to your letter before action – i.e. issuing County Court proceedings.

As writing a professional and formal letter before action requires a degree of skill and knowledge of the Civil Procedure Rules, it is often advised that you contact a Solicitor to help you draft such a letter. We at Spencer and Marks Solicitors are renowned at delivering a professional service with many clients who have been successful with recovering their unpaid debts. If you require any assistance at this stage please do not hesitate to contact us with the details listed at the end of this article.

Issuing County Court proceedings, is it worth it for sums under £1,000?
Once unsuccessful at the preliminary stage, most business owners will often want to sue their clients to collect the unpaid debts. Whilst most will be confused as to the procedure

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