Over £70,000 in Commercial Debt Recovered

Posted on September 7, 2023

A chat with our commercial debt recovery solicitors and a letter before action saw our client recoup over £70,000 in unpaid debt, allowing them to get on with business as usual free from financial worry.

Our client is a major manufacturer and supplier of gifts and branded products to various stores, garden centres, catalogue companies and distributors worldwide.

Unpaid Invoices

In this case, our client had a series of unpaid bills over a year ranging from £20 to £1,047, which in total amounted to £71,374. The debtor runs a chain of garden centres, and the bills had remained outstanding for a few months.

“Obviously cash flow is important for any business, and in this case, my client was owed a considerable amount of money which needed to be recouped,” said Commercial Debt Recovery Executive Leigh Sunter.

“We always advise that the client exhausts every avenue with the company owing them money before they contact a solicitor; it may be between the businesses they can agree on a payment plan. However, if that fails, it’s advisable to get professional advice, and a solicitor’s letter is the next step,” she added.

Unpaid Invoices Legal Action

The steps involved in commercial debt recovery include a letter before action or letter before claim, which is, in essence, formal notification putting a company on notice that court proceedings may be brought against them if they do not settle their debts. Other procedures include court proceedings and enforcement.

“We follow these procedures to help clients get paid what is owed quickly,” added Leigh. “We hope that a letter before action will solve the problem and prevent matters from escalating and causing irreparable damage to ongoing business relationships.”

In this case, our client had not been able to recover the debt themselves, and so the pre-litigation procedure followed was an initial letter before action. This letter was sent to the garden centre business outlining the debt owed to our client and gave the debtor 14 days to make payment.

“Here, a letter from a solicitor got great results for our client, and I am pleased to say that the debt of over £71,000 was paid immediately; that makes such a difference to cash flow in a business, and my client was really pleased with the results,” said Leigh.

Disputed Debt Recovery

If this had not been successful, the commercial debt recovery solicitors would obtain the client’s consent before issuing County Court proceedings. If a successful judgment is forthcoming, solicitors can help negotiate between the businesses and assist with the enforcement action required to recover the money owed.

“We add our fees to the debt and claim them back in the letter before action, so it’s easy and no risk to clients and at present, we charge a fixed fee for a letter before action,” added Leigh.

How can we help?

Many smaller businesses struggle to have the time to chase late payments; it’s stressful and takes them away from growing and running their business. Having a solicitor you can call takes the pressure off and removes the personal element between companies and may, in the long run, lead to prompter payment in the future.

For legal advice on all commercial debt recovery and letters before action, contact our specialist commercial debt recovery solicitors on 0161 785 3500 or email enquiries@pearsonlegal.co.uk

Please note that the information and opinions contained in this article are not intended to be comprehensive, nor to provide legal advice. No responsibility for its accuracy or correctness is assumed by Pearson Solicitors and Financial Advisers Ltd or any of its members or employees. Professional legal advice should be obtained before taking, or refraining from taking, any action as a result of this article.