The latest new research from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking Division has shown that a roughly a third of UK businesses who experienced late payment over the past year did nothing about it.
The fear of upsetting customer relationships was the biggest reason for this by a clear margin. Two thirds said that they did not want to upset customers by taking action to recover unpaid business invoices. The other major reason was that chasing overdue payments was considered time consuming.
The Lloyds Bank Business Barometer research showed that more than half, 52 per cent, have been paid late in the last year, 38 per cent have suffered overdue invoice payments on multiple occasions.
More shockingly, SME’s in the UK (turnover £1m – £25m) are owed an average of £79,500 in unpaid invoices with nine per cent staggeringly owed more than £200,000.
Chris Spencer from Business Debt Collection Experts Federal Management commented “Some Business Owners are still reluctant to take positive steps to recover what they are rightfully owed. No Company has ever lost a Business customer, simply because they were required to pay what is rightfully owed”
” A Professional and accredited Debt Collection Agency can be a valuable resource for any Commercial Enterprise and maximise the company’s profitability”
Thousands of UK Businesses collapsed last year due to non payment of Business debts and many people have urged the government and Business Owners to do more.
Avoiding Business Late Payment and how to deal with it
- Make sure your payment terms are clear from the start
- Ensure you have all the correct contact details for sending invoices
- Consider using electronic invoicing. Faster and efficient.
- Maximise Invoice payment options such as options to pay by card.
- Chase Non payment of invoices – Once Invoice terms have expired, get on the phone.
- Set a deadline – When payment requests are ignored, set a final deadline.
- Utilise a Professional Debt Collection Agency. 1,000’s of UK Companies use Debt Collection Agencies these days however, source only a Professional and accredited solution.
10 top tips to help when chasing Business Debts
