Similar to our article on debt recovery for goods sold and delivered and services provided, another common debt recovery problem that we see a lot of it that is money owed for goods hired to customers.
As with goods sold, goods hired to customers are often used by the customer immediately, meaning that they benefit from the creditor’s services all whilst failing to pay invoices on time.
When looking at contracts for goods and services provided, the law is on the creditor’s side and with Debt-Claims Solicitors, the debt recovery process is quick, easy, and often cost neutral (the creditor will likely also be entitled to compensation and interest).
Here are some important points to note:
- Generally, debt recovery actions for goods hired are undisputed. A customer will have hired goods to which the creditor raised an invoice. The room for any dispute is narrow and presumably if the customer had a valid concern about the quality of the hired goods then they will have already raised this with the creditor. The rest simply refuse to pay and often cite cashflow as a reason. In these circumstances, a solicitor’s letter is often all that’s needed to get a debtor to sit-up and address the matter. At Debt-Claims, we find that around 95% of debtors make payment following our Letter Before Action and for just £12.50, you can send a letter before action to your debtor today.
- If the contract between the creditor and customer is a commercial transaction (i.e. B2B) then the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 entitles the creditor to interest (at 8% per annum above the Bank of England base rate), compensation per unpaid or late-paid invoice, and a sum for any reasonable costs incurred which are not covered by the compensation – this could be costs incurred by a third party chasing the debt on the creditor’s behalf, for example. At Debt-Claims, our portal identifies any matters that are commercial and gives the creditor the option to claim the relevant interest and compensation.
- If the debtor does not make payment following our Letter Before Action, then proceedings will need to be issued against them. With Debt-Claims’ portal, a Letter Before Action can be escalated to a money claim in less than 30 seconds and as the portal is integrated with the Court’s Money Claims Online system. As soon as it is submitted via our portal then it is submitted to the Court. This allows for an instant turnaround on instructions for claims, judgments, and enforcement. Crucially, for all uncontested small claims matters (less than £10,000) Debt-Claims only charges the same costs that are recoverable from the debtor and automatically adds these onto the claimed balance. This means that once a creditor has been paid, their costs are recoverable in full.
If you or your business need to recover money owed for goods hired to customers, then let Debt-Claims collect that money quickly and cost effectively. Once you’ve registered for free with Debt-Claims and chosen the service you require, simply choose the agreement type for goods hired and our portal will draft bespoke documents based on that agreement type.
