Debt Collectors
Free Commercial Debt Collectors
If your business is not sure about using a debt collector, you should consider that a recent UK survey found that an incredible 4 out of 5 businesses are struggling to deal with invoices that have not been paid on time. The same survey also revealed that 68% of businesses have chosen to write off unpaid invoices as bad debt rather than continue to pursue payment.
Advocate are the UK’s leading free of cost to the creditor commercial debt collectors. We enforce The Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2013 and creditors entitlement under the legislation to claim from debtors the costs involved in instructing a debt collector to recover payment of a commercial debt.
Creditors using Advocate’s service receive payment of 100% of the invoice value. No commission, charge or fee is payable by the creditor. We recover our costs from the debtor in addition to the principal debt owed to the creditor in accordance with commercial late payment legislation.
No Cost to the Creditor!
Free debt collectors, we recover our costs from your debtor under late payment legislation. Our service is completely free of cost to the creditor.
Industry-leading Positive Client Reviews!
Read our client reviews and hear about the results we achieve and the client experience we deliver.
We Recover Payment Quickly and Effectively!
Over 20% of debtors pay as soon they are contacted by us. More than 50% of debtors make payment within 7 days. Over 80% of debtors pay within 14 days.
Instruct us online in just a few Minutes!
Complete our online instruction form and send us copies of the unpaid invoices by email and we will commence action as soon as we receive your instruction.
Late Payment Legislation
Late payment legislation was entered into statute law to combat the culture of late payment and its effect on businesses and the wider economy. Each year thousands of businesses fail simply because they have not been paid on time for the goods or services they have supplied. If every business in the UK paid its suppliers within the agreed payment terms, 100,000s of job losses each year would be prevented. The Government is not prepared to allow this situation to continue and has made it clear to the business community that “Debtors will be forced to pay the reasonable recovery costs of creditors if they do not pay for goods or services on time”.
Despite the serious effects and possible consequences of late payment, many creditors do not enforce their statutory rights afforded under late payment legislation. Some creditors may be unaware of the full extent of the legislation or perhaps they are unsure of how to enforce the legislation correctly. While some creditors will be reluctant to enforce the legislation for fear of losing future business from the debtor. Many debtors are also unaware of the legislation and the fact that if they do not pay on time they will be liable to pay late payment charges and debt collectors costs.
Enforce your Statutory Entitlement to be Paid on Time
Instructing Advocate as a third-party debt collector ensures your statutory rights under commercial late payment legislation are enforced at the same time as educating the debtor on the legislation. Your debtor will be made to understand that it is in the financial interest of both parties that they pay within the agreed payment terms. Our process is designed to recover payment, our method is designed to maintain and improve your trading relationship with the debtor.
Advocate the Effective Debt Collector
Not only is our service free of cost to the creditor, but it is also very effective. We recover full payment and our costs from the debtor in more than 80% of the instructions we receive. Our experience, determination and ability to counter and defeat excuses and tactics designed to delay or evade payment achieve industry-leading collection success rates.
Debt and Cash Flow
If you have not been paid on time for the work you have completed or the products you have delivered, there will be a reason. And almost exclusively that reason will be cash flow and the debtor’s inability to service all of its current outgoings. What usually happens in these situations is that the debtor will understandably have no choice but to decide who to pay next as and when they receive funds. If the ongoing relationship with the creditor and the goods or services they supply are vital to the debtor’s everyday business, that creditor will get paid first. If you no longer supply the debtor, you will almost certainly be the last to get paid and that’s if they stay in business long enough to pay you.
Getting to the front of the Queue for Payment
When you instruct Advocate we position your debt at the front of the queue to be paid. Your debtor will in no uncertain terms be forced to accept the fact that you will not tolerate any further delays or excuses and that you must be paid immediately.
How do Advocate Debt Collectors Achieve this?
You have searched for a debt collector and by this stage, you will probably have already threatened the debtor with legal action and been ignored. Now you may be wondering what difference our action would make and how it would result in payment.
Your debtor is prioritising which creditors and invoices to pay next as and when they receive funds. All of the debtor’s creditors will be sending the usual final demand letters and threats of legal action. They will all be ignored because the debtor has learned from experience that in most cases the creditor will continue to send reminders, statements and final demands and will rarely take decisive action and instruct debt collectors to recover payment of the debt.
Putting the Debtor on Notice!
We put the debtor on Notice of intended legal proceedings and demand immediate full payment. Notice from Advocate informs the debtor that you are prepared to take further action and that there is a deadline for payment. Further, our demands explain the consequences and financial penalties of late payment and legal action.
Businesses, especially those struggling to pay their suppliers rely on credit. A County Court Judgment registered against a debtor would within days cease most of their existing and all new lines of credit. Explaining the consequences, enforcing the facts and convincing the debtor that you are prepared to take legal action is what makes the difference. It is what results in payment and it is why Advocate are the most successful business debt collectors in the UK.
How do you Instruct Advocate?
Simply complete our online instruction form and upload the unpaid invoices. It’s as easy as that and takes just a few minutes.
What Happens once you have Instructed Advocate Debt Collectors?
As soon as we receive your instruction we will carry out initial investigations into the debtor’s credit rating, payment history and ability to settle the debt. We will then determine the most appropriate action to take, be it putting the debtor on Notice of County Court proceedings or on Notice of Insolvency proceedings. If there are unsatisfied CCJ’s registered against the debtor, a further Claim would simply be ignored and Notice of Insolvency proceedings would be appropriate.
If we receive your instruction before 14.00 we will commence action and issue a Notice the same day. You will receive a confirmation email with your reference number. The email details the steps we will be taking and what you should do if you are contacted by the debtor.
How Long does Advocate’s Collection Process take?
Advocate’s debt collector process takes a maximum of 14 days. Don’t be surprised if your debtor makes payment as soon as they receive our initial correspondence and telephone call, many do. Over 50% of debts are settled within the first 7 days of the process. 84% of debts are settled by the end of the 14-day process.
What Happens if the Debtor does not Pay?
Once the 14-day process has been completed we will be in a good position to advise you on what you should do next. We will have gathered much information during the process even if the debtor did not respond to our action.
If that information indicates that the debtor is unable to settle the debt or there is a high risk that the business will cease trading, we would advise you to write off the debt and claim tax relief on the loss. We would never advise you to take expensive legal action when in all probability there is little or no chance of recovering payment.
When it is clear that the debtor could pay and that legal action is likely to result in payment we will advise you accordingly. We will supply full details on the recommended legal action and the legal process along with the itemised costs involved in taking the action.
It is entirely your decision on whether or not proceedings are issued against the debtor. Should you decide to go ahead we will transfer our file to our solicitors and instruct them to issue the proceedings. If for whatever reason you decide not to pursue the debt through legal action we will close our file. If we are instructed to close our file it will be without cost to the client.
Is your Debt Eligible for Advocate’s Free Commercial Debt Collector Service?
Commercial late payment legislation applies to invoices issued by a business for goods and services supplied to another business. Advocate debt collectors accept instructions from and recover payment from limited companies, partnerships and sole traders.
The minimum instruction value we accept is £750.00 inclusive of VAT.
We do not accept instructions where either the creditor or debtor is a private individual.
Is our Service Really Free of Cost to the Creditor?
Absolutely.
You are not required to pay any upfront charges or costs to use our debt collector service.
When we recover payment it is your debtor that pays us. You receive 100% of the principal debt.
If we are unable to recover payment we do not get paid.