You get to the end of your credit control procedure and you still have some unpaid accounts, so, what are the options?

Is your customer giving reasons for not paying?

Sometimes things go wrong or your customer has a complaint, rightly or wrongly. So, the first question is whether or not they have a genuine complaint.

There is a good reason

If your customer has a good point and you can’t sort this out through negotiation you should consider Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), mediation being the most common form of ADR.

There isn’t a good reason or the debtor doesn’t respond

If your customer is unresponsive or the points raised are not good reasons for failing to pay, your options are as follows:

•  Letter before action

You will need to start with a letter before action. This is a letter telling your customer that the next step will be court proceedings, if the matter is not resolved. Court rules give details of the information that should be given in the letter. From October, there will be special requirements for a letter before claim to an individual, including a sole trader. 

•  Court action and default judgment

If you start an action and your customer doesn’t file a defence you will be able to get judgment in default of defence.

•  Court action plus summary judgment

Your customer may file a defence but the reasons they give for not paying may not be good ones. In this case, you can make an application for the court to decide the case on paper (an application for summary judgment). An application for summary judgment is quicker and cheaper than going to full trial.

•  A defence is filed

Sometimes an unresponsive debtor will file a defence that raises issues which can’t be dealt with by summary judgment and would need to go to trial. In this case you should again consider ADR, if you can’t resolve this through negotiation.

•  Insolvency

Provided the debt is undisputed, then, as an alternative to a debt claim you could consider the threat of insolvency. If the debtor is a company, the debt just needs to be at least £750 and you don’t have to serve a statutory demand. So, the threat of insolvency proceedings can be very effective. Click here for more information.

For an individual, the debt needs to be at least £5,000, so insolvency is only an option for higher debts.

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Lovetts Chairman, Charles Wilson, has received the Outstanding Contribution to the Industry Award, at the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM) British Credit Awards 2020. In addition, the firm was also shortlisted for two company-wide awards in the categories of B2B/Consumer Supplier of the Year and Legal Provider of the Year.

The trophy was presented at a special ceremony held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London, hosted by Colin Murray. The judges described Charles as “A man who has done much to promote ethical standards, the best use of technology, and striven to improve the reputation of the debt recovery profession.”

Lovetts Managing Director, Michael Higgins, added: “Those within the credit industry who know Charles instantly warm to him. He has a strong moral compass and his integrity cannot be surpassed. I owe my career to Charles and I cannot thank him enough for his time, guidance and support.”

Since forming Lovetts Solicitors 25 years ago, Wilson has worked tirelessly for the benefit of both the firm and the credit industry at large. In the early 2000’s he masterminded and launched an online client portal called CaseManager, which provides clients with transparency and control over the debt collection process.

He has worked diligently over the years to promote best practices in terms of prompt payment, and utilising late payment legislation and contractual terms, to protect the cashflow of UK businesses.

Commenting on the award, Charles said: “I am very humbled to be recognised by the industry in this way. Of course in reality, this is down to the immense contribution that so many others have made over the last 25 years, and continue to make on behalf of Lovetts day in, day out. I was particularly pleased to see the Institute recognise the quality, excellence and integrity of the work carried out by the firm. That’s what we’ve stood for, and will continue to do so, above all else.”

The ceremony also marked the end of the tenure of Philip King as CICM Chief Executive, who has been appointed by the Government to act as interim Small Business Commissioner in Birmingham. Sue Chapple, the CICM’s Director of Strategic Relationships, will assume the role of interim CICM Chief Executive until a permanent successor is recruited.

For a gallery of images from the awards evening click here.

Lovetts Solicitors has been shortlisted for two awards at this year’s Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM) British Credit Awards. The firm has been named as a finalist in the B2B/Consumer Supplier of the Year and Legal Provider of the Year categories.

The CICM British Credit Awards recognise the stand out achievements of the most deserving individuals, teams and organisations in the international credit industry. Launched 8yrs ago, the programme is seen as one of the most important in the credit management industry, a sector that makes up a significant proportion of the Lovetts client base.

“We are delighted to have received this recognition in both the supplier and the legal provider categories,” said Michael Higgins, Managing Director for Lovetts. “The firm supports the work of credit professionals on a day-to-day basis, helping them to manage late payment and cashflow issues as they occur. When claims do become more serious, our legal team is on-hand to provide advice, and assist our clients directly in recovering debts. This recognition from the CICM is a true reflection of the of the hard work that goes on right across the firm, and we’re extremely proud to have been shortlisted in both areas.”

The 2020 ceremony will take place on Wednesday 5^th February at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. You can find out more about the CICM British Credit Awards programme here.

Lovetts Solicitors has been named as the Debt Recovery Firm of the Year in the 2019 UK Lawyer Monthly Legal Awards. The programme recognises the achievements of law firms and individuals who have delivered exceptional results for their clients over a twelve month period.

The award caps-off a strong calendar year for Lovetts, which saw its Managing Director, Michael Higgins, nominated for Business Person of the Year at the Surrey Business Awards in November. The firm has also been nominated in two categories at the upcoming Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM) British Credit Awards, which will take place in London next month.
The Lawyer Monthly Legal Awards programme seeks to reward those firms and lawyers who have demonstrated peerless accomplishments within their sector. The judging process typically takes several months to complete from nominations being received, to shortlisting, before firms are put forward to the final judging panel.

We are delighted to have received such strong recognition from an internationally established body, and look forward to a busy 2020 ahead in which the firm will strive to improve upon its excellent customer service and debt recovery capabilities even further. 

Lovetts Solicitors is featured in this month’s edition of Credit Management magazine, in an article looking at the firm’s attendance of a recent Federation of Small Business (FSB) Roundtable hosted by the association’s National Chairman, Mike Cherry OBE.

The advertorial piece was run to coincide with Lovetts’ ‘Free LBAs in November’ campaign, which offers both existing clients and new sign-ups the opportunity to send free Letters Before Action (LBAs) throughout the month.

In addition to supporting the Prompt Payment Code over many years, the firm has previously collaborated with the Federation of Small Businesses to promote the importance of prompt invoice payment for SMEs (Small-to-Medium sized enterprises) and offer advice on how small businesses can optimise their credit management procedures. The recent event provided an opportunity to update the group on best practices within the wider context of how the FSB can successfully support small businesses going forward.

“We work with companies of all size and sector, from FTSE 100 organisations down to independent businesses with less than ten employees.” says Charles Wilson FCICM, Chairman of Lovetts. “Despite progress in recent years in legislation and the debt recovery sector, and the relentless mission of organisations like CICM and FSB, we still find that not all businesses are clear about the debt recovery process.”

“It’s a shame. Educating themselves on the current regulations and best practice processes is particularly important for smaller businesses, where cashflow is their operational lifeblood. As always, we were delighted to sit down with the FSB and provide input in this area.”

The article, which was originally run on the Lovetts website, can be viewed in full here.

Michael Higgins, Managing Director for Lovetts, has been nominated in the category of Business Person of the Year at the 2019 Surrey Business Awards. The packed-out event took place at Epsom Downs Racecourse last week, and was one of the most highly attended ceremonies in the programme’s history.

A team from Lovetts, including Michael, attended the event, which this year saw 14 categories and 56 nominees recognised for their contribution to business across the county and around the world. The overall Businessperson of the Year prize was awarded to Giles Thomas, Operations Director for The Manor Collection, a small group of individually styled hotels based across the South East of England.

“It’s a great honour to have been acknowledged amongst such a strong awards programme in the Surrey Business Awards,” said Michael Higgins, Managing Director for Lovetts. “While it’s an individual award, it is representative of a wider team effort, which has seen the firm go from strength to strength in recent years. I’m tremendously grateful to the entire Lovetts Team and congratulations to the overall winner – it was a great event to be part of.”

Amongst the other winners were Glucorx, a Guildford-based business that produces diabetic products and glucose testing solutions for type 1 & type 2 diabetes. The company received both the Large Business of the Year and the Company of the Year awards.

Additionally, it was hugely rewarding to see a number of Lovetts clients recognised for their work in the area, and local mental health charity, Oakleaf Enterprise, received the award for Charity of the Year.

To view more images from the event click here. 

Lovetts Solicitors recently attended the 2019 Women in Business Expo – an annual gathering described as “a clarion call to all women looking for business and back to work opportunities.” The event was extremely well attended, and included presentations from a programme of leading UK female speakers.

Held at the Farnborough International Conference and Exhibition centre, the event provided a local perspective on the current issues associated with increasing the number of women involved in UK business, particularly in senior positions.

Amongst the speakers, Baroness Karren Brady spoke candidly about the setbacks professional women can face when progressing in their career, telling the room: “We [need] to raise women’s aspirations and present real opportunities”. She also emphasised that that childcare concerns, including costs, remain a major setback to advancing women.

Taking part in local – as well as national – women in business events is something that the firm feels particularly strongly about. This time last year, Cassandra McCarthy spoke at a Business Women in Surrey (BWiS) event focused on flexible working in modern business.

You can find out more about the Women in Business Expo here.

Debt collection and recovery specialist law firm, Lovetts Solicitors, recently joined a Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) roundtable hosted by National Chairman, Mike Cherry OBE and attended by, amongst others, Managing Director for UK Connect, Pj Farr.

In addition to supporting the Prompt Payment Code over many years, the firm has previously collaborated with the Federation of Small Businesses to promote the importance of prompt invoice payment for SMEs (Small-to-Medium sized enterprises) and offer advice on how small businesses can optimise their credit management procedures. The recent event provided an opportunity to update the group on best practices within the wider context of how the FSB can successfully support small businesses going forward.

Despite advancements in late payment law and credit management software, many UK entities remain reluctant to chase both domestic and international debts, fearing a long, drawn-out procedure.

However, Lovetts research shows that the firm’s Letter Before Action (LBA) is successful within 86% of UK cases, and with a No Win, No Fee service in place internationally, the process of chasing overseas debts is now also risk free.

“We work with companies of all size and sector, from FTSE 100 organisations down to independent businesses with less than ten employees.” says Charles Wilson FCICM, Chairman of Lovetts. “Despite progress in recent years in legislation and the debt recovery sector, and the relentless mission of organisations like CICM and FSB, we still find that not all businesses are clear about the debt recovery process. It’s a shame. Educating themselves on the current regulations and best practice processes is particularly important for smaller businesses, where cashflow is their operational lifeblood. As always, we were delighted to sit down with the FSB and provide input in this area.”

Lovetts CaseManager software is a free tool that provides clients with a complete solution to manage the legal aspects of their collections online. It’s just one initiative that the firm has implemented to help make the credit management and debt recovery processes more transparent, more hassle-free, and more direct for businesses of all shapes and sizes.

Photo by Richard Dunford

In September, Lovetts once again passed its annual Lexcel accreditation assessment, the Law Society’s legal practice quality mark for the highest standards in legal practice management and client care.

2019 marks the first year that the firm was assessed on the new 6.1 version of the accreditation criteria, which places strong emphasis on new regulation changes and Data Protection. It’s the eight consecutive year that the firm has received the quality mark for the Law Society’s highest standards in the legal sector, and is testament to all of the hard work and dedication that our staff continue to apply on behalf of our clients on a daily basis.

Lovetts assessor, Roger Newman, said: “This Annual Maintenance Visit has shown continued progress against high standards of policy and procedure implementation, and the requirements of Lexcel 6.1 have been adopted professionally and efficiently. The firm was very well prepared for the Lexcel.”

You can find out more about the Law Society Lexcel excellence in practice management and client care accreditation here.

Earlier this month, Lovetts Solicitors took part in a special archery event aimed at raising the profile of – and fundraising for – local mental health charity, Oakleaf. The Guildford-based organisation provides vocational training for people with mental health needs, delivering work experience in upholstery, horticulture and IT as well as social inclusion activities such as literacy and numeracy sessions, guitar lessons, and meal nights.

Hosted at Guildford Archery Club and administered by FdK Design, the midweek archery evening was extremely well attended, raising more than £1,000 for the Oakleaf Enterprise charity. Professionals were on-hand to teach the basic skills required to hit the targets, and a huge amount of encouragement was provided along the way.

In total, twelve Lovetts staff members attended the event, creating three teams of four archers, between which the proceedings became extremely competitive! 

As a law firm operating in a sector in which we witness first-hand the psychological anguish that debt can cause to both creditor and debtor alike, Lovetts understands the severity of the growing mental health challenge currently being faced within the UK and around the world. Our new Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme places a high emphasis on investing in projects in this area, and we look forward to supporting Oakleaf again in the future.

Beyond the great work that was done by all who hosted and attended the event, the archery evening provided a highly entertaining opportunity for the firm to let its hair down collectively as a team, and you can see a range of photos from the day here.