Choosing a Business Debt Collection Agency

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Choosing a Business Debt Collection Agency

Overdue invoices and non-paying clients are just some of the many issues business owners deal with on a daily basis. All matters relating to commercial debt recovery must be acted on as soon as possible.

Both large and small businesses rely on a stable cash flow, and any instance of unpaid debt can severely jeopardise this.

In the past, most business owners have chosen to either attempt to collect the debt themselves or begin legal proceedings against the debtor. Whilst these solutions can work in certain cases, it is often more costly than the alternatives.

For instance, chasing the debt independently can take a long time, and often will need to be escalated to a professional anyway. There are many steps that can be taken in advance to aid the debt collection process. For example, implementing payment terms into your agreements. Your credit control team will need to chase the debtor through phone calls and emails, and their time is spent doing this instead of value-based tasks.

Likewise, using a debt collection solicitor can be extremely expensive. Many will charge hundreds of pounds an hour for their services, and court cases can drag on for months. Indeed, many businesses end up writing off the debt, as the cost of collection using this method is greater than the value of the money being recovered.

It is increasingly more common for a professional business debt collection agency to be used to recover commercial debts. An agency will provide effective and low-cost debt collection services to recover your owed money professionally and promptly.

As with any service-based industry, there are many options to choose from when looking for debt recovery services. We asked our in-house experts for insights into choosing a business debt collection agency.

Choosing a Business Debt Collection Agency – Factors

When searching for a business debt recovery UK agency, most business owners focus on the price. Whilst this is a very important factor, it is not the only thing that should be considered.

For example, many agencies will drastically undercut the competition in order to lock clients into contracts. Others might offer “no win, no fee” deals, which come with heavy-hitting fees later on during the process.

Besides the obvious, there are certain things that you should always factor into your decision-making process.

Reputation

When looking for debt collectors, it is important to research how customers have rated the service of each option. Whilst most modern agencies provide a professional service, there are some that do not live up to what they promise.

Spending time looking into authentic client reviews on websites such as Trustpilot and Google will help you to find out the right company to choose.

Effectiveness

Another important factor to investigate is how effective an agency is. When researching client reviews, you should also look for mentions of how good the service was. For example, some reviews may mention how long the process took. Other testimonials may cover what the agents were like.

You should also look on the company’s website to see what sort of features their service has. For instance, they may have an online portal that helps them to access their case at any time.

Accreditations

Another thing to look for is any awards or accreditations that the agency in question may have. Being regulated by an organisation such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is excellent. This means that you can have peace of mind that your case will be handled in the proper and lawful way.

A great many people have used agencies that are not regulated. As such they may have encountered issues themselves if the firm they chose used inappropriate debt recovery methods.

Business Debt Collection Agency – Frequently Asked Questions