Excuses Excuses. Are They Genuine?

Excuses, excuses – SG Heating & Plumbing

It can often be difficult to know whether a customer’s excuse for not paying your invoice on time is genuine. Such is the turbulence that businesses are currently facing, it is entirely feasible that when they say they simply can’t afford to pay, that is the truth.

Yet many businesses we are instructed to collect unpaid sums from simply attempt to bide themselves some time to preserve their own cash flow. The result is that the creditor’s cash flow becomes stretched, and it is tough to know how hard to push for payment.

Hilton-Baird Collection Services was recently instructed by SG Heating & Plumbing to recover the remaining £11,000 of a £50,000 contract for building and restoration work it had carried out. The customer had initially explained they just couldn’t afford it at that time, but soon changed their tact, instead refusing to pay due to what they believed to be faulty work.

Our team quickly got to work to ascertain the real reason for the non-payment, which included a detailed analysis of the individual disputes that arose to see who was to blame. Happy that our client had a strong case, Hilton-Baird proceeded to work with them to resolve the dispute. With the debtor standing firm, the team had little option but to obtain a County Court Judgment against the debtor.

Due to the strength of the case which our team had prepared, the judge ruled that our client’s customer must pay one third of the outstanding sum immediately, with the following two instalments to follow shortly after. This was despite the debtor applying to the court for a stay of execution.

Director of SG Heating & Plumbing, Simon Gregory, explained: “It is frustrating when your customer comes up with excuses as to why they haven’t paid. After getting in touch with Hilton-Baird however, we were confident that they could recover what was rightfully ours.

“Their team was very impressive throughout the process, explaining each step of the litigation process to us and why it was the right way to proceed. Their knowledge and support from start to finish was top notch and integral to the result.

“We’ve seen firsthand how debt collection agencies can help businesses who struggle to get paid on time and I’d urge any company with similar problems to pick up the phone to Hilton-Baird.”