Being owed money can be stressful and inconvenient, especially if the outstanding debt is having an effect on your finances. A lot of people assume that being owed money by a business is a lost cause, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Regardless of how large and established the business is, there are a number of strategies that help you to recover the funds that are rightfully yours.
What You Can Do If a Business Owes You Money
- Mediation – Mediation is the process where a third party, known as the mediator, encourages communication and negotiation between you and the business that owes you money. The goal of mediation is to reach a resolution that both parties are happy with, without having to start legal proceedings. Mediation can help to resolve disputes, explore alternative payment arrangements and maintain good business relationships.
- Letter Before Action – You can send a Letter Before Action to your debtor, letting them know that you will take them to court if they are unable to pay the debt by a given date. Sending a Letter Before Action can be effective, as it’s often enough to scare a debtor into paying, especially if they are purposely being slow at doing so.
- Court Action – Another way of recovering money that’s owed to you by a business is to make a court claim for the debt. This involves taking them to small claims court and having a judge decide on the matter. Once a court judgement has been made, the debtor has 28 days to pay. If they don’t pay, the court will issue a county court judgement (CCJ) against them. One downside of court action is that it can be time consuming and costly, and there is no guarantee of success.
- Statutory Demand – You can make a statutory demand to a business that owes you money. If they ignore the demand or if they can’t pay the money – and you are owed £5,000 or more – you can ask a court to start bankruptcy proceedings. If you are owed £750 or more, you can ask a court to liquidate the company.
- Debt Collection Agency – One of the best things that you can do if a business owes you money is to contact a debt collection agency, such as Cobra Financial. There are a lot of benefits of utilising the services of a debt collection agency, and success is highly likely. Instead of trying to navigate the complex debt recovery process yourself, you can hand everything over to a team of experts.
At Cobra Financial, we provide a wide range of debt collection services, including face-to-face debt collection and business debt recovery. We understand the stress and worry that comes with being owed money by a business, which is why we work tirelessly to recover your funds as quickly as possible. Contact us today to find out more.