A Customer Owes Me Money ? 3 Helpful Ways To Get Paid!

A Customer Owes Me Money | 3 Helpful Ways To Get Paid!

If you find yourself asking “what should I do if a customer owes me money?”, you have come to the right place. We have helped thousands of individuals and business owners recover money owed to them by their customers since 2005.

Unfortunately, customers may avoid paying for your work, but it’s good to know that you have options if that happens. Sage reported that around 1 in 10 invoices by small and medium enterprises are paid late.

There are several different avenues you can take if a customer owes you money for goods or services. It will help to know the particulars of each, as this will indicate which will be the best for your business.

As such, we have produced this guide to help you if you have not been paid by your customers.

What Are My Options if a Customer Owes Me Money?

Whether you have one or a handful of customers not paying, you deserve to be paid for all work. The ways to get paid are commonly known but not always understood.

Whilst there are many options available for recovering money owed by a customer, the most popular are to:

• Recover the money by yourself
• Use a debt recovery solicitor
• Instruct a debt collection agency

Recover the money by yourself

Many business owners that are faced with customers that fail to pay can try to recover this on their own. This depends mostly on how adamant the customer seems at withholding the money from you.

Simple forms of communication, such as sending an email or making a call, can sometimes be enough to chase payment. If the debtor ignores your requests that it is time to pay, you should send them a Letter Before Action (LBA).

An LBA states that legal action will be taken against the debtor if no payment is made within x amount of days. When any form of court action is threatened, such as small claims, this can be a good tactic for getting paid.

Court claims can affect one’s credit score, which is one of the reasons many try to avoid this.

Use a debt recovery solicitor

Independently trying to recover a bad debt can waste valuable time that could be used to further grow your business. As such, you may wish to go down the legal route of using a Debt Recovery Solicitor to handle the matter.

They have been used for hundreds of years, providing legal advice to those requesting payments from their debtors. There are around 12,000 UK law firms, resulting in a local solution for situations where “a customer owes me money”.

Solicitors can help with all sides of the legal process, including preparing County Court Judgments (CCJs) or statutory demands etc. Despite the popularity of this method, it is well known that legal firms can charge a large amount to use them.

This can end up costing a lot of money, especially on top of any court fees you may have to pay. It would be less than beneficial to spend a lot of money trying to recover amounts already owed to you.

Instruct a debt collection agency

What if there was an affordable AND effective option for recovering money that won’t affect your cash flow? The solution for this is to instruct a debt collection agency with a demonstrated history of recovering money owed by customers.

Frontline Collections are known across the UK as the country’s most effective private debt collection agency. Across our long history, we have recovered money for thousands of businesses including Independent Schools, Vets and Dental Practices.

No matter whether you are self-employed and have not been paid, or an individual owed money by another, we can recover it. In a scenario as sensitive as money being owed, we provide the utmost professionalism at all times.

If you are in a situation where “a customer owes me money, what should I do?”, contact our specialists today!

Customer Owes Me Money – Frequently Asked Questions

A customer owes me money, should I chase them to pay what is owed?

Whilst some customers may need a bit of chasing to pay, some may simply refuse to produce the money. If this is the case, further action will need to be taken against them.

What is the best option for recovery if a customer owes me money?

If a customer owes your business money, the best way to recover this is to use a debt recovery agency.

Is using a debt collection agency better than using a solicitor?

Solicitors are notorious for charging a lot of money for their services, with some being up to £200 per hour. Frontline Collections are dedicated to providing a low-cost service with high success rates.

What are the success rates of using a professional debt collector?

Frontline Collections provides its clients with recovery rates on average of 90% and above for undisputed debts. This makes us the most effective private debt collection agency in the UK.

Can you track down a customer that disappears after not paying?

We offer a track and trace service that allows us to locate a debtor, regardless of where they are. Tracing a debtor can be difficult so minimise the stress and cost, contact us.