Perseverance and expertise deliver results
When a supplier of security guards into the construction industry went into administration, Hilton-Baird’s team was engaged by the invoice financier to assist with what initially appeared to be a straightforward recovery.
The ledger was relatively small at £180K and, as the guards were provided on fixed term contracts, the director advised that there would be no issues with collections.
However, once the team got to work on the ledger and started the collections process, it became apparent that this would not be a straightforward collect out. With the majority of the top debtors disputing the debt in full, claiming consequential losses and contractual issues due to ending the contracts mid flow, it was looking unlikely that funder’s exposure would be recovered in full.
This opening review highlighted a potential shortfall of £60k and the Insolvency Practitioner, experienced in the construction arena, was doubtful that this would be recovered as such debtors are renowned for making it difficult to counter any claims made.
Hilton-Baird’s team has expertise in collecting complex and disputed debt so employed this knowledge to get to work on the ledger, breaking down the objections raised for each debtor.
The top debtor disputed their balance of £47K stating that, once their losses had been taken into account, they were in fact owed £1.5K. Hilton-Baird’s team chased for proof of these claims and were provided with a breakdown and supporting evidence. However, upon thorough inspection, Hilton-Baird unravelled and discredited the disputes and were able to secure a full and final payment of £21K.
This was a familiar pattern across the ledger. Each claim was investigated in the same way, resulting in payments from each of the previously disputed accounts.
The final debtor payment has been received and, as a result of Hilton-Baird’s tenacity and expertise in this sector, the invoice financier didn’t only recover its exposure but received a surplus of £10k.
We can provide a range of expert debt collection services to lenders, advisers and their clients, from full sales ledger recovery to outsourced credit control. For more information about how we can help, call 023 8070 7392 or request a call back.
