Debt collection agencies news

• Council To Review £20m Debt Recovery Headache

  20-11-2024 15:01 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  Dudley Council is chasing an eye-watering £20m in unpaid debts owed for more than three months despite battling a financial black hole.
  The authority is currently working to balance the books ahead of next year’s budget with a gap of £35m between what it spends and its income.
  Despite the financial crisis there are millions of pounds in bills from the council that have been unpaid for more than 90 days.
  Dudley’s cabinet member for finance, Cllr Steve Clark, did not explai
  
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• Self Employed Tradespeople owed £3.5Bn in Late Payments

  17-12-2024 12:17 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  BILLIONS of pounds in late payments are owed to self employed tradespeople across the UK, according to new research from Ford Pro.
  The vehicle manufacturer’s research found delayed or missing payments to tradespeople was reported as the major issue facing sole traders heading into 2025.
  Tradespeople are owed as much as £3.5 billion in overdue payments, which equates to an average of £3,942 each. It’s the equivalent of over a month’s salary for a typical UK tradesper
  
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• Famous Training College forced into Liquidation

  16-12-2024 15:57 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  An internationally recognised boatbuilding training college is set to close its doors in Suffolk for the final time as it heads into liquidation.
  The award-winning International Boatbuilding Training College (IBTC) has been based on the edge of The Broads since 1975.
  Ideally situated on Sea Lake Road, Oulton Broad in Lowestoft, IBTC has ensured that traditional boatbuilding skills have been preserved for almost 50 years.
  But it has been announced the college is to c
  
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• Commercial Late Payment to be tackled by Government’s Fair Payment Code

  04-12-2024 09:10 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  The Government has announced the launch of a new Fair Payment Code aimed at tackling late payments, with research showing that SMEs are on average owed £22,000 a year. It comes on top of an earlier announced consultation which will investigate the scale of the problem and best solutions.
  Tackling Commercial Late Payment
  The code, overseen by the Small Business Commissioner Liz Barclay, introduces a gold, silver, and bronze system to reward best payment practices and help smaller firms
  
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• Number of Insolvent Businesses decreases by 10%

  20-11-2024 15:16 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  Latest figures from the Insolvency Service have shown that the number of business insolvencies in England and Wales was 1,747 in October 2024, 10% lower than in September 2024 (1,950) and 24% lower than the same month in the previous year.
  The business insolvencies figures consisted of 188 compulsory liquidations, 1,445 creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVLs), 100 administrations and 12 company voluntary arrangements (CVAs).
  CVLs accounted for 83% of all company insolvencies. Th
  
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• Large rise in Logistics Company Insolvencies

  19-11-2024 12:01 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  Research by Forvis Mazars has found that insolvencies of logistics companies’ have risen 14% in the past year, from 464 in 2022/23 to 530 in 2023/24.
  Many logistics businesses were set up during the pandemic to meet the sudden rise in demand for home delivery. As this surge in demand reversed, some of these companies are struggling to survive.
  In May 2020, during the height of the pandemic, internet sales made up 34% of all retail sales. By July 2024 online sales were only 28% of all retai
  
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• Welsh Businesses seeing rise in Overdue Invoices

  05-11-2024 12:57 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  The number of Welsh companies with overdue invoices on their books reached a 2024 high in September, according to new research from R3, the UK’s insolvency and restructuring trade body.
  Analysis of data provided by Creditsafe shows that 18,360 Welsh businesses had unpaid invoices on their books last month – the highest monthly total of the year so far.
  The number of Welsh firms with overdue invoices on their books rose by 3.7% in September 2024 when compared to September 2023’s
  
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• 6% of Debt Collection visits breaching National Standards

  04-11-2024 09:35 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  New research has shown that debt collectors are breaching national standards in 6% of visits to individuals facing enforcement.
  The study into doorstep interactions in civil enforcement – published by the Enforcement Conduct Board (ECB) – found a noticeable area in which the standards are least commonly met is in acknowledging and taking into account self-identified or obvious vulnerability.
  One of the most common areas in which breaches occur is in ensuring that individuals facing e
  
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• Small Business Bad debt increases by 127%

  23-10-2024 11:09 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  The value of bad debt suffered by small businesses has surged by a staggering 127 per cent in the last six months, according to a report by SME funder, Bibby Financial Services (BFS).
  According to the latest SME Confidence Tracker from Bibby, businesses have written-off an average of nearly £40,000 in unpaid invoices in the last 12 months, up from an average of £17,500 in the spring. The proportion suffering from non-payment has risen too, reaching 40 per cent, up from 30 per cent in
  
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• Self Employed Tradespeople chasing debts of £6k on average

  11-10-2024 10:47 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  New research by Direct Line has found that the average self-employed tradesperson is chasing £6,000 in late payments.
  The data has shown that 81 per cent of tradespeople are chasing late payments, with the average tradesperson chasing seven outstanding invoices
  A fifth (22 per cent) of tradespeople say pursuing late payments is taking time away from work whilst almost one in ten (eight per cent) tradespeople have been forced to write off an invoice of over £10,000
  Half of tradespeopl
  
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• Government slammed over plans that will fuel Private Rent Arrears

  08-10-2024 15:06 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  Government Ministers are being urged to do more to prevent tenants building up private rent arrears, not allow them to get bigger as currently planned.
  The call comes as the government’s Renters’ Rights Bill proposes increasing the amount of arrears a tenant can build from two to three months of rent before landlords can serve notice to repossess a property.
  In addition, the Bill seeks to double the notice period landlords must give in such cases, before waiting an average of seven m
  
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• Map shows where Bailiffs in London are most used to collect debts

  04-10-2024 10:22 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  The London Borough of Croydon sends out the highest number of bailiffs in all of England and Wales to collect debts, according to a new interactive map. It sent out the most bailiffs for debt collection in London between 2022 and 2023, a staggering 86,295 referrals, with 36,122 of these referrals for council tax arrears.
  Martin Lewis’s charity, The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, has said councils’ use of bailiffs for debt collection is “grotesque”, and “a
  
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• Law firm ‘disappears’ owing £37.5m to Creditors

  02-10-2024 10:22 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  The administrators of a collapsed Liverpool law firm have admitted they do not know if creditors will receive a return, amid ongoing uncertainty over exactly how the business came to grief.
  Joint administrators from Quantuma handling the affairs of McDermott Smith gave an update this month on progress, but said it could be another two years for the business to be liquidated.
  Quantuma was appointed by one of the firm’s lenders, Fenchurch Legal, in July. The Solicitors Regulation Authority c
  
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• City Council owed £229m in Unpaid Debt

  18-09-2024 10:30 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  Bristol City Council is owed £229m in unpaid debt, included nearly £52m of council tax it has failed to collect.
  However unpaid invoices account for much of the debt – £88.6m – and £30.9m of this is not due until next year.
  Bristol City Council revealed the figure – which also included rent arrears and clean air zone (CAZ) charges – in a report to the strategy and resources policy committee on Monday.
  Other reasons cited in the report are cost of l
  
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• Authorities issue Scam Invoices warning

  17-09-2024 11:27 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  The Intellectual Property Office (IPO)  has issued a fresh warning to customers to beware of misleading requests for payments, sent by unsolicited organisations. These typically take the form of invoices requesting payment for trade marks, designs, or patents services.
  Such ‘services’ – once paid for – may simply never be provided, or may be of little or no benefit to the customer (for example, inclusion on an ‘exclusive online register’, not recogni
  
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• Londons lettings market being plagued by Rogue Tenants

  13-09-2024 12:58 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  London estate and lettings agent Benham and Reeves has uncovered a growing wave of fraudulent activity with rogue tenants targeting landlords in the capital. With forged IDs, doctored documents, and undeclared financial issues becoming increasingly common, the firm reports that fraudsters are finding new ways to exploit the city’s high-demand rental market. This alarming trend is prompting calls for greater scrutiny and human involvement in tenant screening processes to protect landlo
  
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• Charity’s plea to restrict Council tax Debt Collection

  12-09-2024 11:42 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  The Charity, National Debtline says action is needed to improve debt collection practices at a effectively-bankrupt authority.
  Financially-stricken Birmingham City Council sent almost 60,000 debts to bailiffs last year – as a charity warned the tactic risked pushing those who owed cash to despair. The authority said it referred more than 58,500 cases in 2023-24, with the number increasing again following a drop after the pandemic.
  Council bosses said the 2022/23 total of 39,618 &
  
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• SME Late Payments increase by 48% says New research

  10-09-2024 13:30 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  Over 3.6 million (72%) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have some form of outstanding late payment from customers, leaving them £96,772 out of pocket on average, according to new research from Aldermore’s SME Growth Index.
  The total value of late payments has increased from the end of 2023, up 41% from £68,715 with outstanding balances continuing to present huge challenges for SMEs.
  On average, SMEs are likely to wait an extra 46 days for a late payment to be settled a
  
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• Council’s ineffective Debt Recovery leading to increased Bailiff usage

  06-09-2024 19:12 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  A debt advice charity has urged Warrington Borough Council to improve debt recovery methods after bailiffs were instructed 6,432 times in a year.
  New findings following a Freedom of Information Request revealed Warrington Borough Council sent 6,432 debts to bailiffs in 2022/23 – although the council says this was due to a backlog after suspending debt recovery for a three-year period during the pandemic.
  Now National Debtline has called for improvements to debt collection practices and is
  
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• New Data says outstanding invoices reach shocking levels

  02-09-2024 16:56 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  New research by Upflow has found that over half of outstanding invoices (57%) are late, with a third of invoices (33%) taking longer than 90 days to be paid.
  Upflow says that throughout several industries, there is a worrying trend that if outstanding invoices are not paid on-time or within the first 30 days of becoming overdue, they have a high chance of still being outstanding 90+ days after the due date.
  These numbers make it clear that we need to find a way to solve this growing issue. On av
  
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• Overdue Invoices in Scotland reaching high levels

  22-08-2024 09:32 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  The number of overdue invoices in Scotland has reached its highest level this year, according to new research from R3, the UK’s insolvency and restructuring trade body.
  R3’s analysis of data provided by Creditsafe shows that businesses in Scotland had 538,172 unpaid invoices on their books last month – the highest monthly total in 2024 so far.
  Unpaid Invoices in Scotland
  Overdue invoices in Scotland increased by 27.7% in July 2024 when compared to July 2023’s figure of 42
  
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• Contractor wins Late Payments legal dispute

  19-08-2024 09:26 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  An East Grinstead contractor has successfully overturned a legal decision that found it was wrong to terminate its contract with a housing association over repeated late payments.The dispute arose from a JCT contract between Providence Building Services Limited and Hexagon Housing Association Limited (Hexagon) for the construction of buildings in Purley, valued at £7.2m.
  The key issue was whether Providence could terminate its contract after Hexagon failed to pay an invoice on time, even t
  
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• 2.7m Debt Cases passed to Bailiffs by Councils

  06-08-2024 10:22 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  More than 2.7 million debts were referred to bailiffs by local authorities in England and Wales during the 2022/23 financial year, according to new research conducted by the Money Advice Trust, the charity that runs National Debtline, and the Centre for Social Justice think-tank.
  The findings, based on Freedom of Information requests to local authorities, form part of wider research into council tax debt and collection practices published by the Centre for Social Justice, which reveals that 1.3
  
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• Report estimates 110,000 SMEs at risk of Insolvency

  01-08-2024 09:34 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  A new SME insights report by Dojo has revealed that an estimated 110,940 SMEs are at risk of going bust due to having no cash left to support business operations.
  The study also revealed that over 30% of SMEs cited rising inflation and high interest rates as their biggest challenge for 2024. Additionally, 1 in 6 SME owners felt unconfident to some extent in their understanding of the term ‘cash runway’ – the number of months a business has until cash runs out.
  2% of businesses
  
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• Arrest warrant issued for Insolvent celebrity after Court no show

  31-07-2024 09:19 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  An arrest warrant has been issued for Katie Price, after she failed to attend a court hearing relating to her bankruptcies.
  Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Catherine Burton said Ms Price had received “very clear warnings” that she must attend the hearing on Tuesday.
  The former glamour model had not responded to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) over her debts, a court heard.
  The demand for payment was made by HMRC last October.
  A judge at a previous hearing said the former glamour
  
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• New Data shows Small Business Late Payments increasing

  29-07-2024 11:41 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  Late payments to UK small businesses surged over the last three months, with payments delayed by more than a week on average, according to the latest research by Xero.
  Payments to small businesses were made 7.3 days late, on average, between April and June. This is an increase of 1.8 days compared to the January and March Quarter, and represents the largest quarterly increase for four years, when pandemic uncertainty prompted a short-term spike. The largest increases in late payments were seen i
  
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• EU Late payment reforms to be scrapped

  25-07-2024 07:59 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  The European Commission is reportedly set to scrap a controversial overhaul of EU late payment rules after a lack of support from several EU member states.
  The Commission proposed in September last year to limit all payment terms to a maximum of 30 days, prompting warnings from trade bodies that the reforms could make it unviable for banks to support supply chain finance facilities and increase costs for SMEs. 
  An amended version of the text was adopted by the Europ
  
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• Agricultural firm collapses into Administration

  23-07-2024 18:00 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  A highly regarded Newton Abbot Agricultural farm and garden machinery specialist has formally entered administration.At a meeting held with creditors last Tuesday (July 16), directors passed a resolution to voluntarily wind up C R Willcocks and Company Ltd and to appoint Mark Bowen of MB Insolvency as liquidator.
  C R Willcocks, which sold and repaired farm and garden machinery, unexpectedly shut its doors for good in June. At the time, the firm gave no explanation for its sudden closure and dele
  
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• Sharp rise in June for Business Insolvencies

  23-07-2024 11:27 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  Latest figures from the Insolvency Service have shown that there were 2,361 business insolvencies in England & Wales in June 2024, 16% higher than in May 2024 (2,040) and 17% higher than the same month in the previous year (2,016 in June 2023).
  The insolvencies consisted of 302 compulsory liquidations, 1,866 creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVLs), 170 administrations and 23 company voluntary arrangements (CVAs). All types of company insolvency were higher than in both June 2023 and M
  
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• Council turns to Debt Collection Agencies for help

  22-07-2024 18:08 via ukdcnews.co.uk
  
  A Freedom of Information request has revealed £1.997 million of Maldon district council-related debt was sent to external debt collection agencies in the 2023/24 financial year.
  These debts include failures to pay Council Tax, Business Rates, parking fines and housing arrears.
  This is the highest amount of debt sent in the last three years, with debt sent totalling £1.39 million in 2022/23 and £1.93 million in 2021/22.
  The information detailing the total amount of recovered deb
  
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