by Henley Recoveries5 Real Debt Collection Wins: What Recovery Actually Looks Like
We wanted to share with you some real stories of real collections that we have been able to make for our clients lately. Getting results is our ethos. If we don’t get you results, we don’t make money. It’s plain and simple.
Each case below we wanted to give you an insight into what it looks like as we are working in the trenches for our clients across Australia securing results and outcomes. Each case looks slightly different. We did this on purpose to show you a different aspect of what recovery and collections looks like for different situations.
We hope that by reading these stories of real collections processes this can help give you a feel for how we might be able to help in your situations that you are facing.
If you have a matter that you would like us to take a look at (whether it’s similar or completely different to the cases listed below) – please reach out for a free, no-obligation chat about how we might be able to assist. Or simply email us with some details and our friendly team will guide you from there – info@henleyrecoveriesgroup.com.au
Case #1: $30k Account – Gone Quiet
This is one of those matters that will be familiar to a lot of business owners.
Our client had an outstanding account of approximately $30,000.
The issue wasn’t that the client didn’t know who owed them the money.
The issue was that communication had effectively stopped. The debtor was ghosting them.
The account had become one of those debts that sat in the background while the business continued running.
Calls (only when our client can find the time!) weren’t getting anywhere.
Emails weren’t getting anywhere.
The longer it went on, the more difficult it became to know what the next step should be.
This is where having someone else take ownership of the account can make a real difference.
Once the matter was referred to Henley Recoveries Group, we were able to step in as the third party, establish contact and start working through the situation directly with the debtor.
We weren’t interested in simply sending one letter and hoping for the best.
We wanted to understand what was happening, what the debtor’s position was and, most importantly, how we could turn an outstanding $30,000 account into an actual result for our client.
The result: a $30,000 payment arrangement established to resolve the matter in a few months.
For our client, the biggest benefit wasn’t just the money (although that’s super important!)
It was getting the account out of their hands, off their minds (!) and having someone else take responsibility for pursuing it.
That is a big part of what we do.
You should be running your business.
You shouldn’t be spending your day chasing an unpaid invoice for work you have already done. It’s time to move forward!
Case #2: 7 Small Frustrating Accounts, 7 Wins
Not every collection matter is a $30,000, $50,000 or $100,000 account.
In fact, some of the most frustrating debts for a business can be the smaller ones.
We recently had a client come to us with seven separate outstanding accounts.
None of them individually looked like a massive debt.
But together, they represented money that was owed to the business and, more importantly, seven separate people or businesses that the client had already spent time trying to chase.
Seven phone calls.
Seven sets of emails.
Seven excuses.
Seven things sitting in the back of someone’s mind.
This is where the numbers can be deceptive.
A $500 or $1,000 debt might not seem worth chasing aggressively.
But multiply that across multiple accounts, multiple hours of staff time and multiple follow-ups, and suddenly the cost to your business becomes much larger.
We took over the recovery process and dealt with each account individually.
Different debtors required different conversations.
Some were straightforward.
Some needed more follow-up.
Some required payment arrangements.
But the objective remained the same – get the money moving.
The result: 7 accounts. 7 recoveries.
This is a good example of why we always tell business owners not to look at an overdue account purely based on the dollar value.
Sometimes the real problem isn’t the size of the debt.
It is the time and energy you’re spending trying to recover it.
Case #3: Get It Settled
Not every debtor is refusing to pay.
Sometimes the money simply isn’t available immediately.
This is where the collection process becomes less about demanding a payment tomorrow and more about finding a realistic way to get the account settled.
In this matter, our client had an outstanding account of $5,000.
The debtor was communicating, but they couldn’t make the full payment upfront.
Rather than allowing the account to continue drifting, we worked through the debtor’s position and negotiated a structured payment arrangement.
This is an important part of what we do.
A payment arrangement isn’t simply:
“I’ll pay you when I can.”
It needs to have structure and schedule.
There needs to be an amount.
There needs to be a date.
There needs to be accountability.
And there needs to be a clear understanding of what happens if the arrangement isn’t honoured.
That’s where we come in! Once the arrangement was established, we continued to monitor the account and keep our client informed.
The result: $5,000 recovered over 5 weekly instalments! (Not to mention the debtor paid entirely for their recovery fees too!) (More information on this in our FREE consultations!)
For our client, the outcome was simple.
The debt was no longer sitting there unresolved.
There was a pathway to getting the money back.
And the debtor had a clear obligation to follow through.
Sometimes the best recovery isn’t about making the biggest demand.
It is about finding the right way to get the account settled.
Case #4: Head in the Sand
This is another situation we see regularly.
The invoice is overdue.
The business owner has already tried contacting the debtor.
The debtor knows about the account.
But they simply don’t want to deal with it.
Calls are ignored.
Emails aren’t answered.
Messages aren’t returned.
And every time the creditor thinks they might finally get an answer, there is nothing.
We had a matter involving a solar company where the outstanding amount was $7,000.
Our client had already spent considerable time trying to get the account resolved.
The debtor had effectively put their head in the sand. No disputes, no arguments, just nothing! Radio silence! Sound familiar?
Once we were engaged, the approach changed.
There is a significant difference between receiving another email from the business owner you owe money to and receiving correspondence from a professional recovery agency acting on behalf of that business.
Our job was to make the debtor understand that the account wasn’t simply going away.
We established communication, set out the position and worked through the available options.
The result: $7,000 collected in full within a few days.
This is one of the reasons we encourage businesses not to let overdue accounts sit for months and months.
The longer an account sits unresolved, the more difficult it can become.
Sometimes the debtor isn’t necessarily unable to pay.
They simply haven’t had enough reason to prioritise paying you.
Our job is to change that.
Case #5: When Collection Had to Escalate
Not every debt gets resolved with a friendly conversation.
And that is an important part of what we do.
Our job isn’t simply to send a letter, make a phone call and hope somebody pays.
Sometimes a debtor needs to understand that there are consequences to continuing to ignore an outstanding account.
We had a matter referred to us where our client had been trying to recover $9,000 for some time.
The client had already attempted to communicate with the debtor directly and had given them opportunities to resolve the account.
The problem was that nothing was happening.
The debtor wasn’t taking meaningful steps to resolve the outstanding balance and the account continued to sit there unpaid.
We started with the recovery process and attempted to establish communication.
When that didn’t produce the required result, the matter was progressively escalated.
This is where experience matters.
There is a difference between threatening action and actually understanding what options are available, when they may be appropriate and how to move a matter forward.
Depending on the circumstances of a matter, escalation can involve further formal recovery correspondence, credit reporting where legally available and appropriate, court proceedings, statutory demand processes or other legal recovery avenues.
The objective isn’t to escalate for the sake of escalating.
The objective is to get the debtor to take the account seriously.
In this particular matter, once the recovery process progressed and the debtor understood that the matter wasn’t simply going to disappear, the $9,000 was paid in full including applicable legal costs that had been incurred.
For our client, this was the important part.
They had reached the point where continuing to chase the debtor themselves wasn’t producing anything.
By handing the matter over, they had someone else managing the recovery process, communicating with the debtor and working through the available options.
And sometimes that is exactly what is needed.
Not every account needs legal action. And sometimes it’s about having that extra experience of knowing when to go legal and when it’s not worth the costs!
But equally, not every account can be resolved by asking nicely.
Knowing the difference is part of debt recovery.
Our job is to work through the situation, keep our client informed and pursue the appropriate pathway to achieve an outcome.
So What Can We Take From These Cases?
There isn’t one single type of debt that we collect.
There isn’t one single type of debtor.
And there isn’t one single recovery strategy that works every time.
That’s why our approach is tailored to the situation.
Sometimes the answer is a straightforward payment request.
Sometimes it is negotiation.
Sometimes it is a payment agreement.
Sometimes it is escalation.
And sometimes it means looking at further avenues such as a letter of demand, small claims proceedings, a statutory demand, payment default or other legal recovery options where appropriate.
Our role is to help you navigate those options and keep the recovery moving.
As we say to our clients, we treat your debt as if it were our own.
We take ownership of the matter, communicate with you throughout the process and work towards getting you a result.
Because ultimately, that’s what this is about.
Results.
We wanted to share these cases because we know that behind every overdue invoice there is a business owner waiting for money that should already be in their bank account.
Maybe it’s $500.
Maybe it’s $5,000.
Maybe it’s $30,000.
Maybe it’s a collection of smaller accounts that have simply become too frustrating to chase.
Whatever the situation looks like, it is worth having a conversation about what can be done.
If you have a matter that you would like us to take a look at – whether it’s similar or completely different to the cases listed above – reach out for a free, no-obligation chat about how we might be able to assist.
Or simply email us with some details and our friendly team will guide you from there.
info@henleyrecoveriesgroup.com.au
www.henleyrecoveriesgroup.com.au
Let’s get your outstanding accounts moving.
If you have overdue invoices that need recovery, you can easily submit a debt for collection by our expert agents in only five minutes, using our online form. The best part? It’s totally FREE!
SUBMIT A DEBT FOR FREE!
BOOK A FREE SPECIALIST CONSULTATION WITH ONE OF OUR DEBT RECOVERY EXPERTS
by Henley Recoveries4 Urgent Things You Need To Do Before October 1
Where has 2026 gone?! For the most part, the end of the year signals a time of joy and a time where we all get to have some well earned rest. But it’s also for most of us, the busiest and most hectic time of the year leading up to it. Jobs to finish, deadlines to meet, bills to pay and a never ending to-do list.
One common denominator within all of this – effectively managing your cash flow is vital for maintaining the livelihood of your business. Here are four urgent things you need to consider as we enter the final quarter for 2026.
Follow Up With Your Debtors: Quickly
For businesses and individuals alike, Christmas comes around quickly! And the period leading up to it and afterwards can be a maze of money management. Ensuring all overdue accounts are followed up on in a quick and timely manner now, may be the difference between being paid and not being paid.
October to December is the busy period for many businesses. By following up on your debtors in a quick and timely manner now, and getting on the front foot, you can get in before other businesses they may owe money to. This means that your accounts are paid and settled before the funds dry-up. You can read more about following up unpaid invoices in this article.
Review Your Accounting Practices
Ensure that you have good follow up practices in place for your accounts procedures. Set yourself a clear time frame for following up. By doing so, you are minimising the amount of overdue accounts that you are left with. That way, only accounts that need a push to recover get sent through to your debt recovery agent – us!.
According to an article from Xero’s small business insights, cash flow falls to a yearly low across January. This means that striking while the iron is hot before the end of the year will be an effective method to get your invocies paid.
Forecast Your Cash Flow
If you have historical data for your business, use that to forecast figures for future holiday periods effectively. By understanding the data from previous holiday periods (and the time afterwards), you can ensure you can put plans in place and can mitigate unexpected cash flow shortages.
A great resource to help you with this is the cash flow forecaster from Business Victoria.
Sort Out Your Contracts
If you are a service-based business, or one that provides goods on credit accounts, then early in the year is the perfect time to organise your contract and account terms. Ensure that you have clauses to protect your business and that your agreement allows you to minimise the potential of non-payment.
We are currently taking expressions of interest for a free contract audit, to ensure you are adequately protected against bad debts. You can apply for this complimentary service on this page.
Whether the new year means that you are too busy to follow up on accounts or you need some more positive cash flow within your business, it’s important to sort out overdue accounts. Make sure that you are leveraging the time of year and making space for positive cash flow for your business.
If you have overdue invoices that need recovery, you can easily submit a debt for collection by our expert agents in only five minutes, using our online form. The best part? It’s totally FREE!
by Henley Recoveries$700k AUD Collected Within 7 Days: How Did I Do It?
If you’re like me, you probably read that line and thought that doesn’t seem possible. But as crazy as it sounds, this is one of the results we were able to attain recently for one of our large international clients in the airport logistics industry.
As this is the largest collection in my career I wanted to take the time to share how I did it in the hope that I can help you protect yourself from a difficult situation of being owed a lot of money. This kind of cash is a serious amount of money obviously, but even being owed $5k to $10k for a lot of businesses can be the kind of cash flow that makes a difference.
I sincerely hope the tips found in this article can assist you in getting your money collected. If you have any questions regarding this article, debt recovery or anything else please don’t hesitate to contact us anytime!
Know Your Client
For businesses and individuals alike, it is important to really know who owes you the money. This may seem like an obvious statement, but it is an under-rated concept to keep in mind.
It is easy to get caught out in this current business climate. You would like to think that businesses and your prospective clients are doing the right thing, but I see all too often well-meaning clients of mine trusting that their clients have good intentions. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy good trusting client relationships as much as the next, but if you are dealing with a good quality client they will have no issue with making it very clear what their entity details are.
Unfortunately, my client in this situation had got caught in a difficult bind whereby their debtor was quite a confusing entity. Being an international business made this all the more confusing. My team and I had to spend many hours hunting down who the exact debtor actually was. Turns out there was multiple! This was one of the main reasons that our client was not able to get this payment sorted prior to us being involved.
Be sure to clarify early on the specific entity details of your client/s – ABN/ACN, legal entity details, any relevant or associated licenses (QBCC if you are in construction for example) or industry accreditations, addresses, contact details, and more etc. Doing a little bit of this leg work prior to conducting the work or providing the goods/services goes a long way.
Review Your Accounting Practices
Ensure that you have good follow up practices in place for your accounts receivables. Set yourself or your team a clear time frame for following up. By doing so, you are minimizing the amount of overdue accounts that you are left with. That way, only accounts that need a push to recover get sent through to your debt recovery agents.
It is very easy and tempting to let things slide out of either good-faith or putting it in the too-hard basket. Although we certainly love to help our clients when it does get to this stage, we know that good accounts management can mean all the difference for our clients to not have to go through these situations.
Now I’m not saying that our client didn’t or doesn’t have good follow up accounts receivables policies and procedures in place. But the truth is that keeping on to these large outstanding debts and making sure that it is not left behind is vital.
Implement an Escalation Strategy
One of the most important steps you can take is to show clearly to your debtor that there are consequences to non-payment. I see regularly that many debtors simply do not fear or do not take seriously the debt. And to be honest there are times where I don’t blame them.
Legal action is costly and I regularly indicate to my clients that there is a difference between getting a judgement and getting the cash. So the key tip here is to try and create leverage that makes you irreplaceable – if you disappeared then this would cause some kind of hurt for your client. This is not about causing pain, it is about being smart and holding leverage.
In this day and age you must think practically and logically when it comes to accounts management and you can only be too careful. In this case we showed clearly what the implications of withholding payment would be. That’s something the debtor did not want to risk!
Be Persistent and Communicate Clearly
Ensure that your debtor knows that there is an issue and that this issue is not going to go away. This harks back to my earlier point about strong accounts receivables practices. Some of our clients have teams for this process and for some of our clients this falls on to the lap of the decision maker in the business.
It is very easy to let these problems slip into tomorrow’s problem. But as tempting as it is to think this is something I can do tomorrow, acting persistently and communicating clearly with your debtor on a regular basis is a very important part of getting these types of collections sorted.
Of course, we are always readily available to jump in and handle your outstanding invoices for you. Time is money. We can take on these difficult ones for you to leave you with time to run your business and do what makes you money in the first place!
Consider Implementing Clear and Precise Contracts
If you are a service-based business, or one that provides goods on credit accounts, then it is always a great idea to organize your contracts and agreement terms. Ensure that you have clauses to protect your business and that your agreement allows you to minimize the potential of non-payment.
One very helpful and vital method that helped me get this matter collected so quickly was that the client had already done a bunch of the ground work by establishing very clear contractual terms. Of course, it doesn’t always mean that you are never going to be owed money. In my experience people often think that the contract doesn’t seem to apply to them!
Nonetheless, because these agreements were in place this made everything very clear and there was no wiggle room for the debtor to try and delay. In addition, by putting in clauses that allow for on-charging debt recovery fees and interest being accrued is another bonus for having your agreements and contracts water tight.
For more details and information about what terms of agreement you should implement read our article here!
Written by Patrick Henley – Director and GM of Henley Recoveries Group
For more insights, tips and all things debt recovery, connect with Patrick on LinkedIn!
If you have overdue invoices that need recovery, you can easily submit a debt for collection by our expert agents in only five minutes, using our online form. The best part? It’s totally FREE!
by Henley RecoveriesGuarantee Your Earnings in FY2026!
If you’ve been in business lately you may have noticed that liquidations are on the rise in the past few years. Businesses going under seems to be the new norm in the Australian economy and navigating this can be extremely difficult.
Even in the last few months we have been assisting our hard working and genuine clients who are trying to do the right thing only to be bombarded by out-of-the-blue liquidations. Unfortunately the age of trusting a companies or persons word is no longer here and we want to provide options and methods that you can put in place to avoid this as much as possible.
Sometimes you can’t see it coming and this can have serious ramifications for your cash flow and business security and growth.
Service Agreements
To protect yourself and your business it is important to have as water tight contracts and service agreements as possible.
If you currently do not have any contract or service agreement in place we would highly recommend getting some legal advice and setting these up so that you are supplying services to your clients under clear and specified terms. Speak to us to discuss your options.
Setting the expectations and clear guidelines for what services are being supplied, what’s excluded and importantly what the payment terms are is vital.
Book a free consultation today to discuss with us how you can secure your services.
Director’s Guarantees
While not suitable for all businesses or business models a Director’s Guarantee or Personal Guarantee can be a very effective implementation into protecting your business:
- An additional agreement on top of the service agreement that means the Director personally takes guarantee liability of any debts that the company incurs.
- Ask yourself – is winning the project worth the risk?
- Do your background checks into the company/business/people that you are going to work with.
- If they do not want to sign it (which is a common principle for a lot of Director’s and for genuine reason at times) then assess this further. What is the reason for not wanting to sign this?
- Are there other projects that are more in line with your risk appetite at the moment that you could focus on?
Answering all of the above key questions will do wonders for you in determining if this business relationship is the right one for you.
Know Who Your Client Is
One of the most under-rated methods and tools for guaranteeing your earnings this financial year.
Talk to us today if you are considering a new business relationship and want us to conduct a review of the company that you are considering working with/supplying services to.
We can take a background look into the company on your behalf to understand more fully if this is a business relationship that is the right fit for you!
How Can We Help?
If you have found yourself in a situation where you are unsure of your best options we are only too delighted to see how we can help.
Thankfully, we are used to the situation never being the same and we are ready to deal with what you have to throw at us. If you are unsure if you have done all you can to protect yourself or chase up an unpaid invoice, give us a call. We will be happy to discuss and give you some thoughts on your specific situation both in how to protect yourself and how to help get out of a difficult situation!
by Henley RecoveriesLooking for the Warning Signs Before a Client becomes a Debtor
30 years in the business and never had an issue
It’s always great to hear the many success stories from businesses who succeed in avoiding debts. The sad reality is that this sentence is usually followed by “… until this one fella ripped us off so badly.” Unless you are paid prior to the work being done, there is no escape from the reality that humans don’t always do what is right. We see a plethora of different debtors, malicoious and accidental. We would like to think that most of these situations are avoidable before work even begins.
Why should we bother checking?
It’s great if business works well, but what if the one job could ruin it all? Many of our clients and debtors alike have been burnt by that one larger job they accepted which ended up turning the business upside down. For the smaller jobs, so much undue stress and time is put in to a situation which should never existed! It’s sometimes more frustrating that more time is needed to chase up a $100 bill which had little margin for your business. Either way, checking for warning signs prior to work for any job can save future hassle and hardship if done correctly.
“I wasn’t sure about them from that first chat…”
Whether you are potentially judging someone hard or have your Spiderman tingle firing, trust yourself and look further before starting! More often than not, there is a reason for your suspicions. This can include:
- Unwillingness to pay a full deposit
- Negotiation on a set price from the get-go.
- Lack of personal contact details
- Lack of communication
- Requests to delay invoices
- Go-Lucky/carefree attitude towards payment schedule
- Avoiding anything in writing/word of mouth only
- Bad credit history
- Other debts
- Past work not finished by past businesses
- Job is for a client moving away
- A Silver Tongue and promises which never eventuate
Many of these signs are easy to see but it’s hard not to try and help a client in need. We hope that if you cannot act for every client that you can take the right precautions to avoid future implications.
PREPARE!
Usually, 30 years of no debts means you have a good system in place. A quick check on a program like CreditorWatch can mean a world of difference as you can see credit scores and current credit ratings on the business. In addition to this, we always advise to protect your current contracts and potentially invoices by using our free protection service. We love to look at what we can do to help you avoid debts and cover you if you do have issues with non-payers. Again – it’s all free, no payment later on, no half finished job – Free. What are you waiting for?
What if it’s unavoidable?
If you are in business, a debt will pop up one day, that’s why we are here to help. With the protection in place, our recovery services can be free to you. We believe in our process and our drive to get your money back. If you are looking to recover for financial reasons or just the principle, don’t hesitate to contact us – we are here to help.
We have more blogs for our services and notes from experience in this industry. We hope you can profit from these and avoid situations with unpaid invoices.
Henley Recoveries Group are a no-win, no-fee debt collection agency with an excellent track record of collections. Recover your unpaid invoices by submitting a debt with us.
Contact us on our main phone, 0466 243 114 or email info@henleyrecoveriesgroup.com.au to discuss how we can help.
by Matthew GillFinancial hardship, bankruptcy and insolvency
Overdue invoices which involve financial hardship, bankruptcy and insolvency are some of the hardest cases to collect. Whether it is with an individual or a company, there are still ways that you can avoid or collect your invoices.
For clarification, we are dealing with an owing party who has not declared bankruptcy, external administration or liquidation. There is some great info HERE from ARITA regarding definitions of these processes. Another link HERE for more info on voluntary administration and liquidation from the Bankruptcy Advisory Centre.
Mitigation / Protection
Debtor Companies: If you have signed agreements for your services, a director’s guarantee can go a long way in collections. This makes the director personally liable to pay off the debt, even if the company does liquidate in the end. Usually it includes terms such as debt recovery and legal costs to be on charged to the debtor/director.
Unfortunately, many debts come our way where the debtor is liquidating with no director’s guarantee. Our clients are required to wait in line for funds to be distributed to the creditors, providing there are any funds at all.
Having protection such as this is one of the best tactics in coaxing payment from your debtors but can add extra time and paperwork to the whole process. If this is you, then there are a lots of complex processes to get your head around to move forward with recovering your money.
Debtor Individuals: These cases seem to have more wiggle room with where they can go. The more info you have, the better. Signed agreements are always best, but any written confirmation of the debt itself can help with future collection. The original signed terms always come in handy whether the matter ends up being taken to court or further negotiation.
Patience
Sometimes the answer for collection is to wait for the opportune moment. If we can see the intent of a debtor is to pay, an option is to set up a payment agreement to achieve the following:
- Reset the statute of limitations – This is basically the life of the debt. Most states in Australia mark a debt age to be 6 years from last payment or written admission of the debt or 12 years from last legal judgement of the debt. For a debtor who cannot pay off the debt in full, we want to make sure they do not “outlive” the debt.
- Proof of intent – Although we can argue that this is for further proof if legal action is necessary, this is actually more for the debtor themselves. Generally, debtors feel that they are taking responsibility for a debt when beginning payments. The debt begins to become less of a scary problem and more of a fixable situation. A willing payer is the best situation you can have as every cent available will be paid to you.
- Chip away at the debt – As well as the debtor feeling responsible, if action is needed down the track, legal costs potentially are lessened if the debt is smaller.
- Potential change of situation – All these things combined lead to the moment we are waiting for, full payment of the overdue amount. Your patience can be rewarded with the company or individual’s life making a turn to a brighter future. The result is a debt still chaseable in the statute of limitations, a debtor who feels responsible and they have already contributed to the debt who now wants to resolve the matter.
Money
The other way to do things is to push for legal action. Some debtors need a nudge to get resolution and this situation is no exception. There are costs to go down this path. Thankfully, proper protection potentially pushes those fees to your debtor. I will clarify that we generally advise further action when no meaningful agreement can be found.
As there are many different scenarios, it is tricky to define a solid process to resolve these cases without information but our goal is always the same.
Coax payment with the least amount of action possible.
We hope to do this as to:
- Save on further costs
- Save time on potential lengthy wait periods with the court system
- Keep the situation open for meaningful agreements with the debtor
How do we help?
The majority of best results come from speaking with your debtor openly about the situation. This includes talks about the future actions we will need to take if we cannot resolve the situation. We have the tools and experience to find what method or future procedure will give the best chance of recovery.
For example, your debtor may receive serious fines and criminal charges if their company is found trading insolvent. They may have been resilient to a point, but further discussion may lead to a meaningful agreement to benefit the parties involved.
Whatever the situation, we will advise so you may make the right choice for the situation. We hope that if you submit a debt with us, we can help you find the best resolution to your situation.
We have more blogs for our services and notes from experience in this industry. I hope you can profit from these notes written.
Henley Recoveries Group are a no-win, no-fee debt collection agency. Recover your unpaid invoices by submitting a debt with us.
Contact us on our main phone, 0466 243 114 or email info@henleyrecoveriesgroup.com.au to discuss how we can help.
by Matthew GillThe best time to recover a debt.
After the last blog talking about old debts, we had questions regarding when is the best time to recover a debt? A case can be made that some debts require a time to cool down and breathe before attempting to recover once more. Others may claim for slow payers that letting your client get in a better financial position can be profitable.
None of this is false, every debt is different and involves different people in unique situations.
So when is best?
As soon as possible – let me explain.
I agree that so many circumstances can affect timing, including the above and your own budget, unless you are protected. We see this every day in every case. Every situation has a key moment where all the cards are lined up and the chances are the best they can be. Sometimes collection happens after a 2 minute talk with a debtor, sometimes after 3 emails and others after almost winding up a company.
My question is, why risk it? If someone owes you money, chances are you aren’t the only one. A few articles including 10 Biggest Mistakes People Make When Paying Off Debt (written by Bill Fay) mention many debtors fall into the trap of a snowball effect of debts. Most helpful organisations push debtors to pay off one debt at a time. What happens if you follow-up on payments for a year before collection? You are now at the back of the line.
Recovering Debts is what we do.
No matter what, the best time to recover a debt is a soon as possible. If instant resolution isn’t the answer, we can provide the tools and structure to ensure when the opportunity is there, the collection can happen. To avoid the mistake of chasing up a payment for a year and wasting your valuable time, let us do it for you. Our team is trained to find the best solution at ANY age of debt and we hope we can show you this with results.
Although this is just a short blog regarding age of debts, it’s really a short answer to an even better question. When do you want your money paid?
On time – Use accounts receivables to help.
Now – Use debt collection
Someday in the future – We will be here for you and happy to help.
We have more blogs for our services and notes from experience in this industry. I hope you can profit from these notes written.
Henley Recoveries Group are a no-win, no-fee debt collection agency with an excellent track record of collections. Recover your unpaid invoices by submitting a debt with us.
Contact us on our main phone, 0466 243 114 or email info@henleyrecoveriesgroup.com.au to discuss how we can help.
by Matthew GillRecover your write-offs.
The Issue
Sometimes it just doesn’t seem worthwhile to recover your write-offs. The job is done, the invoice has gone out, 5 calls and 10 reminder emails have been sent. Any more effort would be a waste. It could be that the debt is small or just in the “too hard basket”, but it is sad to never see the hard earned money.
Our hope is that we can help out in this situation whether it is with our Accounts Receivable process or Debt Recovery further down the line.
Is this worthwhile for me?
We pride ourselves with being able to work through a collection case as autonomously or as particularly as requested. When this is applied to one of these write-offs, we move to a more autonomous process. We look to produce results with the least amount of effort on your part. This includes debts from up to 6 years ago, silent debtors and those who promise over and over to pay…
Many of our debts we collect are quite small, under $500. Our Accounts Receivables clients have a different experience with these than our normal debt collection process. Our system picks up on these debts before they become debts, before debt recovery is needed. Sometimes a good accounts system is all you need to avoid the pain a stress of a debt unpaid.
What’s the catch
With some of these write-offs, chances of collection can sometimes be lower than our usual rate. As with any case, it is all dependent on the situation and how much info you have on the matter. This also means some cases will not be recoverable with our normal process and would require further legal action.
Final Thoughts
It is up to you if your debt is worth following up, but we are ready for it. Although pricing probably isn’t so much a worry for a write-off, you can find our fee structure here to help make a decision. Even better then recovering write-offs, how about reducing how many you get? I always mention we have our FREE protection service to help mitigate debts and issues.
Submit your interest in having us look over your contracts and quotes here.
We have more blogs for our services and notes from experience in this industry. I hope you can profit from these notes written.
Henley Recoveries Group are a no-win, no-fee debt collection agency with an excellent track record of collections. Recover your unpaid invoices by submitting a debt with us.
Contact us on our main phone, 0466 243 114 or email info@henleyrecoveriesgroup.com.au to discuss how we can help.
by Matthew GillFree Protection, Free Debt Recovery
Of all time, 2% of all our clients have what I would consider, good protection.
TWO PERCENT
That’s 2 % of our clients who can put less energy into worrying about being paid for their hard work and more energy into doing what they do best.
Wait, debt recovery is free?
YES! This is our aim. We work to get income to feed our families but we do not need that income from you. How horrible does it sound to have to pay someone to chase an invoice which your client did not uphold? It’s the last thing you need, more money not in your pocket for a situation which shouldn’t exist. Shouldn’t your debtor be paying us because of their issues? No wonder Debt Collection can leave a bad taste in some people’s mouths.
We started this company to HELP businesses, not put you more out of pocket.
The legality of the debt recovery systems stops us from on charging costs to debtors in most cases unless our clients have sufficient protection in their contracts, quotes and invoices.
Wait, free protection?
We want you to be a part of this. We look over contracts and quotes to see how we can provide free protection for you. Let me be clear; we do not have a lawyers looking over your contracts in this service. If we did, we would need to charge an arm and a leg like other companies need to. To give sufficient protection for debt recovery, we don’t need to do that.
Our free service here provides with tools you need to make debt recovery and legal costs charged to your debtor. We do what we can to tailor this to your situation. It’s not just a generic list of every little thing you can use but also not a complete re-write of your contract, which a lawyer would do. We take the time to advise as a debt collector on what will work best.
More Protection = Less Debts
Proper protection with your invoices will mitigate unpaid issues. Many debts submitted with us are from painful people who get a kick out of making your life and mine miserable. Debtors want to create more stress by making you pay to recover your money that you have rightfully earnt. They know unless we escalate to a legal action point, (whether that’s Credit Ratings, Small Claims Tribunal, Local/Magistrates Court or our favourite, Statutory Demand for wind-up of a company) they won’t be out of pocket or disciplined for their wrong doing.
Who in their right mind would risk a fight over nothing when they have to pay to do it?
We know that this simple fact stops many debts from ever existing. Things become a lot more serious once you have signed that debt recovery and legal is your problem.
Disclaimer
As mentioned earlier, our lawyer isn’t doing this service for you. Our trained industry professionals who deal with this daily are running this service. This is not legal advice, but for a debt collector like myself, I see this protection and get excited knowing that I can help you recover your money and not charge you a cent.
Be the 2%
So what are you waiting for? Submit your interest in having us look over your contracts and quotes here and our team will have a look when they are available .
If the protection didn’t deter a painful debtor or you didn’t have the chance to protect yourself, submit your debt with us.
No matter the situation you are in, whether you are protected or not, need the money or chasing for principle, have a large dispute or a disappearing Houdini of a debtor, I hope we can assist in recovering your debt and help you move on in your business life.
We have more blogs for our services and notes from experience in this industry. I hope you can profit from these notes written.
Henley Recoveries Group are a no-win, no-fee debt collection agency with an excellent track record of collections. If you have unpaid invoices that need recovering, submit a debt with us for your best chance of getting paid. Our online form is easy to use and can be completed within 5 minutes.
You can also give us a call on 0466 243 114 or email info@henleyrecoveriesgroup.com.au for more information, or to discuss how we can help your business get paid.
by Henley RecoveriesVariations: You either love them or hate them.
You have filled out the contract.
You have sent out the plans.
You are ready to finish a job and send an invoice.
Then the mighty variation comes along.
You either love them or hate them.
We at Henley Recoveries understand the high risk involved with variations and disputes. We are not only invested in recovering bad debts but also in the prevention of them as well. Did you know variations are one of the most common causes for overdue invoices? Many of the disputes we come across involve a badly communicated or apparent unauthorized variation.
Four reasons why variation forms do not get filled out:
1. It’s done and dusted before the pen hits the paper.
It can sometimes seem that a job is too small to worry about more formalized agreements, however, these small changes are what debtors tend to cling to in a bad situation. A few minutes spent getting the variation confirmed can save the headaches and trauma of explaining why you are owed for your hard work.
2. You don’t know the cost until completed.
It can be scary or seem like bad business to put down an approximate cost for a job you haven’t completed. Some jobs just don’t have that luxury. No one wants to charge too little for a job that wasn’t originally agreed on but we all want that security knowing that we will get paid for the work that we have done.
3. The value of a handshake is taken too highly.
This client seems reasonable right? I’ve done work for this lot for the past year, they will treat me right. We have been mates for years, surely I don’t need to get anything in writing.
Although most of the time, we can judge our clients well, there are some curveballs out there. It is always sad to see debts pop up between trusted businesses with long relationships. Unfortunately disagreements can happen even in the closest of business relationships and although we want to make sure the relationship can be rekindled and debts paid, it can be hard without proof of who said what. Even so, we would hope that the situation can be avoided in the first place!
With regard to new clients, you can email us if you’d like assistance with performing credit checks to see if there is a hidden history that may affect your future business.
4. It’s a time waster and a pain to get done.
The most simple and generally agreed on reason for no variation form. What more can I say? We all have better things to do than more paperwork.
How can I get around these common issues?
1. If unsure on cost, include a scope of high to low pricing and breakdown once the job is complete. You are most likely already doing this by word of mouth with your client, don’t be afraid to be general on your variation. The more information you have, the safer you will be.
2. Set aside a time prior to starting work to discuss any foreseeable changes with the client. If your client is aware, there is less chance of an emotional response when variations are required.
3. Make sure everything is in writing even if it is a quick text after a conversation confirming details. It is amazing to see how a disagreement can change when you or your client have the original discussion laid out in front of the issue at hand. When you submit a debt with us, this is one of the first steps we take when it is disputed. We like to point out the real facts to eliminate emotion or wrong ideas from the equation.
Digital Variation Form
Lastly, we want to offer a free digital form that simplifies the variation process and saves you valuable time. Your clients can simply fill out the form on their phones for an instant digital signed variation form to mitigate the risk for your business. To register your interest in our form, click here and we will let you know when we can provide you with this simple way to deal with variations.
Benefits of this form include:
1. Send from wherever you are, no need to leave while you’re in the middle of something.
2. No reason for your client to procrastinate and delay paperwork.
3. No unnecessary hold ups for your job.
Variations are featured in many of our previous blogs because it’s a very important step in avoiding debts in the first place. We see a lot of cases where the client will cling to the fact that the variation is not as expected or asked for, even though they have now received the product. By having a written account of the variation, our experience shows that your chances of having a dispute and needing to take action are considerably lowered.
Henley Recoveries Group are a no-win, no-fee debt collection agency with an excellent track record of collections. If you have unpaid invoices that need recovering, submit a debt with us for your best chance of getting paid. Our online form is easy to use and can be completed within 5 minutes.
You can also give us a call on 0466 243 114 or email info@henleyrecoveriesgroup.com.au for more information, or to discuss how we can help your business get paid.