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 RecoveriesCommon Reasons Why Court Won’t Work For You
Some of the most common reasons why court won’t work for you are simple, others are more complex. We want to make sure that if legal action is necessary to recover a debt that you are making a well-informed decision. To help you along, here are some of the reasons we advise against court with out clients.
Not the End of the Road
Let’s take an example from the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). We have a client whose debtor has stated that we can take him to court and he is still not going to pay the $300 owed. VCAT and other tribunals will provide a judgement, but does not end with a physical enforcement of the result. If we take him through VCAT, we will then need to take the matter further to an enforcement hearing.
An enforcement hearing at magistrates court can be costly in terms of payment and time set aside. With solicitor involvement, the matter starts to blow up to the next level. Is it worth it for the $300?
Lack of Information
Some recoveries we do start with a first name, 10k owed and a disconnected phone number. We welcome a challenge but the courts may not look too kindly towards it. Court requires the respondent served the documents so they actually know that there is a case against them. We do skip tracing to find more details on the subject, but sometimes they can be incredibly hard to find. Melbourne Investigations explain the process of skip tracing well in their blog here.
Without a means to take person to court, it can be a fruitless process.
Costly
We hear some horror stories of clients spending 25k to recover 20k. Our court cases are paid upfront prior to moving forward to avoid this. When a case moves forward to the next step like the aforementioned enforcement hearing, things could get out of control. If we can see this being the case, we may advise against court.
Court costs can be recovered to an extent, but sometimes it is hard to count the cost.
Time
Preparing for court can be time consuming, even if you have someone like a collector or solicitor preparing the way for you. For some businesses, it’s not worth chasing $6,000 in court as they would lose this in time spent preparing for court. On the other end, some courts can be slow with 10 month wait times to get the case on the table. Maybe this is too long for you to wait for a solution.
Other Options
Debt collectors like ourselves are always looking for the best way to resolve a case. We try to avoid some of the issues court produces. We avoid costs, time extensions, hassle on your end and any nerves the word ‘court’ might produce. This could be by trying another avenue first like:
- In-House Escalation
- QBCC / DBDRV / Fair Trading
- Credit File Implications
- Statutory Demands
Whatever the situation, we hope we can give you the options forward to recover your debt. This can sometimes mean court is the only option, even if it’s not a good one. Are you confused on what avenues you have? Feel free to contact us on info@henleyrecoveriesgroup.com.au with your situation and our collection agents will be happy to advise on what we can do in your situation. Otherwise, you can submit a debt with us and we will let you know what options should present themselves as we move through collecting your case.