A hat-trick of bankruptcies. A previous criminal conviction. More than £93,000 lost by 16 consumers.
Yet many of these issues would not have been obvious to prospective customers carrying out basic checks.
Our latest article looks at the case, the limits of consumer due diligence, and why knowing exactly who you are dealing with matters.
Read the article here: https://t.co/WNnmRs9wEP
#ConsumerProtection #DueDiligence #Fraud #BusinessChecks #CreditRisk
Contrary to some recent media statements, the London Taxi profession is well and truly alive and kicking!
Have a busy day, everyone. given the current weather conditions, travel safely, and be lucky.
A Bradford director has been sentenced after transferring £250,000 of development land out of his company as creditors closed in.
The transactions occurred in 2017. The prosecution has only now concluded, almost nine years later.
A reminder that insolvency investigations don't simply disappear with time.
https://t.co/f1VW64ysYK
#Insolvency #DebtRecovery #CreditControl
4Merit Group Sold via Pre-Pack Administration
The 4Merit Group, a Nottingham-based provider of outsourced government support services, has entered administration, with parts of the business sold via a pre-pack administration process.
Joe Barry and Damian Webb of RSM UK were appointed Joint Administrators over:
• 4Merit Immigration Ltd
• CRG Medical Services Ltd
• HCRG Medical Services Ltd
A pre-pack sale was subsequently completed to Sonar CMS Ltd.
Official filings and company records can be viewed via Companies House.
https://t.co/LtxeH6tmiW
#DebtRecovery #CreditControl #PrePack #BusinessCashflow #CompanyFailure
Last month, over 1,000 items of legal stationery were sent by businesses using the Credit Control Room Portal — from Gentle Reminders and Final Demands through to Letters Before Action.
According to customer feedback, these emails and letters generated an estimated 85% response rate, with the majority of responses received the very same day.
The average cost of each email/letter sent was between £5 and £10, depending on subscription level. Our Basic subscription operates on a simple pay-as-you-go basis, with no monthly commitment.
Where debtors failed to respond, many cases were seamlessly referred through the CCR Portal to our Debt Recovery Department for further action. In nearly 100% of successful recovery cases, we have been able to recover our fees directly from the debtor using the current Late Payment Regulations.
The Credit Control Room Portal is designed to help businesses act quickly, professionally, and cost-effectively against non-paying customers.
Why not register today at no cost?
https://t.co/KvJX3b8H7Y
#DebtRecovery #LatePayment #CreditControl #BusinessCashflow
We have just been notified that a well-known serial debtor company is now the subject of a winding-up petition issued by HMRC.
On the balance of probabilities, the petition is likely to succeed.
The County Court need not be overly concerned about any resulting loss of trade, as a new company, bearing a similar name and sharing the same sole director, was incorporated several months ago—ensuring continuity of business operations.
This company commenced trading just over six years ago, following the compulsory strike-off of its predecessor. County Court Judgments began to be registered in 2022 and have continued year on year since, some for significant sums, running into tens of thousands of pounds.
Clearly, there are those who are not carrying out even the most basic due diligence or credit checks, given that this adverse information has been publicly available for some time.
Through our Credit Control Room portal, credit checks incorporating adverse data—including information from our Credit Information Database—can be carried out quickly on a pay-as-you-go basis, at very low cost.
In some cases, prevention really is the only cure.
https://t.co/rzwEoPrYSd
“In many cases, ‘written off’ simply means ‘not pursued’.”
When we take on a new client at NPD, one of the first things we ask is:
“Do you have any old disputes or non-payments that were never properly resolved?”
Recently, we did exactly that with a new client.
Several accounts had been marked as “written off”.
No credit notes issued. No agreements reached.
No formal conclusion. Just left… in limbo.
On review, it became clear that several of these matters were still within the limitation period and were considered worth pursuing. The outcomes were mixed.
👉 Read the full article here: https://t.co/0zncMtwheH
#DebtRecovery #LatePayment #CreditControl #BusinessCashflow
Re LNC Property Development Limited
The first Administrator’s Report has now been published.
Contrary to earlier speculation, this is not a pre-pack administration.
Unsecured creditor claims total approximately £6.6 million, and the Administrator’s initial view is that there will be insufficient funds available to pay any dividend to unsecured creditors.
In our experience, by the time administration is reached, the outcome for unsecured creditors is rarely anything other than a write-off.
Which is why access to real-time trading intelligence—not just historical accounts data—has become critical in managing credit risk.
The level of adverse data now being shared via the NPD Credit Information Database is a clear indication that conditions are deteriorating.
If you are not already using real-time trading intelligence to support your credit decisions, now would be a sensible time to reconsider your approach.
https://t.co/vCfRODDuPb
#DebtRecovery #CreditControl #LatePayment #Cashflow #RiskManagement
Late payment is back on the agenda.
But most of it already exists under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2013.
Suppliers told to clamp down.
How many can — without consequence?
👉 https://t.co/Jdrx3qGXIt
#latepayment#creditcontrol
£1.2m left unpaid. One company fails. Another carries on — same people, same address, same business environment.
Read the full story https://t.co/WSusNwoQwb
Credit Control Tip of the Day (For Suppliers)
When a customer raises a dispute on an invoice, the first step should always be to ask them to provide:
• A detailed breakdown of the amount they say is disputed
• How they have calculated that figure
• Their lawful reasons for disputing it
This quickly separates genuine disputes from simple delay tactics.
Then you should notify your debtor that any undisputed amount must still be paid. A dispute over part of an invoice does not give a customer the right to withhold the entire balance.
If your Customer tries to withhold undisputed amounts against disputed amounts, you are entitled to charge statutory interest and compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts legislation.
#CreditControl #LatePayment #DebtRecovery #CreditManagement #SMEFinance
When business failure is discussed in the UK, people usually look at insolvency statistics.
But those figures tell only part of the story.
Around 24,000 companies enter formal insolvency each year in England and Wales. Yet more than 660,000 companies disappear from the Companies House register through the strike-off process.
That works out at roughly 12,750 companies vanishing every week.
Insolvency statistics tell only part of the story of business failure in the UK.
Read the full article here:
https://t.co/esnNXCHTE6
A £10 Letter That Produced a Payment Proposal in 47 Minutes
Legal stationery sent to your debtor by email or post can and does work when used correctly.
A Final Demand letter relating to a July 2025 invoice was sent this morning by our client via our Credit Control Room portal at 09:15 am and produced a response at 10:02 am, copied to both ourselves and our client, with an acceptable proposal of payment.
Total cost to our client: £10.00.
Our Credit Control Room portal allows businesses to send low-cost legal stationery — from Gentle Reminders to Letters Before Action — paying only for the letter issued.
Where further action is required, matters are fully supported by our No Recovery – No Fee Debt Recovery Department.
The Credit Control Room
https://t.co/vCfRODE2EJ
020 8665 6666
#CreditControl #DebtRecovery #LatePayment
We were instructed yesterday on a new £7,500 debt.
Initial checks show director resignations. Accounts are six months overdue at Companies House. Debentures recently satisfied.
Further enquiries reveal a new company incorporated a few months ago — the word “Catering” appears in both the old and new company names. A recent debenture has already been filed. Same directors. Different addresses
Our client has now placed the account on hold. Which means either the old company — or the new one — is now out there seeking fresh credit facilities.
All of the above information has been collated and added to the NPD Credit Information Database.
It costs you absolutely nothing to register and share factual trading information. Why allow others to pick up your bad customers — or risk picking up theirs?
Register today: https://t.co/kUaJdYSZY6
You really have nothing to lose.
#NPD&CO #debtrecovery #CreditControlRoom #CreditControl
Carillion Collapse: FCA Fines CEO £237,700
The FCA has fined former Carillion CEO Richard Howson £237,700 over disclosures made before the £7bn collapse. Executive remuneration in the years prior was measured in seven figures.
Full article https://t.co/OPjHDDSEDG
#Carillion #CorporateGovernance #Insolvency
Every day, I read more and more on social media about Companies having problems with their customers — from late payment and disputes, to legal action being taken, debts written off, and ultimately insolvency.
The NPD Database has been receiving and collating all of this information — good and bad — from existing clients and other lawful sources for many years. This has created a powerful tool in helping to prevent bad debt.
Whilst conventional credit reports remain relevant, the information on which credit ratings are based is often historic and may not reflect a company’s true current financial position. Financial circumstances can change very quickly for a multitude of reasons.
Our Database reports do not give credit ratings — we simply supply factual information. How you react to that information is your choice. A company recently entered insolvency whilst holding a £200k+ credit rating, whereas our Database report showed serious ongoing payment issues.
We need you to become another set of eyes and ears — helping prevent others from picking up your problem customers, and you picking up theirs.
Why not sign up today for FREE to NPD’s online portal, The Credit Control Room:
https://t.co/rzwEoPrr2F.
Start the fightback today.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 020 8665 6666
NPD & Company do not charge upfront fees in the vast majority of cases we handle.
Often, payment is secured simply by issuing a formal Letter Before Action via our Credit Control Room Portal 👉 https://t.co/vCfRODDuPb
If your debtor settles at this stage, all you pay for is the letter.
All funds recovered are paid directly to you. We do not hold client monies.
If you’re owed money, take action now.
📞 020 8665 6666
✉️ [email protected]
#DebtRecovery #CreditControl #LatePayment #CashFlow #UKBusiness
Acting for a new client recently, we successfully recovered several historic debts that had previously, for whatever reason, been written off.
Remember — an invoice is generally legally valid for a period of six years from the date of issue, but in certain circumstances this period can be longer.
Why not let us review your old debts? An initial assessment is provided with no obligation.
And at a minimum, let us record the details of your bad debt on the NPD Database — helping to protect other businesses from becoming victims.
To discuss your position, call 020 8665 6666 or email [email protected].
#CreditControl #DebtRecovery #CashFlow #LatePayment #BusinessRisk #SMEs