1. Announce your intention = take action
Never send a debtor a final demand more than once. Nothing damages
your credibility more than threats of further steps (collection, legal
action) that don’t materialise, followed by the same letter 30 days
later.
2. Act fast
Your invoices eventually expire,
see here (list of expiry terms), but you can buy more time
with a summons.
Claims also become more difficult to uphold as they age. The older a
claim, the tougher it is to collect it. If a claim has not been paid
within 120 days, it’s advisable to pass it onto a collector. That’s
the moment your in-house follow-up procedure comes to an end and ICS’s
work begins.
3. Your terms and conditions of sale and ownership provision
Your goods remain your property until the invoice is paid. For this
provision to be valid you must agree this with your customer by the
day of delivery. That means you must have a valid document in which
both parties agree this. The small print on your invoice is not
enough.
In principle, that goes for all provisions in your general terms and
conditions of sale. |
