The deadline of your formal notice has passed and you are still not paid by your customer despite several reminders by phone and by mail.

You have no other choice but to continue the recovery of your bills by other means.

If you have neither the human resources nor the time to handle a legal action against your debtor, and that you are not insured credit on your debt, you can transmit  the case to a specialized company in the debt recovery (a collection agency) in order to manage the dispute with your customer and finally get the payment of your bills.

This solution has great advantages and some inconvenients.

Collection agencies process

collection agencies
This solution is easy to implement and there are many specialized companies willing to sell you their services. The advantages are:
  • You give your unpaid invoices to professional collectors who will guide you on how to recover your debt in the most effective and appropriate way,
  • You stay focused on your business and do not waste time in a specific business in which you are not comfortable. The collection company manages the entire process of debt collection and legal assistance if necessary.
  • You preserve the customer relationship is not in first line on a sensitive subject,
  • You can get financial compensation in the event of legal action and late penalties that offset all or part of the costs of the collection agency.
Collection agencies are remunerated either on a fix cost or on % of amounts recovered.
Therefore, your service provider will act as the cost of its action is cost effective compared to the expected gain.

In some cases, he doesn’t go far enough in his recovery or you will have to pay extra. The disadvantages are:
  • The cost may represent a significant proportion of the amount of your debt ,
  • The difficulty of knowing the effectiveness of the action. You may have to incur costs with no guarantee about the result obtained.
Collection agencies
Intrum Justicia. A leader of the recovery in Europe.
Coface. Coface is a credit insurer, which also offers other services including debt collection worldwide.
Collection agency services.net. Website which offer free quotations from collections agency in United States.
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