Improved payment times reported within the construction industry
Build UK recently reported that its members have reduced the average amount of time taken to pay invoices.
For the last year, Build UK have been publishing data submitted under the Duty to Report on Payment Practices and Performance. The latest figures show a reduction of 5 days, bringing the average payment time by contractors down to 40 days. The average percentage of invoices paid beyond terms has also dropped from 34% to 25%.
This is great news for the construction industry, and a step in the right direction for an industry that has had a long-standing battle with late payments. It is the ambition of the Construction Supply Chain Payment Charter, that the construction industry’s standard payment terms are reduced to 30 days by 2025.
Although, there is a great deal of positive activity taking place within the construction industry, in relation to late payments, overdue invoices are still today’s issue. My Debt Recovery has extensive experience in recovering debts within the construction industry and below we have put together a few examples of the types of clients we have helped over the years.
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Interior Design & Shopfitting Company
Debt: £13,000
Challenge: Our client was unable to collect monies owed to them by a contractor for 9 months. Their work was not in dispute, the contractor just wouldn’t pay.
Solution: On our client’s behalf, we obtained a County Court Judgement. We applied further pressure of enforcement/winding up petition.
Result: A payment plan over a short period was agreed and a total of £16,000 (including costs) was collected within 3 months.
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Electrical Contractor
Debt: £15,000
Challenge: Our client carried out electrical work on development property and was paid no monies for over 6 months.
Solution: The debtor would still not engage so we filed a winding up petition filed on behalf of our client.
Result: Payment was achieved in full, plus all costs.
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Concrete Materials Company
Debt: £13,000
Challenge: Monies were owed to our client for concrete they had provided, however, the debtor was refusing to settle due to a dispute.
Solution: We held negotiations with the debtor over a period of 2 months.
Result: Payment was achieved in full, plus £1,000 towards our client’s costs.
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Waste & Plant Hire Firm
Debt: £12,000
Challenge: The debtor, a building contractor, attempted to avoid payment through dissolution of their company.
Solution: We were successful in proving personal liability and a court order was awarded.
Result: We collected a total of £22,000 that included late payment fees, interest and costs.
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If you work within the construction industry and are struggling with late payments, please get in touch with our team to find out how we can help on 0800 009 6106 or hello@mydebtrecovery.co.uk.