Official inflation figures have just been released for December, and it won’t be a surprise to many people that the news is bad. The figure is 5.4% — the highest inflation since March 1992. This is clearly bad news for consumers, especially those on low income, but what is it likely to mean for your business? Inflation Squeezing Household Spending Much of the recent inflation, the highest this century, is obvio
The liquidation of a company doesn’t always have to be a traumatic event. There are many reasons why a decision may be taken to close down a company and, as long as it has enough assets to pay all creditors in full, this can be done in an orderly fashion through a solvent liquidation. However, occasionally this procedure goes wrong, and the liquidator is forced to convert the process to an insolvent liquidation
During the pandemic, the government brought in measures that restricted the power of landlords to seek possession from tenants who fell behind in their rent payments. Most of these restrictions ended from 31st October, but what does this actually mean for landlords? The Pandemic Restrictions on Evictions In March 2020, the Coronavirus Act 2020 placed major restrictions on landlords’ ability to seek possession o
If you’re offering services to clients, you have the choice of whether to request payment up front, allow them to pay after delivery or set up a payment plan. Many business owners shy away from asking for up-front payment, fearing it will make them less attractive to prospects. However, this can lead to situations of having to pursue the client through the courts for unpaid invoices — or even having to write th
Many sectors of the financial world have their own independent oversight bodies. The best known is probably the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) but similar organisations operate in various areas of finance. One notable exception, though, has been the debt enforcement sector — but that may be changing. A prominent think-tank has brought together various sides of the sector and proposed a framework for a new oversigh
If you’re in court, whether bringing a case or defending it, you clearly want to win, but the minimum is that you don’t want to be hit with unnecessary court costs. You’d think that would be obvious to anyone, but it’s surprising how many people behave as if they actually want to be charged. So, for those people, this is how to achieve your aim. For everyone else, this is what to avoid. Variou
Bounce Back Loans were a key plank in the government’s strategy for supporting SMEs through the Covid lockdown. Payment was deferred for a year, which for many seemed too far ahead to worry about — but we’re now into the second repayment month. So how is it going? What Were the Bounce Back Loans? So much has happened since last spring, when the scheme began, that even if you have a loan your memory of its
One of the more onerous duties imposed on landlords in the past few years has been the obligation to carry out Right to Rent checks on their tenants. Since March last year, the requirements have been adjusted to allow for lockdown rules, but what will the future bring? What Are Right to Rent Checks? The Immigration Act 2016 made it a criminal offence to rent a home or part of a home to anyone whose immigration status
The perfect balance for any landlord is to ensure a regular, unbroken income from your property with a minimum of effort and hassle. And the best way of ensuring that is to keep any good tenants you already have. The obvious advantage of keeping a good tenant is that you won’t have gaps in the rent coming in, but there are other benefits. If the tenancy isn’t constantly changing, you’ll be spending
Over twenty years experience in Debt Collection and Credit Control at your service. The worst thing you can do about collecting slow and overdue accounts is: "NOTHING"