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How it Works

Reports and information you purchase are sent to you by e-mail, so you can print or save them- first you must set up an account:

1) Setting up an Account is simple...

During the purchasing process you will be guided to the Create an Account area:

Easy registration process (just your name and email address).

Email is then sent to you validating your account.

Your username and password confirmed. That's it!

2) Getting Information

Select the type of information you want: eg; report, documents, company monitor

Select the most suitable package for you and add to your basket

Buy the items you have selected and they will be added to your account.

Search the company or director you want a report on and add to your account.

Benefits

Whether you want to run a credit check because you are researching competitors, assessing joint ventures or new business partnerships, generally checking credit history, or the credibility of new suppliers, our http://www.checkandsearch.com company credit reports service provides you with access to company information about any company, including your own!

Supplier business stability

When embarking on a project with a new partner or looking to switch suppliers it's important to check the business stability of the potential supplier. The range of credit check and company information reports provided by http://www.checkandsearch.com gives you a comprehensive understanding of how a business is doing, providing you with credible company information on which to base your decisions.

Customer credit worthiness

When a customer applies for credit, you need to be able to ensure that the facts they provide to you stack up. Our company credit check reports provide you with a comprehensive understanding of credit history, including a useful and credible credit score to consider as part of your decision making process.

What is meant by Small Claims

The small claims route through the County Courts can be used for disputes where the claim is worth less than £ 5,000.

There are many sources of free legal advice on the internet to assist you with making your claim but be prepared to appear in Court should the claim not be settled.

What is a Statutory Demand

A statutory demand is a legal procedure to force a creditor to pay amounts due. The power of the statutory demand is that you can follow it up 21 days later with a winding up petition. Statutory demands are a very effective way of forcing companies to pay a debt.

The requirements for a statutory demand are set out in the Insolvency Act and have to be followed carefully.

There is a fee of £ 150 and the debt must not be less than £ 750.

Most statutory demands are not issued for debts under £ 5,000 and in cases where you feel reasonably confident that your customer will be able to pay. If you doubt this, then you shouldn't bother with the process.

A statutory demand for a company is a relatively straight forward procedure and can be dealt with using the standard forms.

Setting up a credit control system

Every business should operate a credit control system. Whether you only have a handful of customers or a massive sales ledger, the principles are largely the same. The objective of the exercise is to minimize the time from when work is done to cash being collected. This is essential for the running of a successful business.

The following are some suggested steps:-

1. Credit check your customers. All your customers should be credit checked before you start trading with them and on an ongoing basis from time to time to ensure they are still credit worthy.

New customers should have credit limits set for them.

2. Prompt invoicing. A system should be in place to ensure that invoices are raised promptly. As soon as work is completed or goods are despatched, the invoice should follow.

3. Establish terms and conditions of business to include payment terms. You should agree payment terms with all customers in advance which generally should be in line with your standard terms and conditions of business. Whilst historically, 30 days credit has been the normal time period, recognizing the importance of cash control is critical to the success of a business and you may want to try and impose more stringent payment terms. This may include part payment in advance, payment by way of proforma invoice, or any other terms.

4. Use a computerized sales ledger system. It is surprising, even in this day and age, the number of businesses that don't make use of technology to manage their debtors. Having a proper sales ledger system is critical for good credit control.

5. Send monthly statements. A good credit control sales ledger system should enable the automatic generation of statements be they on paper or in digital format. This should be run on the first or second day of each month capturing all transactions up to the end of the previous month.

6. Institute an automatic reminder procedure. A good sales ledger system will permit you to generate a number of credit letters based on the length of time an invoice has been outstanding. You should be able to include free formatted letters of increasing degrees of sternness.

7. Appoint someone to manage credit control. This should be a trusted member of staff who should not only chase debts, but keep a record of all telephone calls and letters and deal with any legal actions necessary.

8. Try and follow up invoices before their due date particularly with larger invoices, a telephone call a few days before the debt is due can often be a good course of action. Questions to be asked may cover customer's authorization process and when the invoice is due to be paid.

9. Institute a stop list procedure. It is critical in business to ensure that everyone in the organization, particularly sales staff are aware when the customer is in arrears with payment to ensure that further goods and services aren't supplied. A centralized stop list should be instigated and managed.

10. Institute legal proceedings. Where all else fails, it may be necessary to begin legal proceedings. Whether you do it yourself in the small claims court or by the issue of a statutory demand or take legal advice, matters should not be allowed to drift. A good credit control system will have clear guidelines as to when such action is taken or handed over to a credit control agency.

What is a Credit Score?

Most company credit check reports provide a credit score. A good system will clearly explain the meaning of the score and even provide you with a credit limit.

Credit score systems range from a simple percentage to more sophisticated scoring systems based on a multitude of factors.

A credit score is simply an indication of the likelihood of the business facing financial difficulties.

Credit scores are rarely considered in isolation as they will change over a period of time as new information, such as the submission of company accounts, becomes available. Reviewing credit scores on a comparative basis also helps in assessing a company's financial standing.

Why use a company credit check service?

Doing business in the current environment is difficult enough without having to worry about getting paid. For non-retail businesses, where credit is expected by wholesale customers, there is nothing worse than providing goods and services only to end up with a bad debt.

For new customers, it is good business practice to carry out a company credit check to try and get some indication that the company with whom you will be dealing will be able to pay your bill. Whilst such a check is no guarantee of payment, a company credit check with a credit score provides some degree of comfort.

Even with existing customers, it is good practice to regularly check their credit worthiness as part of your credit control system. Diarising regular business credit checks is an important process for every business.

Even if the businesses that you are dealing with do not leave you with a bad debt, delayed payments can cause almost as many problems particularly in an environment of limited finance. Additionally, it can of course cost you time and money in chasing outstanding amounts.

Every business should have a clear system to deal with credit risk and should involve credit limits, procedures for chasing debts, all in line with your terms and conditions of business.

Company credit reports help build such a system.

Free legal help!

We offer you FREE LEGAL SERVICE if you've got a gold or platinum account. Only when you checked the company on checkandsearch.com and the company was given a green light. You will have no legal costs to solve your problem and will we do the debt collections of your money for free.