We can see you!

One of our Solicitor clients regularly acts on behalf of a computer manufacturer, who unfortunately on occasion suffer from attempted fraudulent orders and non payment. Goods are ordered, shipped to a holding address and sold on before payment is made to the manufacturer. The "customer" can then sometimes disappear.

 

On one such instance, involving £400,000 of computers, our client went out to inspect the computers (at 4.30pm), to confirm they had been received and to prompt payment. However the customer refused them access to do an inspection. Smelling a rat, we were asked to provide surveillance operatives almost immediately at the premises and keep an eye on any activity overnight. 

At 6am the goods were being readied for moving and when we advised our client they contacted the MD and told him that, if the goods were moved, a Judge sitting at 10am would not be amused. He capitulated and we collected £250,000 of computers later that day.

 

Out of interest, all was not lost with regard to the remaining £150,000 of computers. We obtained copies of all sales invoices and our client wrote to all of the customers who had not yet paid for their computers and pointed out that under Retention of Title they could only have good title to the equipment if they paid our client. Failure to do so would result in them being liable for conversion. A further £100,000 was recovered as a result.

Industry Topic - 2012 Q4 Insolvency Service Statistics

R3, the trade body for Insolvency Professionals, recently commented on the above statistics. The statistics provide an interesting insight into the current climate and give us much food for thought. There is clearly still some way to go for the economy to instil confidence........

R3 say, "Total individual insolvencies in 2012 are down 8% from 2011 figures, while bankruptcy orders have fallen 24% year on year which is encouraging, however this should not be taken as an indication that people are prosperous and financially secure. There remains a vast majority of individuals who are still struggling with their personal finances. This is evidenced by consumer spending falling as people continue to prioritize paying down their debt."

"Individuals typically petition for bankruptcy because of credit card and bank debt that they cannot repay however in recent times we have seen more manageable repayment plans put in place by lenders. This has allowed indebted individuals to pay off their debts over a longer period of time instead of entering formal insolvency. If lenders were to become more aggressive in their pursuit of debts owed it is likely that we will see more individuals becoming insolvent."  

The full statement can be read here. 

London House News

Our year has started well with the fantastic news that we have been successful with a tender for the provision of trace and process serving for The Insolvency Service. This contract begins next week for a minimum 12month period and we look forward to working with their UK wide regional offices. Another Blue Chip Client for London House.

We are delighted to advise that we have a new London House Franchise Owner. Robert Jutton has just completed his training and will be covering the Derby area for us (all DE postcodes). Rob was originally with Midland Bank/Forward Trust and then a Senior Manager with both Ford Credit and GE Capital selling finance and leasing into the IT industry. Latterly he developed and sold a yacht brokerage franchise. So, welcome aboard Rob!

Rob's details can be found here - London House Services Derby  

This month we also attended the Credit Services Association half yearly members meeting. As ever, it's good to catch up with friends and peers and get industry updates and news. Compliance and regulation was, of course, a prominent feature of the conference and it will certainly be a topic that will take up much of our time over the coming years particularly with the birth of the FCA in April 2014.

January 2013

Happy New Year to everybody!  

Last year was an unusual and difficult time for our industry and it will be interesting to see how 2013 develops. Without doubt, there are further hard times ahead for some but there does appear to be a small amount of confidence creeping back into the economy. This has to be a good thing for everyone, particularly if we can avoid the triple dip(!) recession, and at London House we are looking forward to a fascinating year ahead.

London House Top 10

For our clients we undertake a mixed variety of work that covers the full remit of investigative services. Our client base, which continues to grow, know that they can come to London House with a business problem and they can be confident of our professional help and advice. At the end of the year we thought we would have a look at our most popular services provided in 2012 and these are listed below. 

Clicking on the service will provide more information

• Tracing missing persons/absconded debtors
• Process Serving
• Evidence of means interviews/status reports
• Discreet Enquiries/investigations
• Pre-Repossession Reports on properties
• Property Repossession (Residential & Commercial)
• Surveillance operations
• Commercial Debt Collection
• Debt & Mortgage Shortfall Counselling
• Insurance Claims Investigations

Industry Topic

From the results of its quarterly Data Gathering Initiative, The Credit Services Association recently released figures confirming that businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to collect their cash.

At the end of September 2012 the amount outsourced to third party debt collection agencies stood at £1.145bn, an increase of 12% on the previous quarter.Similarly, there was also a rise in both the amount and volume of consumer debt passed to Debt Collection Agencies or sold to Debt Buyers. As at the end of September the amount now stands at £62bn, a rise of 4%.  

These continue to be staggering figures and collection of these debts remains critical for the economy.  

 

Full details of The CSA Press release can be found here