Shocking truth of late payment revealed

The true scale of how much late payment is affecting British businesses has been revealed in a new survey from insurer, Zurich.  The research that 52% of businesses are owed money by tardy customers, with 21% owed more than £25,000 and almost one in ten (9%) due more than £100,000.

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Commenting on the findings, Hilton-Baird Collections (www.hiltonbairdcollections.co.uk) said, the research shows a worsening of the late payment problem with 39% of survey respondents saying that late payment had a significant impact on their cash flow, with 24% having to dip into their overdraft in order to manage it.

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It’s little wonder when you consider that 64% are seeing delays of more than a month. Almost half are typically having to wait three months for payment (45%), with 14% reporting delays of at least six months. In the month the government has introduced new payment reporting regulations on larger companies, who are often seen as the worst offenders, 50% of respondents said the government needed to do more to reduce the impact of late payment on SMEs.