‘Invoice not received or lost’ tops the table, which is followed by the inability to pay because the debtor is awaiting late payment and disputing the invoice after the contract is agreed.
Some of the more inventive explanations in the research by credit control company Satago include ‘I thought I was going to inherit some money from my mother, but she is still alive’, while a number of small and medium-sized enterprises have come across individuals who have faked their own deaths to get out of paying their debts.
SHREDDED
Other creative excuses include ‘I accidentally shredded the invoices’, ‘someone stole all the paperwork’ and the old classic of ‘the dog ate it’.
Late payment can have a detrimental effect on small businesses.
Satago has found 34 per cent of UK SMEs are forced to write off thousands of pounds of bad debt every year.