On one of my forays into networking recently, I heard a talk about Credit Management and how to get it badly wrong. I was blown away by how easily you can "cock it up" and so I asked the speaker, Ken Brown of Direct Route Collections Limited if he would do a guest blog for me.

Instead he has given me what he calls the Seven Deadly Sins of Debt Collection which I will reproduce one by one over the next few weeks.

So first: Deadly Sin No. 1 - Legal Entity Unknown

If you don’t know who you’re dealing with it can tie you in knots. You are chasing that overdue debt but you are getting nowhere. The information you have on the debtor is incomplete.

You can’t hope to successfully collect all monies that are owing to you in the longer term if you do not know the exact legal entity or the debtor you are dealing with – is it Fred Bloggs Ltd or even Fred & Martha Bloggs UK Ltd or Fred & Martha Bloggs trading as Fred Bloggs?

Fail to determine the right information and you’re unlikely to elicit any sympathy or resolution in a court of law.

It can cost you dear indeed when you realise after the event of supply that you’re not 100% sure of the entity that you have allowed goods or services to on credit. You may end up writing off wasted court fees and your invoices in some cases.