Thierry Gingembre, who has a degree from the law department of Nanterre University, is the Chairman of Saint Louis Recouvrement. He lectures and conducts training courses in debt collection for professionals and businesses. Mr Gingembre is the Deputy Chairman of the ANCR in charge of legal matters and the regulation of the debt collection industry.

Anne-Laure Stérin is a business lawyer and teaches courses on document searches in Paris.

Overdue debts are one of the leading causes of bankruptcy.

Sooner or later, every business will be faced with overdue debts. And the risk is not purely commercial. It is financial as well, since the law requires that penalties be charged and claimed in any business relationship.

Starting in 2005, those penalties must also be added into taxable income, regardless of whether a firm has collected them or not.

A war has been declared on bad payers: in order for the company that we want to protect to avoid becoming a victim of this tough new approach, it needs to make preparations now.

Taking a dynamic, educational approach to the problem, “How to deal with overdue debt” places overdue debt in its economic and legal context. It offers concrete solutions for the development and implementation of legal and commercial strategies for debt collection and for the prevention of overdue debts:

• How should you react?
• How should you get organised?
• What methods should you put in place?
• Who should be relied on to collect the debt?
• How should you prepare in advance?
• How can you reduce risks?
• etc.

This guide gives managers, accountants, sales staff and any person responsible for debt collection within the company the key to asking the right questions and answering them so that you will have the best possible chance of collecting the debts you are owed.

From the first reminder letter or phone call to the commencement of legal proceedings, all of the methods, techniques and proceedings are explained in detail, supporting by models, examples and advice.

At a time (2003) when the most recent reforms are being debated in Parliament (private entrepreneur’s home not subject to charging order, direct access by bailiffs to bank account files), this guide will quickly become an essential tool for the proper day-to-day management of your firm’s trade receivables.