Nine out of ten UK companies record rise in bad debt.
- 91% of UK companies have seen an increase in defaulted payments from creditors in the last 12 months.
- Three quarters (74%) of UK companies are concerned about their exposure to bad debt.
- 4% of UK enterprises are awaiting payment of at least £100,000 from creditors.
New research published today by Creditsafe, the business intelligence experts, reveals that 91% of UK companies have seen an increase in defaulted payments from creditors in the last 12 months.
- One in ten companies (10.4%) has seen their level of bad debt, defaulted payments and monies owed beyond the period set out in their terms and conditions increase by over 20% in the last 12 months.
- Almost three quarters (74%) of UK companies are concerned about their exposure to bad debt.
- Significantly, 16% of businesses are very concerned that the levels of bad debt to which they are exposed will have an impact on the viability of their enterprise to continue operations in 2010. Despite some commentators pointing to green shoots of recovery for the economy, over half of UK businesses (56%) are more concerned about late and defaulted payments than they were 12 months ago at the height of the financial crisis.
- A staggering 4% of UK enterprises are awaiting payment of at least £100,000 from creditors. Creditors are persistently failing to pay monies owed within the period set out in companies’ terms and conditions and the victims of late payment have significant paper losses on their balance sheets as a consequence.
- One in ten companies (9.7%) has bad debts on their balance sheets that equate to at least 20% of their annual profits.