Networking Now

I suspect that most of the people of this forum are strictly 'cash in advance' businesses, however I thought I'd ask;

Do you offer credit terms to your customers? (i.e. 14 or 30 days).
If so, Do you credit check prior to accepting the business?
Do you credit check on an ongoing basis?

If so (and you don't mind) who do you use to do your credit checks?
Do you solely rely on agency data or do you also use other data?


I'm currently putting together an article and any information would be great + I'm also talking to a friend who was on the team that made the credit database used by D&B which in turn is used by most other suppliers about linking up and offering credit checks as part of my credit control services.

Sean

Not yet, but it does raise the question, with a credit check affecting ratings for 90 days, is it legal to check someone without prior authorisation?

Does it affect a companies rating for 90 days as it does individually?

A company like ours that is new with no history could be affected?

Companies: No authorisation is required to perform a credit check and it does not impact the credit rating directly. Indirectly some credit managers will look at how many times a report has been pulled in the past 3 or so months and factor it into a decision. Although you can only tell how many times it has been pulled at the particular agency you use (if they offer that service) so it is not a perfect system.

Individuals: Authorisation is required before pulling a report. However, one to watch is when you are signing any type of contract or other documentation as it may be in the small print that by signing you are saying ok to a credit check upfront and then on a recurring basis.

Thankfully the UK system is not as bad as the US FICO system for credit checking so the impact is not so bad on a personal report.

It is always worth spending a few £ on pulling your own report once a year just to make sure everything looks ok and nothing has found its way on there that should not be there.

Sean

Sound advice there Sean, exactly what i was after!

Cheers!