7 Tools To Kill Falsely Disputed Debts

Whether you know it or not you’re an easy target unscrupulous debtors who falsely dispute their debts in an effort to legally get out of paying their accounts.

Now the reason this dirty tactic works so well is because almost without exception collection agencies won’t touch a disputed debt. And it really makes no difference whether that dispute is genuine or clearly bogus… collection agencies don’t care!

With no one to help you, trying to settle a bogus debt on your own will inevitably cripple you physically, emotionally and financially!

Fortunately, there are seven simple yet devastating tools to protect you from bogus disputes. When used in concert these little-known weapons of destruction will cut bogus disputes off at the knees before their lies gain any traction.

Your 4 Soft Spots

To gain a deeper respect for these tool’s immense power it helps to first shed light on your greatest susceptibilities with regards to falsely disputed debts. In essence, whether genuine or made-up, disputes tend to exploit one or more of the following holes in your business:

1. The amount charged is more than was discussed;

2. The quality of workmanship, goods or services is unsatisfactory;

3. Damages were incurred during delivery of product or service;

4. What was delivered was not what was agreed upon.

Keeping these 4 ‘soft targets’ in mind, here then are the 7 Pillars of Prevention that’ll fortify your defenses against the ravishes of bogus disputes.

7 Pillars Of Prevention

Pillar of Prevention #1: Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions of Trade is a legally binding document which defines how you and your customers conduct business together. By spelling out the rights and obligations of both parties your Terms and Conditions of Trade simultaneously reduce the potential for abuse as well as arm you with the full power of the law.

While there is no such thing as standard Terms and Conditions of Trade and that such terms must be tailored to your particular business, there are 12 essential acts of legislature intimately related to preventing disputes that your Terms absolutely must address.

To be comprehensively protected against disputed debts your Terms and Conditions of Trade must address each and every one of the following acts of legislation that is relevant to your business…

* Definitions

* Pricing, Quotes and Estimates

* Payment Terms

* Delivery Arrangements

* Guarantees, Warranties and Liabilities

* Ownership Of Goods

* Recovery Of Goods

* Merger With Other Goods

* Privacy Act Authorization

* Personal Property Securities Act

* What Happens If Customer Defaults on Payment

* What Happens If Customer Disputes an Account

Your Terms of Trade are the plutonium of your warheads. Without comprehensive Terms of Trade tailored to your particular business all of the following anti-disputes weapons won’t even scratch a bogus dispute.

Pillar of Prevention #2: Credit Check

You’ve probably heard the saying: “A leopard doesn’t change it’s spots!” It’s no different with people. If some one has a track record of repeatedly defaulting on payment, chances are they’ll default again… and most likely by falsely disputing the debt.

A tremendous tool for weeding-out potential disputers is to obtain a credit report. In a nutshell, a credit report details information relating to an individual’s (or a company’s) level of debt as well as their ability to service those debts.

Alert to such patterns of behaviors you have the choice to either demand up-front payment before commencing work or alternatively refuse to do business with them in the first place.

Either way, by conducting an up-front credit check on prospective customers you’ll dramatically reduce your exposure to dispute abuse. And because it’s so cheap and easy to do online there really is no good reason why you shouldn’t be performing routine credit checks right now!

Pillar of Prevention #3: Goods Authorization Form

Designed to reduce potential for a customer claiming they never actually agreed to purchase your goods as an excuse for not paying, this Goods Authorization Form clearly documents who has requested to receive what, by when and for how much.

Pillar of Prevention #4: Work Authorization and Quotation

Similar to an Authority To Supply Goods, this form averts any confusion or misunderstanding related to services provided. Once again this form details what work is to be carried out; it stipulates who’s responsible for the account; and it states the terms for payment. Importantly, it also specifies whether the agreed fee is a quote or simply an estimate.

Pillar of Prevention #5: Variation of Quote

A very costly trap often opens when a client requests a modification to work quoted.

To illustrate, imagine you’ve quoted a client say $1,000 to install a manual roller door for their garage. Then before you actually install the roller door the client asks for an electric roller door instead.

Regardless of whether or not you both shake hands on higher price, if you don’t formally document and sign this amendment then you leave yourself wide open to performing the more expensive work and only being paid what you originally quoted.

As such, whenever you modify what has been originally quoted you must get your customer to sign this completed Quotation Variation Form.

Pillar of Prevention #6: Work Completion Confirmation

This is an extremely powerful piece of paper. By clearly detailing what has been delivered and getting the customer to sign this declaration, this form essentially eliminates any chance for your customer to falsely dispute a debt on the grounds that you’ve failed to fulfill your part of the agreement.

Furthermore, as mentioned in your Conditions of Trade, your customer has a maximum of 1 week following the signing of this document to formally notify you of any concerns they have with the quality of your work.

Should they notify you of a dispute after this 7 day window has closed then you automatically possess the full power of the law to recover the debt. In effect you’ve slammed the door shut on disputes relating to quality and damages.

Pillar of Prevention #7: Personal Property Securities Register

Should a debtor dispute the quality of goods or services more than a week after signing a Work Completion Form, for a measly $3 you can register a security over their goods, car, house or assets. In so doing you empower yourself to potentially repossess these registered assets should they continue to dispute the debt.

As mentioned earlier, it’s critical you understand that there is no such thing as standard set of tools. For total protection it’s paramount you utilise each and every Pillar of Prevention that’s applicable to your business. Should you overlook any relevant defense you’ll needlessly set yourself up for abuse.

And finally, as these tools require considerable legal expertise to prepare and execute you should only ever engage the services of a Terms of Trade specialist.

To help you prevent and resolve debts disputes The Debt Doctor’s Debt Collection website has a number of powerful free tools and resources. For instance, to download free debt recovery letterssimply click either link above.