Clearline recovers unpaid commercial invoices on behalf of the business named in our letter or email. We are not a law firm, we have not bought your debt, and we have no enforcement powers of our own. What we do have is a straightforward way to resolve this, and a preference for doing it quickly and civilly.
We will never ask for card details by phone or emailWe contact you within strict frequency limitsReasonable payment proposals are usually acceptedGenuine disputes pause collection immediately
Your options
Four ways this ends, and three of them are easy.
Pay in full
Use the secure link in your letter or email: bank transfer, card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Payment stops all further action and stops the statutory interest accruing that day. A receipt is issued immediately and the creditor is notified.
Propose instalments
If you cannot clear it in one payment, propose a plan at the same link. Reasonable proposals are usually accepted the same day, often within the hour. There is no fee for setting up a plan and no interest is added while an agreed plan is running.
Tell us it is wrong
If you believe some or all of the balance is not due, say so with your reasons and any documents. Collection on the disputed part pauses while we review both sides, and undisputed sums remain payable meanwhile.
Do nothing
The least good option. Statutory interest continues to accrue daily, the file escalates through formal notices toward a letter of claim, and if a judgment is eventually entered it can be registered against your company and affect its ability to obtain credit. None of that is a threat, it is simply the sequence, and every earlier step is easier than the next.
Common questions
Straight answers, no small print.
Because they have instructed us to recover the balance. We act as their appointed agent, which means the debt is still owed to them, not to us, and they remain in control of decisions about it. Our letter names the creditor and the invoices concerned. If you would rather deal with them directly, you can, though the account remains with us until they tell us otherwise.
They are statutory, not ours. The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 entitles a business to interest at the Bank of England base rate plus 8% on a late commercial invoice, plus fixed compensation of £40, £70 or £100 depending on the invoice size. They are automatic and require no clause in the contract. Our own fee is paid by our client out of what is recovered, and is not added to your balance unless the letter says otherwise.
Email us the specific grounds and any supporting documents, ideally within seven days. Collection on the disputed amount pauses as soon as we have that. We ask the creditor for their evidence too, review both sides, and send you a written position summary with a proposal, usually within five working days of receiving your information. We do not chase through a genuine dispute. Where a dispute is raised without any evidence and none is supplied, the pause lifts and recovery resumes.
Tell us, and we will take it into account. We can consider longer instalment terms, pause contact while you take advice, and where relevant we will hold the account. If you are a sole trader, free independent advice is available from Business Debtline on 0800 197 6026 or at businessdebtline.org, and you are under no obligation to tell us anything about your circumstances before speaking to them. If you are subject to a statutory moratorium such as Breathing Space, notify us and all contact and interest accrual stop immediately as the law requires.
We work to strict internal limits: no more than three emails, two calls, one text and one letter in any week, and no calls before 8.30am, after 6pm, or at weekends. If you ask us to use one channel only, we will honour that within one working day. If you feel contact has been excessive or unfair, our complaints procedure is published and every complaint gets a named handler and a response within fifteen working days.
No to both. We are a commercial debt recovery firm acting as an agent. We cannot enter premises, remove goods, or take enforcement action. Only a court can order enforcement, and only after a judgment, which requires proceedings that the creditor must decide to bring. If a matter does reach that stage, it is handled by a solicitor and you will receive a formal letter of claim first, with time to respond.
We process what we need to administer the recovery: the debt and its history, your business contact details, our correspondence and calls, and information from public sources such as Companies House and the register of judgments. We do not sell it and we do not discuss your account with anyone outside your business other than the creditor and, where relevant, their solicitor. Our privacy notice sets out your rights, including access and objection, and complaints can go to the Information Commissioner's Office.
Talk to us
Most of this resolves in one conversation.
Quote the reference on your letter and you will reach the specialist handling your file, not a call centre queue. If you want to settle, arrange terms, or explain a problem, we would rather hear it than escalate.