Limerick and the mid-west carry a substantial manufacturing, logistics, services and construction base, which produces the debt profile this practice sees most: business-to-business ledgers, company debtors, and contract arrears where the underlying commercial position needs assessing before anything is issued.
Business-to-Business Debt, and the Entitlement Nobody Claims
Where both parties are businesses, the European Communities (Late Payment in Commercial Transactions) Regulations 2012 give the supplier an automatic entitlement to statutory late payment interest and to fixed compensation for recovery costs — arising without a reminder, without prior notice, and without appearing anywhere in the contract or on the invoice. Almost nobody claims it, usually for the rational reason that a modest entitlement is not worth a valuable customer. The difficulty is that this becomes a default rather than a decision, so it goes unused even where the relationship has ended or where recovery has already reached a solicitor. It is also worth checking payment terms: in business-to-business contracts a period exceeding sixty days must generally be expressly agreed and must not be grossly unfair to the supplier, so extended terms imposed in a large customer’s standard conditions are not automatically effective.
Construction and Contract Debts Need Sorting Before Issuing
A significant proportion of mid-west commercial debt arises out of construction and supply contracts, and those need a preliminary judgement that ordinary invoice recovery does not. Is this a liquidated sum — a specific ascertainable amount — or is it really a claim for damages requiring assessment, which the summary procedure is not built for? Is there a genuine set-off or counterclaim arising from the same contract, which is common where works or supplies are in dispute? And is there separate statutory payment machinery engaged, which applies to construction contracts and can offer a faster route than ordinary proceedings — that work runs alongside constructionlawsolicitor.ie. Getting this sorting wrong is the most expensive mistake available: a summary claim that meets a genuine defence is remitted to plenary hearing, where time moves to many months and costs cease to be proportionate to the debt.
Two Free Tools Before You Call
The Debt Limitation Checker walks the time-limit questions and flags where a debt may be statute-barred. The Recovery Route Mapper shows the likely court, procedure and enforcement options — and flags where the honest answer is not to issue at all. Both run entirely on your device; nothing is stored or sent.
Worth Pursuing, or Not?
The amount, when it fell due, whether anything restarted the clock, the debtor's correct legal name and what you know about their means. Those five answers shape everything.
Call 01 5827148