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84 PERCENT OF BUSINESSES WANT GOVERNMENT SUPPORT IN THE BATTLE TO REDUCE COMMERCIAL LATE PAYMENT REVEALS EQUIFAX

London April 30th 2004 – New research from leading credit reference agency, Equifax plc reveals that a staggering 53 percent of businesses have experienced a noticeable increase in the number of late payers in the last year. The findings confirm that late payment is a burning issue for businesses in the UK.

Equifax surveyed credit control and credit risk managers from a wide range of markets. Respondents were asked how concerned they are that late payment is becoming an ever-growing problem, of which 44 percent replied ‘concerned’ and 32 percent ‘very concerned’.

The survey also reveals that 50 percent of respondents experience a 25 percent rate of late payment amongst their customers and 25 percent said that 50 percent of their customers pay their debts late. Some 14 percent reported that all customers are late payers and 11 percent saying 75 percent of customers are late payers. Although 48 percent of respondents threaten to charge interest on late payments, only 6 percent actually go through with their threat and 74 percent do not charge interest at all.

Kamala Panday, Credit Today Editor said:"We seem to be a nation of late payers with half of all businesses noticing a marked increase recently in the amount of time it takes their customers to settle bills. It's only a matter of time before they start tightening up payment terms. Perhaps, this is the incentive businesses need to start charging late payment interest. At present just under half of all UK firms do this."


Michael Shannon, Group Executive of Equifax Europe concludes, “Commercial late payment is clearly an issue for businesses with 84 percent of our survey respondents calling upon the government to do more to support them in tackling the issue. There is a range of products and services businesses can use to help them reduce risk and avoid getting into trouble through late payers, but our survey shows that they often don’t know where to look for help.”

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