By Darrin Mitchell, Senior Associate at Matthews Folbigg in the Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group
A fundamental of any relationship is knowing who you are dealing with. This goes especially for business relationships where dealing with the correct customer may make the difference between getting paid, and missing out.
Your customer is not generally the purchasing clerk who rings up to order your goods or the foreman who requests your services on site. However, even more importantly, the customer is not a business name! Rather, this business name will normally be owned by, or used by, a legal entity. It is of the most fundamental importance in business that you properly understand the legal entity with whom you are dealing. This may be a corporation, partnership or sole trader. In addition, entities trading on behalf of others, for instance trustees, add another layer of complexity to business relationships, and to debt collection. [...]