{"id":479,"date":"2017-03-06T11:48:55","date_gmt":"2017-03-06T00:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marshallfreeman.com.au\/blog\/?p=479"},"modified":"2017-07-26T12:03:50","modified_gmt":"2017-07-26T02:03:50","slug":"how-long-do-you-have-to-recover-debts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshallfreeman.com.au\/blog\/how-long-do-you-have-to-recover-debts\/","title":{"rendered":"How long do you have to recover debts?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How long do you have to recover debts? <\/strong><\/h1>\n

Million’s owed to SMEs in unpaid invoices nationally: how to chase outstanding invoices<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Unpaid invoices have been referred to as the \u201csilent killers\u201d of small business by Market Invoice. And, according to statistics compiled by the Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman\u2019s office, 90% of small business failures are due to poor cash flow, with small businesses owed $26 million in unpaid invoices.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in Australia, more and more small businesses are falling victim to the unscrupulous payment practices of some big businesses \u2013 and even some governments \u2013 that are quite frankly a drag on productivity,\u201d Small business ombudsman Kate Carnell told the Australian Financial Review<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

“From stipulating unfair payment terms in contracts, to simply not honouring agreed payment times, a number of big businesses are effectively treating the little guys as banks by forcing them to provide interest-free loans in the form of late or unpaid invoices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chasing these overdue invoices severely impacts business resources. The Ombudsman\u2019s office also estimates small business owners spend an average 12 days a year chasing unpaid invoices and 27% of small businesses have been forced to take out loans to pay their suppliers and wages.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So, just how long do you have to recover debts? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Each state has laws governing how long you have to collect a debt,\u00a0according to each states limitation act\u00a0however generally you have six years\u00a0to recover a debt from the date:<\/p>\n