B2B recovery
Commercial debt collection in Dubai
Business-to-business debt: trade credit, supply balances, service contracts, retentions and disputed accounts. The core of what we do, and the category where amicable recovery works best — because both sides are still trading and both have something to lose.
What counts as commercial debt
Anything owed by one business to another. In practice the claims that reach us fall into a small number of shapes:
- Trade credit and supply balances — goods delivered on terms, invoiced, and never paid.
- Service contract balances — annual maintenance contracts, retainers, managed services and professional fees.
- Retentions and final accounts — money withheld at the end of a project that was never released.
- Variation and scope disputes — work done outside the original order which the debtor now says was never authorised.
- Distributor and agency balances — stock supplied against a distribution agreement, with the account left open.
- Cheques given against a commercial balance — handled through cheque recovery where they have been returned.
Why B2B debt behaves differently
A commercial debtor is not a consumer who cannot pay. In most cases they can, and the question is where you sit in their payment queue. That is the real problem: a business under cash pressure pays the creditors who create consequences and defers the ones who do not.
Which is why the formal demand stage does most of the work in commercial recovery. It does not change the debtor's ability to pay. It changes their ranking of who to pay first — and that is usually enough.
In construction, fit-out and logistics especially, your debtor may be withholding because they have not been paid themselves. That does not make the debt unrecoverable, but it does change the strategy: a structured settlement tied to their own receivable is frequently a better outcome than a demand that cannot be met. We will tell you when we think that is what we are looking at.
Disputed accounts
Debtors dispute for two quite different reasons, and telling them apart early is most of the value we add.
| Signal | Usually means | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| Dispute raised only after the demand arrives | Tactical — an attempt to reset the clock | Confront it with the documentation and hold the deadline |
| Dispute raised at the time of delivery, in writing | Likely genuine | Establish the real quantum and negotiate a commercial figure |
| Partial payment made, balance disputed | Acknowledgement of the underlying debt | Strong position — pursue the balance |
| No response at all | Avoidance or distress | Verify solvency before deciding whether to escalate |
Placing a ledger rather than a claim
If you are carrying a book of aged receivables rather than a single problem account, they can be placed together. Batch placement carries less per-file overhead, which is reflected in the commission rate, and it lets us triage: the accounts most likely to pay get worked first rather than everything being worked equally.
What we need from you
- The invoices, and the contract, LPO or agreed quotation behind them.
- Evidence of delivery or acceptance — this is the document debtors attack most often.
- A statement of account showing what has been paid.
- Any written acknowledgement of the balance, including a casual email promising payment. These are frequently worth more than the invoice.
- The debtor's full legal name, not their trading name.
Send what you have. Gaps are common and not fatal — we will tell you where they weaken your position before you commit to anything.
Commercial recovery FAQs
What B2B creditors ask
Will this end my commercial relationship with the customer?
Sometimes the relationship is the reason the debt has run this long. If it is genuinely worth preserving, tell us at the assessment stage and the approach is adjusted — a demand can be firm without being final. But be realistic: a customer who has not paid in nine months and stopped answering has already made a decision about the relationship.
The debtor says they will pay when their client pays them. Is that ever true?
Frequently, yes — particularly in construction and logistics. It is not a reason to stop pursuing, but it does change what a good outcome looks like. A documented settlement with a payment schedule is often more recoverable than a demand for immediate payment in full that the debtor genuinely cannot meet.
Can you collect a retention that was never released?
Yes, and it is a common claim. The strength of the position depends on whether the conditions for release were met and documented — practical completion, defects liability expiry, or whatever the contract specified. Send the contract with the claim.
Do you handle claims against government or semi-government entities?
These have their own procedures and constraints, and the realistic options are narrower than with a private debtor. We will tell you at the assessment stage whether we think there is a route worth taking.