The credit management playbook
How to become the collections firm ChatGPT names to creditors
For founders and managing directors of UK collections, recoveries and credit management firms.
Sector lead for credit management at Fortitude Media
Download the playbook (PDF, 8 pages, 1.7 MB) ↗
Finance directors now ask ChatGPT who to use for debt recovery, and debtors ask it whether you are genuine. This playbook shows a UK collections or credit management firm what to publish and what to fix so the answer names you.
What is inside
- The questions creditors and debtors ask AI assistants
- How assistants decide which agencies to name
- The seven outside sources that shape the answer
- A ten-question scorecard for your own firm
- A plan for this month and the next ninety days
- How to tell whether it is working
Questions your buyers ask
- Asked an AI assistant
Should I use a debt collection agency or send a letter before action myself?
- Asked an AI assistant
Which B2B debt collection agencies are best for manufacturers?
- Asked an AI assistant
What statutory interest can I charge on a late invoice in 2026?
- Asked an AI assistant
How do I recover an unpaid invoice from a company in Ireland or Spain?
Three of the ten scorecard questions
- Do your FCA Register entry, CSA listing, Companies House record, Google Business Profile and website agree on names, permissions and address?
- Is your FCA reference number shown in plain text on your website, with links to your FCA Register and CSA records?
- Do you have separate, clearly labelled commercial and consumer sections, each naming the rules that apply?
The full scorecard, a plan for this month and the next ninety days, and the sources assistants check are in the PDF.
Questions founders ask
What percentage does a debt collection agency charge in the UK for commercial debt?
We do not quote market rates, because commission varies with the size and age of the debt, the sector, where the debtor is and whether legal action is included. What an agency should publish is how its fees work: what commission is charged on, how legal costs are handled and what happens to statutory interest and compensation.
Should I use a debt collection agency or send a letter before action myself?
For a recent, undisputed debt with a customer who is still trading, a firm letter claiming statutory interest and fixed recovery costs often works. An agency adds tracing, persistence and scale. A solicitor or court claim suits disputed or larger debts. The firm that explains this most clearly is the obvious one for an assistant to name.
Which debt collection agencies are CSA members and FCA authorised?
Assistants answer this from the CSA member directory, the FCA Register and agencies' own websites, so all three need to agree. Show your CSA membership and FCA reference number on your website in plain text, with links to both records. If any of them disagrees on your name or address, fix that first.
What statutory interest can I charge on a late invoice in 2026?
Between businesses, statutory interest is 8% plus the Bank of England base rate, with a fixed recovery sum of £40, £70 or £100 depending on the size of the debt. The reforms confirmed in March 2026 would stop parties contracting out of statutory interest, but they need legislation first.
Read the full guide
Sector guides · 12 min read
Why does ChatGPT name other debt collection agencies and not us?
Finance directors now ask ChatGPT who to use for debt recovery, and debtors ask it whether you are legitimate. Both answers shape whether you win the next client, and both can be fixed.
- Why does ChatGPT describe my firm wrongly, and how do I fix it?13 min
- Does publishing our own research help ChatGPT recommend us?13 min
- Do awards and accreditations make ChatGPT more likely to recommend us?12 min
- How do we find out whether ChatGPT is recommending our firm?12 min
- Which law firms does ChatGPT recommend, and how do we become one?12 min
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