How Could Brexit Impact Collecting Payment from Customers?
The supposed implications of Brexit on UK businesses are vague at best; in an article online, David Carter of The Sheriff’s Office, states that ‘no one actually knows what will happen’. Nevertheless businesses need to prepare for all eventualities should Britain choose to leave the EU on the 23rd June.
Collecting Payment from Customers
Collecting payment from customers within England and Wales is highly unlikely to change in the event of Brexit, however, businesses that trade with companies within the EU should pay significant attention to contracts and T&Cs with their customers, ensuring they are fully aware of any and all clauses, and negotiate on any points to ensure that payment will be paid when necessary and that sufficient leverage can used in the event of late payment.
Enforcement in the EU
Although from our own experience, enforcing judgment within EU countries (and indeed beginning legal action in the first place), the current system of enforcing a judgement is fairly straightforward. Should we leave the European Union renegotiation would need to take place to determine how judgements will be enforced going forward. According to David Carter, European countries not within the EU, such as Switzerland, have adopted the Lugano Convention agreement, a possibility for us; or as Carter suggests, it may be that we develop bilateral agreements similar to those we already have with non-EU countries currently.
David Carter makes some extremely valid points within his article, and he is right in saying that we will not know the impact of Brexit until it happens (if it does indeed happen). The main point for UK businesses, trading with EU countries, is to be vigilant in their work going forward, ensuring that any agreements with customers are commercially viable and will indeed benefit not detract from their business.
