A column of invoices from years ago
Your clinic treats patients injured in road accidents or at work, funded by their solicitor on the understanding that you will be paid from the claim when it settles. The treatment happens over a few weeks. The invoice goes to the solicitor. Then nothing happens, which is expected, because claims take time.
Years later, the aged debt report still shows those invoices. Some solicitors have since merged or closed. Some claims settled and nobody told you. Some patients changed solicitor and the new firm has no record of your invoice. By the time anyone looks, recovery is difficult.
Why this debt goes quiet
Settlement-funded invoices are not normal debt. There is no point chasing monthly, so they drop out of the usual credit control routine. Your accounting system sees an overdue invoice. Nobody sees a claim that needs an occasional check.
The patient is often the only link between the clinic and the claim, and once treatment ends they have little reason to keep you informed. Some will not know the claim has settled until the money reaches them, and they will not think to mention your invoice.
Information about the claim, such as the case reference, the fee earner, and whether liability has been admitted, is in emails with the solicitor. When the fee earner changes, or the case moves firm, the clinic is rarely told.
What quiet debt costs
| Situation | Result |
|---|---|
| Claim settled, clinic not told | Invoice unpaid unless you ask |
| Solicitor firm changed | New firm unaware of your invoice |
| Fee earner left | No contact who knows the case |
| No periodic check | Problems discovered years late |
| Aged debt mixed with ordinary debt | No clear view of what is truly at risk |
How we keep each claim in view
- Each solicitor-funded patient gets a claim record: solicitor firm, fee earner, case reference, funding terms and the invoices raised against it.
- Invoices are raised in Xero or QuickBooks as now, but tagged to the claim so they are reported separately from ordinary debt.
- At intervals you set, the system drafts a short status request to the fee earner, asking whether the case is ongoing, settled or transferred.
- Replies are recorded against the claim. A reply saying the case has settled or moved triggers a task for a person to follow up straight away.
- Claims with no response after repeated requests are escalated to the practice manager.
- A report shows total settlement-funded debt by solicitor and age, with the last status for each claim.
How you pursue a debt, and any legal steps, are for you and your adviser. The system keeps the information current so those decisions are informed.
A clearer ledger
Settlement-funded invoices sit in their own view, with a known status for each. Solicitors are asked for updates at a sensible rhythm, so you hear about settlements and transfers. When a claim settles, the follow-up happens promptly. The owner can see how much of the clinic's money is tied up in claims and which firms pay reliably.
That view is useful when deciding whether to take on new solicitor-funded work at all. If one firm's cases routinely go quiet, you can ask for different terms before treating their next client, rather than discovering the pattern years later in the aged debt report.
Your accountant will thank you as well. Year-end conversations about which old invoices are still recoverable become a matter of reading the status column, not reconstructing each claim's story from memory and old emails.
Is this your aged debt?
- Old solicitor invoices sit unchased on the aged debt report
- You have learned about settlements long after they happened
- Case references and fee earners are only in old emails
- Solicitor-funded debt is mixed with ordinary debt
- Nobody knows which solicitors pay reliably