Hielda vs a debt collection agency: cost, powers and when each makes sense
A debt collection agency takes a slice of what it recovers and gets involved when a relationship is already over. Hielda chases from the day the invoice is late, adds the statutory charges, and costs a flat few pounds a month. They are not rivals so much as different stages. Here is how they compare.
The short version
An agency is a late-stage option you pay for with a percentage. Hielda is an early-stage option you pay for with a subscription. Use Hielda from the day an invoice is issued and you will rarely need the agency; use the agency only for the invoice that survives a month of professional chasing and a Letter Before Action.
Hielda vs a debt collection agency at a glance
| Hielda | Debt collection agency | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | £3.99 a month, or £34.99 a year, any number of invoices | Typically 8% to 20% of what is recovered; some minimum or instruction fees |
| Cost on a £2,000 invoice recovered | £3.99 (one month) | Around £160 to £400 |
| When it gets involved | Five days before the due date | Usually 60 to 120 days overdue, when you give up |
| Statutory interest and fixed recovery cost added | Yes, daily, on every chase | Sometimes claimed; often absorbed into the commission |
| Legal powers | None beyond writing and emailing, the same as you | None beyond writing, emailing and phoning |
| Letter Before Action | Drafted from the invoice at day 30 | Often offered, sometimes as an extra |
| Sent in whose name | Yours, with Hielda's branding on formal notices | The agency's |
| Effect on the client relationship | Polite early, firm later; forgetful clients get a reminder | Signals the relationship is over |
| Minimum invoice size | None | Often £100 to £500; small debts get less attention |
| Control | You confirm every email; pause, dispute or stop any time | You hand it over |
Where the money goes
Take a £2,000 invoice paid 45 days late. Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 it has earned statutory interest at 11.75% a year, roughly £29 over those 45 days, plus the £70 fixed recovery cost: about £99 on top of the invoice, yours by right.
- With Hielda, each chase has stated the growing total, so the client is asked for £2,099 and the subscription for that month cost £3.99.
- With an agency at 15%, you receive the £2,000 less £300 commission. Some agencies will claim the statutory charges for you; many simply recover the face value and keep their percentage.
That is the structural difference. The Act was written to make late payment cost the payer, not the supplier. A commission model moves that cost back to you.
What an agency does that Hielda doesn't
Honesty cuts both ways. A good agency brings people: someone who will phone the client's accounts department, negotiate an instalment plan, and chase a debtor who has stopped reading email. Hielda is automated and email-based; it cannot ring anyone. An agency may also handle tracing a debtor who has moved, and some offer doorstep visits, though a visit carries no power of entry or seizure without a court judgment.
If an invoice is six months old, the client has gone quiet, and you have no documented chase history, an agency's persistence may be worth the percentage. The point of chasing properly from day one is to make that situation rare.
How to decide
Invoice not yet due, or less than 60 days late: Hielda. Professional, consistent chasing with the statutory charges attached recovers the large majority of invoices at this stage, for a flat fee.
Invoice has survived a full chase sequence and a Letter Before Action: decide between Money Claim Online, from £35 and an hour of your time, and an agency. Hielda sets out the options at that point and the chase history goes with you either way.
Frequently asked questions
One email: what to put on every invoice, when to chase, what to charge, and the letter that gets stubborn clients to pay.
No spam. Unsubscribe any time.
Stop writing chase emails and calculating interest by hand. Hielda does it all on your behalf — automatically, professionally, and legally backed.
No credit card required
