Fertility Clinic Sensitive Recovery
Sensitive And Confidential Patient Debt Recovery
Summary
How we supported a Fertility Treatment Group with recovery of the recovery of unpaid treatment invoices, balancing the need for recovered income and patient sensitivity
The Organisation
A leading fertility clinic with three locations across London, generating an annual turnover of £11.5 million, offering personalised treatment plans and expert care to support individuals and couples on their journey to parenthood.
Cases referred
213
Accounts referred to date
The Challenge
Whilst the clinic has built a strong reputation for compassion and clinical excellence, its internal credit control teams have faced ongoing challenges in recovering unpaid invoices - many of which relate to unsuccessful fertility treatments. Although the clinic is always transparent that not all treatments are guaranteed to succeed, the sensitive nature of this issue made collections particularly complex. Concerned about protecting their brand reputation, the team struggled to find an approach that balanced empathy with financial necessity. As cash flow pressures began to impact investment in treatments, client services, and staff training, it became clear by 2018 that the situation was commercially unsustainable. A new strategy was urgently needed - one that could recover outstanding payments professionally, quickly, and with care.
Success Rate to Date
71%
Recovered sensitively and with compassion
The difference made:
To address ongoing cash flow challenges, the fertility clinic partnered with Controlaccount, selected for our expertise in medical and healthcare credit management. Controlaccount’s immediate priority was to manage the clinic’s aged debt ledger. We implemented a condensed pre-legal debt recovery process designed to deliver quick results.
All correspondence was bespoke and sensitively worded,ensuring the clinic’s reputation and patient relationships remained intact. A dedicated collections team - experienced in the healthcare sector and trained to handle sensitive cases, managed all outbound calls with empathy and professionalism. Our secure data environments supported absolutely client confidentiality and was vital to the success of the partnership.
This approach successfully released much-needed cash backinto the business.
Accounts remaining unsettled after 45 days received a LetterBefore Claim (LBC), gently outlining the potential for litigation. Thisstrategic step prompted a further 10% uplift in recoveries. For debts still outstanding at 80 days, detailed pre-litigation reports were prepared to help the clinic and agency make informed decisions on pursuing legal action - not simply to secure a County Court Judgment (CCJ), but to assess the real prospect of full settlement.
The debt recovery agency achieved an impressive 71% recovery rate on the legacy ledger. As a result, the clinic now refers any unpaid invoices on a monthly basis, consistently seeing positive returns. The partnership has continued successfully for over six years.
Controlaccount also provided:
- Bespoke 'softer collections' approach
- Trace services to connect with 'gone away' customers
- Settlement agreements on specifc accounts
- A technology driven service for all parties including online payment and query channels for subjects through ControlMyAccount and client management and reporting through our ClientWeb portal
What they said
Controlaccount has been extremely supportive, and the online portal is intuitive and easy for our whole team to use - whether uploading invoices or managing queries. We've achieved the results we were hoping for, with a noticeable improvement in cash flow. This has allowed our internal credit control team to focus on fresher accounts, knowing that aged debts are being handled efficiently. We've had a great experience overall and would highly recommend their service
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