Case Study

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.

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 cashflow 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.

Our approach:

To address ongoing cashflow 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.

The difference made:

This approach successfully released much-needed cash back into the business. Accounts remaining unsettled after 45 days received a Letter Before Claim (LBC), gently outlining the potential for litigation. This strategic 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.

Controlaccount 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.

What they said:

The staff at Controlaccount have 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 cashflow. 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.