Free Legal and Business Helplines
Abbey Legal Protection
The CPA in its annual review of all its services to the Members has decided not to continue using Croner's Business Support Helpline. The CPA felt that the new service offered a better all-round service. Consequently, this service ceased at the close of business on Saturday 31st January 2009.
The CPA has subscribed to a new service provider, Abbey Legal Protection (ALP), who will be available to deal with issues covering Health and Safety, Tax, VAT, Contractual (not CPA Conditions) and Employment.
Their Legal Services Call Centre shall be open during the following times:
08:00 - 21:00 Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays) 09:00 - 17:30 Saturday
Outside these hours duty solicitors and barristers will be available at alternative locations to receive calls.
This service commenced on Sunday 1st February 2009.
In addition, Members may use ALP's online HR facility, which offers various levels of service. If you register as a free user, you will get access to the quarterly bulletins and newsletters. The website address is www.cybhr.co.uk
If Members wish to upgrade the HR facility for a fee, then they should contact ALP directly for more information.
Top Service Ltd 
We have been providing specialist credit information for more than 16 years. There are currently 2,500 subscribers exchanging credit information, via our service. Subscribers range in size from multi national companies to sole traders, however, all take the same risk when hiring goods.
Credit checking your potential customers is all well and good, but how do you ensure that their circumstances don't change once you are dealing with them? We have solved this problem by providing our subscribers with a free monitoring service. As a subscriber you have unlimited use of this free service which alerts you by email or fax every time a limited company:
· Files a new set of accounts.
· Has a county court judgment registered against it.
· Has an increase or decrease in it’s suggested credit limit.
· Has a change in its company status (eg. Administration, Liquidation etc.)
You can monitor as many limited companies as you wish, for example, we can keep an eye on your current customers, ex-customers, potential customers, competitors or suppliers. You can add and delete companies on your list at the touch of a button. Nothing could be simpler.
Sometimes slow payers and bad debtors need a push from a third party. As a subscriber you are entitled to up to ten chasing letters every month, produced and mailed out at our expense. Sent out on our letterhead these letters will have a huge impact on your bad debtors, in fact, 78% of all letters sent out result in a payment within seven days. There is absolutely no charge to subscribers for this service. Choose between a mild letter for your slow payers or a stronger letter for your bad debtors.
We also provide, exclusively to Top Service subscribers, a debt recovery service. If you would like one of our dedicated advisors to chase a debt for you via letters and telephone calls we will. We are one of the few agencies that put our money where our mouth is and only charge commission if we collect your cash.
Discount
All Construction Plant Hire Association members are entitled to a 25% discount on our subscription. Please contact us on 01527 503990 or email emma.bridges@top-service.co.uk for further information about subscription and the costs.
Free Monitoring
We will monitor four limited companies on behalf of any CPA members, regardless of whether you subscribe to our service or not. This means that we will email or fax you whenever one of these companies:
· Files a new set of accounts.
· Has a county court judgment registered against it.
· Has an increase or decrease in its suggested credit limit.
· Has a change in company status (e.g., winding-up petition presented, administration, etc.).
Free Credit Control Advice
Construction Plant Hire Association have negotiated a free credit control advice service for its members. With years of experience dealing with credit control & debt recovery, we will be more than happy to try and answer your question.
To ask your question telephone Emma or Matt on 01527 518800 or email emma.bridges@top-service.co.uk and they will be happy to help. Please note: We are not lawyers. If your query is of a legal nature we will attempt to obtain some free advice from a solicitor on your behalf.
There is absolutely no obligation; we simply understand that in this day and age everyone is looking at ways to enhance their current credit control procedures.
Credit Application Form
Click here to download a generic Credit Application Form
How to Protect Yourself from Bad Debt When Hiring Equipment
Click here to download information on how to protect yourself from bad debt
WK5.com
In these extremely difficult times, one of our Corporate Members, F A Simms & Partners Limited, is launching a new service helpline for the benefit of our Members. As well-established business rescue and insolvency practitioners, they, under the name of "WK5.com", will offer Members assistance and advice on Credit Control, Invoice Finance (Factoring) or any Cash Flow related matter.
This new service will be available to all Members, free of charge, with effect from Monday 2nd February 2009. The contact number is 0845 201 0544.