www.bifa.org
Robert Keen’s Column
BIFAlink
BIFAlink is the official magazine of the British International Freight Association Redfern House, Browells Lane, Feltham TW13 7EP Tel: 020 8844 2266 Web site:
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Director General Robert Keen
r.keen@
bifa.org Executive Director Robert Windsor
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bifa.org Executive Director Spencer Stevenson
s.stevenson@
bifa.org Policy & Compliance Advisor Pawel Jarza
p.jarza@bifa.org Policy & Compliance Advisor David Stroud
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bifa.org Training Development Manager Carl Hobbis
c.hobbis@bifa.org Editorial Co-ordinator Sharon Hammond
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Published by Park Lane Publishing
peter@parklanepublishingltd.com Contributors Robert Keen, Robert Windsor, Pawel Jarza, David Stroud, Spencer Stevenson, Carl Hobbis, Sharon Hammond
Regional Consultants to BIFA Scotland and the Borders Len Hobbs:
bifa.scot@
gmail.com Northern Ireland
Carson McMullan: carsonconluce@
-.com Midlands and the North Paul Young:
youngyes@aol.com London West and the South West Mike Jones:
m.jones@
bifa.org Anglia, London East and the South East Paul Newman:
paul@pnauk.com
Note to media: If you wish to use items in this magazine that are older than 1 month, please contact the editor to ensure that the item in question still reflects the current circumstances.
Please be advised that BIFA DOES NOT OFFER LEGAL ADVICE. BIFA is not a law firm and the authors of this publication are not legally qualified and do not have any legal training. The guidance and assistance set out herein are based on BIFA’s own experience with the issues concerned and should not be in any circumstances regarded or relied upon as legal advice. It is strongly recommended that anyone considering further action based on the information contained in this publication should seek the advice of a qualified professional.
Liquidators target ‘technically’ late payments
We are returning to the topic of late payment and the application of interest again this month, following the aggressive targeting of a firm that had routinely made late payments to a company which later failed. The BIFA Member was hit for a large sum by the liquidators as bills were not paid strictly on time. Late payment legislation was introduced in 1998 to help small firms combat poor payment practices. An example at the time was supermarket chains taking 90 to 120 days to pay small farmers. Unfortunately, the law is now being used in a different way to its original intention.
The article is on page 11 and was contributed by our friends at the European Freight Trades Association (EFTA). With the ending of the government’s Job Retention Scheme,
it is anticipated that in the coming autumn and winter period the UK will experience record corporate failures, and the worry is that liquidators will be looking for extra ways to obtain money. With the expected financial troubles ahead, this is an issue that could well become widespread.
Some perennial subjects have been featuring in the queries received at the Secretariat recently, the first being scams. One old scam is doing the rounds again. There are variations, but the most recent one reported was where a quotation was requested and then payment made to the forwarder before confirmation of full shipping details. The potential customer then cancelled the shipment and asked for repayment of the sum that had been paid. Following repayment, the forwarder’s bank informed that the original payment was void so the BIFA Member was out of pocket.
A false payment or an overpayment are the most common variations of this scam – the repayment bank account details are different from the original payment, usually made with a fake cheque. If you find yourself in this position do not allow pressure from the ‘customer’ for an urgent repayment to lead to hasty action. Ensure that you have a procedure in place for repayments and stick to it. It could save you from a large loss if you are the target of scammers.
The second question we are being asked more often refers to goods that are sub-contracted to a party that is not a BIFA Member. The BIFA liability limit of 2 SDR (Special Drawing Rights) per kilo is your liability to your customer so if, for example, you contract a delivery to a third party and there is a loss, you may have a gap between what is liable to your customer from you and the amount you can recover from the sub-contractor. Most often this is when the delivery is made against Road Haulage Association (RHA) Conditions. A greater liability gap could occur with a European Road movement where the CMR Convention is paramount to BIFA STC. Once you contract with your customer to move goods by road to Europe you are liable under CMR at 8.33 SDR per kilo, so if you sub-contract a collection from the customer’s premises to a haulier who trades under RHA, there is a significant difference if the goods are lost or damaged before reaching you.
Finally, as we all prepare for 1 January, my colleagues dealing with policy and compliance matters seem to be in non-stop Zoom meetings lately. There are still many questions to be answered on border routines at the end of the transition period and the best place to get updates is from the BIFA website.
Robert Keen Director General
October 2020
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