Chasing overdue balances without falling out with members

You've just opened the members' accounts to do the month-end figures, and the same five names are still sitting in the overdue column. One of them flies with you most weekends. Another is on the committee. And you're the one who has to ask them for money.

That's an awkward job, and it gets easier the less of it depends on you. The quickest way to get overdue flying balances paid is to take the treasurer's judgement out of the first two reminders. The committee agrees a written rule, every member gets the same messages on the same days, and the treasurer only steps in once a balance is a month old.

Most members who owe money aren't dodging it. They missed the statement, they think a charge is wrong, or they're short this month and a bit embarrassed. Without an agreed way of asking, the treasurer ends up chasing some people and not others, and a balance that needed a two-line email turns into a grievance.

The worked amounts below have no currency, so read them in your own. Where a rule depends on the country, we name the country and give any limit in its currency.

Work out why the balance is overdue#

What you do depends on why the money hasn't arrived. It's usually one of four things.

• They forgot, or didn't know. No statement came, it went to an old email address, or the bank transfer reference didn't match. This is most overdue balances, and a polite automatic reminder sorts it.
• They dispute a charge. The flight was billed at 1.4 hours and they logged 1.1, or there's a landing fee they weren't expecting. Chasing harder only makes this worse. Someone needs to check the flight records.
• They can't pay right now. Something has gone wrong at home or at work. What they need is a private conversation and an arrangement, not a third reminder.
• They won't pay. Rare, and usually obvious by the time it's the only explanation left.

Nobody in that first group should ever need chasing by a person.

Write the policy down#

Chasing feels personal when it looks as if the treasurer is deciding, member by member, who gets a reminder. Once the committee has agreed a rule that anyone can read, it stops being about you. Put it in the bye-laws or flying regulations, next to the hire rates. Here's wording you can adapt to your own numbers:

Flying and other charges are shown on a monthly statement and are due for payment within 14 days of the statement date. A reminder is sent when a balance becomes overdue and again 14 days later. A member whose balance is more than 30 days overdue may not book or fly club aircraft until the balance is paid or an arrangement has been agreed with the treasurer. A balance more than 60 days overdue is referred to the committee, which may suspend or end membership under the club's rules. Arrangements to pay by instalments are agreed with the treasurer in writing and kept confidential.

While the committee's at it, there are a few more things worth settling.

• A credit limit. Some clubs stop bookings once an account is a set amount in debit, however old the debt. The limit is often around the cost of two or three hours' hire.
• Who can lift a stop. Normally the treasurer, so a stopped member isn't negotiating with whoever happens to be on the desk.
• No exceptions for the committee. The policy covers the chair, the instructors and the treasurer's friends. This is the one we'd be firmest about. Waive it for one of them and the rest of the membership will stop taking it seriously.

The chasing timetable#

With a 14-day due date, this timetable works. Days count from the statement date.

The moment a member replies, stop chasing. You're in a conversation now. And never let an automatic reminder go out about an amount someone is still checking (nothing sours a dispute faster than a cheerful "just a reminder" in the middle of it).

What to say at each stage#

Keep every message short and private. Give the amount, the date it was due and how to pay. Don't comment on the member's behaviour, and never bring a balance up in person at the club, however tempting it is when they walk past the desk.

To show how it plays out, follow one balance of 186.40, due on 14 October, through the timetable.

First reminder (day 15).

Your club account has a balance of 186.40 that was due on 14 October. If you have already paid, thank you, and please ignore this. You can pay by card from the link below. If anything on your statement looks wrong, reply to this email and we will check it.

Second reminder (day 29).

Your club account still shows 186.40, due on 14 October. Under the club's flying regulations, bookings are paused on accounts more than 30 days overdue, so please pay or get in touch before 13 November. If paying in one go is difficult, reply and the treasurer will agree an arrangement with you in confidence.

The treasurer's personal message (day 35). This is usually the one that makes the most difference, so it should come from a named person, not the club inbox.

Hi Sam, it's Jo, the treasurer. Your account has shown 186.40 for a few weeks now and I wanted to check everything's all right before bookings are paused next week. If there's a charge you think is wrong, tell me and I'll check the flight records. If it's a timing problem, we can agree something that works for you.

Bookings stopped (day 45). Stick to the fact, the reason, the amount and how to get bookings back. No more than that.

As your account is now more than 30 days overdue, bookings on club aircraft are paused under rule 7 of the flying regulations. Your balance is 186.40. Bookings reopen as soon as it is paid or we have agreed an arrangement. Your membership is not affected.

Disputed charges#

Most disputes are about flight time, fuel or landing fees, and the answer is usually sitting in the records: the flight record or tech log entry, the hour meter readings and the airfield's invoice. Ask the member to pay the part they don't dispute now, and pause chasing on the rest until it's settled.

If the club got it wrong, correct the charge and say so plainly. It's a small thing, but owning a mistake is how members come to trust the treasurer's figures next time.

Members who can't pay#

This is the hardest conversation of the lot, and it deserves care. Agree an instalment arrangement in writing: the amount, the dates and what happens if a payment is missed. Plenty of clubs let the member keep flying as long as new charges are paid as they come, so the old balance shrinks and nothing new piles on top.

The details stay between the member and the treasurer. The committee only needs to know that an arrangement exists, not who it's with.

Prevent most of it before the due date#

Honestly, most of the work happens before anything is overdue.

Charge every flight promptly. A flight billed six weeks later gets queried, because nobody remembers the hour meter reading. One charged the day it lands rarely does. Billing flight time covers getting the charge right first time.

Send a statement every month with a due date on it. It should show the opening balance, every charge and payment, the closing balance, the date it's due and how to pay.

Make paying a single step. A link that opens a card payment beats bank details and a reference the member has to copy across.

Take the money before the flying. Members who prepay for block hours, or keep their account in credit, can't fall behind on hours they've already paid for. Block hour packages explains how to set them up without the club carrying an open-ended debt.

And don't let balances grow old. A balance of 200 usually goes away with a reminder. A balance of 2,000 needs negotiating, and the member often leaves rather than face it.

What makes it worse#

• Naming members. A list of debtors on the noticeboard, or a committee email that gets circulated to everyone, embarrasses people who would have paid. Some of them leave.
• Surcharges that aren't in the rules. A late fee or interest charge invented after the debt arose was never part of what the member agreed to pay. It's hard to defend if they challenge it, and it reads as a punishment. If you want one, put it in the rules first and apply it to everyone. In the UK, statutory interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 only applies where both parties are acting in the course of a business, so it doesn't cover a member flying privately.

When the money isn't coming#

Occasionally a balance just won't come in. In the end the committee has to choose between ending the membership, writing the balance off and going to court. For a small balance, we'd usually write it off after a fair process, because the volunteer hours a court claim eats can be worth more than the debt. Record the decision in a confidential minute that isn't circulated to members.

The court route depends on the country, and the cheaper routes aren't always open to a club.

• England and Wales. The Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims applies to a business claiming a debt from an individual. It expects a letter of claim, sent by post and dated at the top, stating the amount, whether interest or other charges are continuing and how to pay, and enclosing a statement of account, the protocol's information sheet and reply form, and a financial statement form. If the member doesn't reply within 30 days of the letter's date, the club may start proceedings. If they do reply, it should wait at least 30 days from receiving the reply form. Claims up to £10,000 normally go to the small claims track (CPR 26.9). Take advice on whether your club counts as a business for the protocol, though following it does no harm either way.
• Ireland. Debt claims are excluded from the small claims procedure, so an unpaid club balance would go to the District Court as a debt claim, started with a claim notice. Take advice first.
• New Zealand. The Disputes Tribunal hears disputed debts up to NZ$60,000. It won't hear a debt the member agrees they owe and simply hasn't paid.

In Australia, the United States and Canada, small claims courts and their limits are set by each state, territory or province. Check the court website where the member lives before assuming a small claims process will take the case, and take advice before you start. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own procedures, so the same goes there.

How Volanti handles statements and reminders#

Agreeing the timetable is the easy part. Keeping to it, every month, for every member, is where it slips. In Volanti, each completed flight is priced at your rates and charged to the member's account straight away, and a monthly statement with a PDF is generated automatically. Members see their balance and statements in the pilot portal and can settle online by card. Overdue balances are chased automatically, you can send a member a payment link, and part-payments are allocated across charges. When a charge is queried, check it quickly and correct or credit it, so the reminders aren't chasing an amount that may be wrong. Billing and payments has the detail.

That leaves the treasurer with the cases that need a person. The page for treasurers shows the whole month from a treasurer's side: flights charged as they land, statements, automatic chasing with a payment link, and Xero sync.