Todays Herald Newspaper reports more bad news on the bad debt front.

A "staggering increase" in the number of firms not paying their bills in the first half of the year has prompted credit bureau Veda Advantage to warn businesses of a deterioration in the next 18 months.

Veda said it saw a "massive" 64.56 per cent rise in commercial defaults in the six months to June compared with a year ago. Defaults are essentially where the business owed money has given up and turned to a debt collection company which then informs a credit bureau like Veda.

Commercial inquiries for credit were down 16.43 per cent. Read more