Cash flow is the lifeblood of any business, and when customers or clients fail to pay on time, it can cause significant strain on a company’s resources, operations and ultimately affect its bottom line.
Individuals who are owed money face similar stress, as chasing monies owed can quickly take a financial and emotional toll.
Whether you are a small business owner, a company director or a private individual, being able to recover an outstanding debt quickly, efficiently and effectively, is crucial.
In this blog, our experienced Debt Recovery Solicitors consider the practical steps involved in recovering unpaid debts and outline how a solicitor can help.
- Letter before action.
If informal attempts to recover monies you are owed have failed and discussions between you and your debtor are not progressing, the first formal legal stage in the debt recovery process is for your solicitor to issue a letter before action (also known as a ‘letter of claim’).
This is a formal letter setting out the details of the unpaid debt and notifying the debtor that you will take legal action if payment is not received within a specified time.
A well-drafted letter before action often results in the swift recovery of the debt, with the threat of legal action usually proving enough to stir the debtor into action.
It is worth instructing an experienced solicitor to help you. At Bowsers Solicitors, our debt recovery specialists in Wisbech and March have extensive experience drafting letters of claim for various businesses and individuals in Cambridgeshire and the surrounding areas.
Our professional legal team will ensure your letter of claim is clearly drafted and includes all the relevant information.
To speak to one of our friendly lawyers or chartered legal executives for dispute resolution today, please call 01945 583194 (Wisbech) or 01354 652606 (March), or email reception@bowsers.co.uk. Alternatively, you can fill in our contact form.
- Dispute resolution process.
If a letter of claim doesn’t result in payment, our dispute resolution solicitors will then discuss the next steps available to you and advise on the most appropriate course of action.
Pursuing a claim through the courts can be time consuming and costly, and it is usually advisable to consider alternative dispute resolution (ADR) solutions, such as negotiation, arbitration and mediation, wherever possible.
If a consensus is reached through ADR, the agreement will be formalised in a settlement agreement, which your solicitor will draw up.
Although we will do all we can to ensure the matter is resolved outside of court using ADR methods, this is not always possible.
In this case, you may need to lodge a County Court claim, which can hear cases up to £100,000.
County Courts will then issue a judgment (CCJ) confirming that the debtor is liable to pay your debt and enabling you to take enforcement action to recover the debt owed to you
- Enforcement action.
Unfortunately, securing a CCJ is one thing, enforcing it is another. If a debtor fails to pay, you will need to take enforcement action.
If this is the case, our solicitors will explain to you the various debt collection and enforcement options and advise on the best way to proceed. This could include:
- Enforcement via enforcement officers. Creditors can instruct a bailiff or High Court Enforcement Officer to visit the debtor’s address and collect the debt or seize goods to the value of the debt.
- Attachment of earnings order. This is a court order that allows a creditor to deduct money from a debtor’s wages to pay a debt.
- Charging order. This secures a debt against a property.
- Bankruptcy proceedings. Businesses owed money may choose to start bankruptcy proceedings against an individual or organisation to enforce a CCJ and recoup their monies owed.
Debt Recovery Solicitors Wisbech
Recovering monies that you are owed can be difficult. A solicitor can help.
At Bowsers Solicitors, we have extensive experience in advising on a variety of aspects of debt recovery and enforcement, including letters of claim, attachment of earnings orders and bankruptcy proceedings.
If you are looking for debt recovery advice, please contact our experienced lawyers and chartered legal executives today on 01945 583194 (Wisbech) or 01354 652606 (March), or email reception@bowsers.co.uk. Alternatively, you can fill in our contact form.
