Our timely and cost effective commercial debt recoveries via many options, such as;
1. Letter before Action;
The letter before action is a formal letter which sets out to your debtor what is owed and what the consequences will be if the debt is not discharged within a specified deadline.
Creditors do not have to send a letter before action but run the risk that if they don’t of losing their right to costs once legal proceedings are issued.
The letter before action can also include a claim for costs and interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.
2. Issue and Judgement;
If the letter before action does not have the desired effect then legal proceedings become necessary. If an Acknowledgement of Service is filed indicating that the debtor intends to defend part or all of the Claim then the debtor has a further 14 days from the date of service of the Claim Form in which to file a Defence.
Once Judgment has been entered this will adversely affect the debtor’s ability to obtain credit, which the debtor is notified of in our initial letter before action and will be a matter of public record.
3. Warrants/Writs of Control;
The most common and usual enforcement method is to issue a Writ or Warrant of Control.
If your Judgment is less than £600.00 or the your claim is subject to the Consumer Credit Act a Warrant of Control is issued and a County Court Bailiff is instructed. The Bailiff attends at a debtor’s premises or residence and seize goods to be sold at public auction to discharge the Judgment debt and costs. Only goods belonging to the debtor and that are free of finance can be seized.
4. Charging Orders;
If your debtor owns a property you can enforce the Judgment by obtaining a Charging Order, which secures your debt against the debtor’s property.
Once a Final Charging Order is obtained you can then apply for an Order forcing the sale of the property.
The Final Charging Order will remain registered against the property until the debt is discharged for example when the property is sold or remortgaged and there is sufficient equity in the property.
Before a Charging Order is applied for we would always check to see what, if any, other charges are already registered against the property and then advise whether we believe it is worthwhile obtaining a Charging Order.
A Charging Order can still be applied for even if the debtor is paying the Judgment debt by an instalment order giving you additional piece of mind in securing your debt.
5. Attachment of Earnings;
If your debtor is employed then you can apply to the Court for an Attachment of Earnings Order. An Attachment of Earnings orders the debtor’s employer to deduct an amount from the debtor’s wages/salary, which is then sent to the creditor via the Centralised Attachments of Earnings Payment System (CAPS) until the Judgment debt is discharged.
6. Third Party Debt Order;
If you are aware that your debtor is owed money by a third party, i.e. the debtor’s bank or building society account or a customer of the debtor then we can apply to the Court for an order that those monies are paid direct to you.
7. Bankruptcy;
If your debtor is an individual and you have an unsatisfied Judgment then you may present a Bankruptcy Petition against the debtor. This is presented to the local Court of the debtor. Various searches have to now be carried out at both the debtor’s local Court and the Royal Courts of Justice before a Petition can be presented to ensure that there are no prior Petitions pending.
This sets out what debt is due and informs the debtor that your intention is to begin Bankruptcy proceedings if the debt is not satisfied within 21 days of service of the Statutory Demand.
8. Winding Up;
If your debtor is a limited company or partnership then you may present a Winding up Petition against the debtor. It is not necessary to obtain an unsatisfied Judgment or to serve a Statutory Demand before presenting a Winding up Petition however it is always good practice to give notice to the debtor of your intentions and can often result in payment being made before substantial fees are incurred.