Hire a debt recovery lawyer
The legal process of debt recovery
Depending on the individual circumstances of the case, an attorney may use the following legal measures to collect unpaid bills from a debtor. It is important that the debt recovery process follows the pre-action protocol, starting with a pre-action letter.
Letter before action (LBA) – Initially, a lawyer will send a final reminder letter to the debtor called a Letter Before Action (LBA), serving as a final warning to the debtor regarding the outstanding debt and the consequences for non-payment. This letter should include details of the debt, payment instructions, and provide a reasonable time frame within which the debt must be paid. You can also offer a “payment plan” if the circumstances are suitable. The purpose of this letter is to avoid legal action.
Legal action – If the debtor still does not respond to the AMLA, or if settlement discussions fail, legal action may be the only way to get a response or get the money back. Issuing a claim form to the County Court is the first step. The court then returns a “response brief” indicating the means by which the debtor can respond. It is important to ensure that there are no errors in these forms at this stage.
Claim details – The creditor must also include the basis for the claim (the details of the claim), which specifies the debt owed, the reason for the unpaid amount and any interest on the amount claimed. It is again important to ensure that the particulars of the claim are clear and contain the correct amount of detail, otherwise they may be returned by the court, delaying matters.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) – If the debtor or creditor cannot agree on the existence, amount, enforceability or any other aspect of the debt, then these parties should take the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) route rather than going directly to court. . These include mediation, in which the parties attempt to negotiate a settlement with the advice of a qualified civil mediator, and arbitration, in which all parties submit their cases to a qualified arbitrator who evaluates the evidence and makes a decision on the outcome of the dispute.
