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Most people who are owed money whether it’s personal or business have said, “If they don’t pay I’ll take them Court.”.
Whilst good quality collection agencies are often faster and cheaper than going through the court system sometimes help from Her Majesty’s Court Service is required to force debtors to pay.
Here are some of the options available (numbers 3 and 5 almost always raise an eyebrow or two!):
Here are six ways in which The Court System can help collect monies owed
- Order for Questioning This process forces debtor’s to attend Court and answer questions about his or her finances. The information obtained will allow you to make an informed decision regarding further collection methods and potential additional costs. The order to attend Court must be served on the debtor personally, (there is an additional cost for service of documents), failure to comply can result in the debtor being arrested and bought before the Court.
- Warrant of Control A County Court Bailiff attends Debtor’s property to collect full payment or remove goods which could be sold at public auction to recover the sum due plus your costs.
- Attachment of Earnings An order is sent from the Court to the Debtor’s Employer which requires them to deduct money from the debtors pay and send it to the Court who will then send it on to the claimant. This option would be unsuitable if your debtor is self-employed.
- Charging Order An order placed on a property (such as their home or other building or land) the debtor may own or have an interest in. The order is useful if the debtor doesn’t have the means to pay immediately but will do when the asset is sold.
- Garnishee Order A Court Order is sent to the debtor’s bank and money will be paid straight to you or your agent directly from the debtor’s account .
- The High Court Judgements over £600.00 can be transferred from the County Court to the High Court. The writ will be issued to a High Court Enforcement Officer who will attend the debtor’s address to obtain full payment or remove goods which can be sold at public auction to recover the sum due plus costs.
Please be aware that the Court will charge a fee for these services and even if you win your case it doesn’t always mean you will get paid; you may have to arrange to “Enforce the Judgement” by one of the options detailed above.
Before taking someone to Court it’s often worth looking at whether it’s the best option, since there are other collection methods available that are faster and still allow you some control over how and when your debt is collected.
Debt Solve always provide a dedicated case manager who will negotiate on your behalf; this practice keeps the collection process on a business footing and can prevent the loss of a client or friend while collecting what’s owed to you.
The team at DebtSolve has many years experience in debt collection and can often collect what’s owed to you without using the County Court system.
Remember, the Late Payment Act can help reduce collections costs for commercial debts only. The faster your bad debt is collected the cheaper your credit control costs become and cash flow also becomes less of a problem.
For more information or a no-obligation discussion on how we can help you please contact us on 01527 543672 or via e-mail on admin@debtsolveuk.biz
