.: SERVICES :. Seymour Major Solicitors .:

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telephone:
028 6632 4455

fax:
028 6632 9896

email:
law
@seymourmajor.com

SERVICES

Debt Collection

No matter how well your business is run and no matter how well you check your customers, there will always be debtors who end up owing you money. For some companies this is an irritation to their business. At the other end of the spectrum, the survival of the business will depend on how quickly the debts, or some or part of them, can be recovered.

By the time that solicitors are instructed, the debtor has had numerous letters, telephone calls and or direct approaches asking to pay the debt. Inevitably, it is the worst of the bad debts that the solicitors are usually asked to collect.

At some point, a decision must be made as to whether to write off the debt or to try to recover it by instructing a solicitor. Ideally, that decision should be on the basis of information about the debtor’s creditworthiness. If the debtor is insolvent, there is no merit in pursuing the debt. Quite often, the debtor is in financial difficulty but not necessarily insolvent. It is often a matter of fine judgment deciding whether or not to pursue the debt. The economics of pursuing a case are always factors in deciding whether to take legal action. This is particularly so if the debt is a small one. A debt is a small debt if the claim is for £2,000 or less (Northern Ireland) or £5000 or less (England and Wales). If a small claim is defended, the successful claimant cannot recover costs except for the nominal fee for issuing proceedings.

Some businesses are put off from pursuing a debtor, simply because they live or carry on business in another jurisdiction. This would be due, in part, to extra expense and extra time taken, because most firms of solicitors would need to instruct another firm of solicitors on the other side of the border to commence proceedings for recovery of the debt.

Some debts can be recovered in the courts in either jurisdiction. An example of this is where goods and services were ordered in one jurisdiction but the debtor lives or carries on business in another jurisdiction. Usually, it is better to sue the debtor where he lives or carries on business because of the extra expense and time involved enforcing a judgment from one jurisdiction in the other.

The Republic of Ireland

This firm practices in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. We do not yet have an office in the Republic of Ireland. However, we do have an alliance with another firm of solicitors. They will handle the work of our clients who have a claim there. If that situation arises, we will handle your initial instructions to them without any extra charge and put them in direct contact with them for the continuance of your claim.