When businesses are struggling to obtain payment from a customer or client, debt recovery specialist Jagdip Bains explains that there are a number of points to consider before deciding on a course of action.
Court proceedings
The court is obliged to deal with matters justly and at proportionate cost, so you should:
Recovery of any costs will depend on:
Reaching a settlement
It almost always makes sense to consider informal methods of recovering a debt as they can provide the quickest and simplest solutions alternatives include using negotiation or mediation.
The court will expect the parties to have explored ways of settling the claim before they issue proceedings and may penalise a party in costs if they fail to do so.
You should also think about the disadvantages associated with litigation, for example:
Negotiation
Negotiation is a dialogue intended to resolve a dispute and produce agreement on a future course of action. One way in which a trade debt might be recovered is by opening a negotiation with the debtor. This can be done verbally or in writing
Mediation
Mediation is a flexible, voluntary and confidential form of dispute resolution in which a neutral third party assists parties to work towards a negotiated settlement of their dispute. The parties retain control of the decision whether or not to settle and on what terms.
The “without prejudice” rule
Parties usually negotiate on a “without prejudice” basis. This rule generally prevents statements made in a genuine attempt to settle an existing dispute (whether made in writing or orally) from being put before the court as evidence of admissions against the interest of the party which made them.
Doing nothing
The business can always simply write off the sum that it is owed. Before taking this step, you should consider the:
The Ansons dispute resolution team are able to offer fixed fees for different stages of the litigation process for debts up to the value of £25,000. We are also able to offer fixed fees for mediation or without prejudice meetings throughout Staffordshire
Please call Jagdip Bains on 01543 267 196 should you require further information about our debt recovery services or an estimate of costs enabling businesses to budget for litigation.
Ansons Solicitors have offices in Cannock and Lichfield.