Pre-Litigation Process
Preliminary Checks
Pre-Litigation Process - Step One
Upon receiving the account, we will do all the checks required to ensure that the contract is enforceable.
We will check the following:
- That the business is still trading and active with Companies House.
- There are no current proposals to dissolve said business and if so, that immediately we object to such with Companies House and prevent dissolution (this is often granted for 6 months) for us to actively chase.
Initial Letter
Pre-Litigation Process - Step Two
We send out our first letter. This gives them 7 days to respond. We will actively chase the debtor through telephone calls, emails and letters. We generally try to get payment in full, however, where this is not viable, we will accept payment plans for up until 4 months.
If the debtor wishes for a payment plan beyond this date, we will request permission from our client before accepting. This continues for approximately 28 days before the next step.
Formal Letter of Claim
Pre-Litigation Process - Step Three
The next step we take is issuing our Formal Letter of Claim (also known as Letter Before Action).
- The Formal Letter of Claim is approximately 3 pages long and is sent in compliance with the Civil Procedure Rules.
- We must allow the debtor 21 days to respond before issuing any claim.
Closure of account or progressing the account to our Legal Department
Pre-Litigation Process - Step Four
Once we feel we have exhausted all pre-legal options, we will then look at whether or not we should close this account or begin formal litigation, we will only do this under your express instruction. Before closing an account or issuing the claim, we will send a report which consists of the following:
- Likely chance of winning the case
- Companies assets
- Outstanding CCJ’s
- We will then send an overview of our views on the case and the associated costs.
commercial credit management specialists
Get in contact with the Cristen-Dex LLP today
For a free consultation or to discuss our process in more depth, please feel free to get in contact with one of our experienced Credit Managers who will discuss what we can do for you.