by Henley Recoveries GroupDebt Collection: Legal Escalations and Difficult Debts
There is a natural escalation process in debt collection. If a debtor remains unresponsive, or is unwilling to negotiate with collection activity, then your case officer may suggest escalating the debt to our legal process. That process has many different variants and includes cost-effective solutions to aid in collecting money that is owed to you.
Registering the Debt with a Credit Bureau
At Henley Recoveries Group, we are partnered with a major credit bureau. They provide information to many different entities, including major banks, utility companies and other financial institutions. Before working with a new client, many businesses perform what is called a ‘credit check’ as a standard procedure. This means that they look at the data provided to credit bureaus and ensure there are no red flags, or debts recorded with them.
If a debtor remains unresponsive and unwilling to discuss the matter at hand, a strong option is to register that debt with our credit bureau. This means that the debt owing to you can be entered against the debtor’s credit file and may prevent them from receiving loans, credit and other services that perform credit checks prior to engaging in service. It also prevents the debtor from doing the same thing to other vendors. Registration of the debt is affordable and able to be effective on both small and large debts.
Lodging a Claim with the Small Claims Tribunal
In Australia, each state has a tribunal body that hears cases to do with small claims. Each tribunal has different rules and regulations, but they all hear civil disputes and debt cases. The greatest benefit for taking a debtor to small claims court is that you will receive an enforceable, concrete judgement on the debt. This means that the judge will make a call on how much is owed and to whom.
If negotiations and communications are not working, a lodgement with the tribunal is the option we most highly recommend. If the debtor remains unresponsive, we can even request a default judgement to be ruled in your favour. A bonus positive is that a majority of the fees you will pay to submit your case to the tribunal can be requested back in the claim that you make! We can even make the tribunal submission on your behalf.
Send Out a Licensed Field Agent
You may have read our previous blog on Field Agents. Sending out a field agent can be a great way to communicate with a debtor. Agents are fully licensed and regulated, adhering to strict rules and debt collection guidelines. Field Agents are a great option if you have limited contact information for your debtor. Sending a field agent out allows you to establish an authoritative presence, as well as confirm the address of the debtor prior to making a lodgement with the small claims tribunal. Field agents can even have the debtor physically sign a payment agreement.
Dispute Resolution Services
More often than not, we act as mediators between debtors and our clients. We help our clients to negotiate, correspond and come to an agreement with their debtors, ensuring they recoup as much of the funds that they are owed as possible. A lot of industries actually have external dispute resolution bodies that the small claims courts require their dispute resolution services to be utilised prior to being heard at the tribunal. It is important to ensure that these avenues are properly utilised prior to other actions being taken, this ensures that your case is strong and won’t be thrown out should you choose to lodge with the tribunal.
Lodge Your Case Through the Court System
Lodging your case through the court system, outside of the small claims tribunal, is another option available to our clients. This option is costly, but again provides a concrete and enforceable judgement on the debt. Generally, this option is for larger debts (usually over $25, 000) that the small claims tribunal won’t hear. Lodging through the courts, whether that be the magistrates, district or supreme court, also allows you to have representation in the form of a lawyer, where the small claims tribunals are usually always self-represented.
No matter what the situation of the debt is, there are always options for recouping monies owed to you. The options above are just some of the escalation points that can be pursued for debts of all budgets. By utilising the natural escalation process, you can take back control of debts owed to you.
Henley Recoveries Group has a specialised escalation process. We are experienced in industry-specific procedures and in writing and submitting claims. Contact us today on 0466 243 114 for more information on our Debt Recovery Services and escalation processes.