If you are owed debt here are some steps you should take:
- Ensure that invoices have been sent.
- Ensure that emails following up on the invoices have been sent.
- Have a firm, but polite and professional, phone call with the customer. We recommend you have a written record what is said in the phone call.
- If you have a written contact, review the terms to determine whether the customer has breached the contract.
If these steps do not resolve the dispute, you should begin taking active steps to collect the debt, including:
- Sending a letter of demand outlining the debt and your intention to start legal proceedings if the debt is not paid.
- Attempt an alternative dispute resolution process such as mediation and negotiation. Court is expensive and these can save your business money and time.
- Contact a debt collection agency. You should let the customer know that you have hired a debt collection agency. This is often enough to scare customers into paying the debt.
We recommend that if the above steps fail, you contact a legal professional. They can inform you of how to proceed and the likelihood that you will succeed in court.
If you would like tailored, expert legal advice regarding debt collection, contact a member of our Litigation and Dispute Resolution team.