Chasing payments and enforcement
This section will help your business to avoid cash flow problems by setting up systems and procedures to encourage prompt payment and to apply late payment interest when payments are overdue. It will guide you through the steps you can take to recover money you are owed without going to court, including by selling a debt on to a A person who is not directly involved in an existing relationship, transaction or dispute; for example, someone who is not a named party in a contract.. If you do decide to use legal proceedings to recover your debt, this section provides an overview of your options, including how to enforce a judgment debt.
Ensuring prompt payment
- 1.How can I ensure that my customers and clients pay me on time?
- 2.What systems can I introduce to encourage people to pay promptly?
- 3.How can I check the financial health of potential new corporate clients?
- 4.How can I check the financial health of potential new individual clients?
- 5.How can I identify large businesses with a poor payment record?
- 6.How can I identify small businesses or individuals with a poor payment record?
Charging interest on late payments
- 7.Can I charge interest on a late payment?
- 8.How much interest can I charge on a late payment?
- 9.How much interest can I charge on a late payment if my contract allows it?
- 10.How much interest can I charge a consumer on a late payment if my terms do not mention it?
- 11.How much interest can I charge another business on a late payment if my terms do not mention it?
- 12.What is the statutory interest rate?
- 13.How soon can I start charging statutory interest on money owed to me?
- 14.Can I charge extra for my expenses if a payment is late?
Dealing with late payments without going to court
- 15.What steps can I take to recover a late payment without going to court?
- 16.I have chased and no payment has been made. What can I do next?
- 17.Do I have to allow payment of a debt by instalments?
- 18.Should I use a debt collection agency to recover a debt I am owed?
- 19.What do debt collection agencies cost?
- 20.How do I choose a reputable debt collection agency?
- 21.Are there any risks for my business if I use a debt collection agency?
- 22.When should I use a lawyer to recover a debt I am owed?
- 23.How can I sell or raise finance on a debt that is owed to me?
- 24.What is debt assignment?
- 25.How much can I get in return for assigning debts owed to me to someone else?
- 26.How do I assign a debt?
- 27.What is a statutory demand?
- 28.Should I consider sending a statutory demand to a person or business who owes me money?
- 29.How do I send a statutory demand to an individual?
- 30.Which statutory demand form should I use for an individual?
- 31.What happens after I have sent a statutory demand to an individual?
- 32.How do I send a statutory demand to a company?
- 33.Which statutory demand form do I use for a company?
- 34.What happens after I have sent a statutory demand to a company?
Using court proceedings to prompt payment
- 35.Can I apply to make someone bankrupt?
- 36.Should I try to bankrupt someone who owes me money?
- 37.How do I bankrupt someone?
- 38.How much does it cost to apply to make someone bankrupt?
- 39.How do I find out if someone has bankruptcy proceedings against them?
- 40.How do I find out if someone is already bankrupt?
- 41.What do I do if a person who owes me money is already bankrupt?
- 42.Can I apply to wind up a company that owes me money?
- 43.Should I try to wind up a company that owes me money?
- 44.How do I wind up a company that owes me money?
- 45.How much does it cost to wind up a company that owes me money?
- 46.How do I find out if someone else is already trying to wind up a company?
- 47.What do I do if a company that owes me money is already being wound up?
- 48.Should I sue a person or business that owes me money?
- 49.What does it cost to sue someone for money they owe?
Enforcing a judgment debt
- 50.I have a court order in my favour. How soon must it be paid?
- 51.What can I do if a court order for money owed to me is not paid?
- 52.Can I take more than one enforcement action at a time to ensure a court order in my favour is paid?
- 53.Can I charge interest on an overdue High Court judgment debt?
- 54.Can I charge interest on an overdue County Court judgment debt?
- 55.How much interest can I charge on an overdue County Court judgment debt?
- 56.How can I find out if my debtor has any other judgment debts or County Court judgments (CCJs) against them?
- 57.How can I find out if my debtor has the funds to pay my judgment debt?
- 58.Can I insist my judgment debtor answers questions about their finances?
- 59.How do I apply to court to make a judgment debtor answer questions about their finances?
- 60.Can I ask the debtor questions at a hearing about a judgment debtor's finances?
- 61.What application form should I use to make a judgment debtor answer questions about their finances?
- 62.Where do I send my application form to make a judgment debtor answer questions about their finances?
- 63.What must my affidavit say in an application to make a judgment debtor answer questions about their finances?
- 64.How much does it cost to apply to make a judgment debtor answer questions about their finances?
- 65.Can I ask the court bailiffs (enforcement agents) to collect a judgment debt for me?
- 66.What can court bailiffs do to collect my judgment debt?
- 67.Is it better to ask County Court bailiffs or High Court bailiffs to recover my judgment debt?
- 68.How do I ask County Court court bailiffs to collect a judgment debt of less than £5,000?
- 69.How do I ask High Court bailiffs to collect a judgment debt of less than £5,000?
- 70.How do I ask court bailiffs to collect a judgment debt of £5,000 or more?
- 71.What is an attachment of earnings order?
- 72.Should I apply to get the money I am owed deducted from my debtor's wages?
- 73.How do I apply to get the money I am owed deducted from my debtor's wages?
- 74.Can I ask the court to reconsider its decision to make an attachment of earnings order?
- 75.How can I find out if someone has an attachment of earnings order against them?
- 76.What happens if I stop receiving payments under an attachment of earnings order?
- 77.What is a third party debt order?
- 78.How much does it cost to get a third party debt order?
- 79.How do I apply for a third party debt order?
- 80.What is a charging order?
- 81.Should I apply for a charging order over my debtor's property?
- 82.How much will it cost to apply for a charging order?
- 83.How do I apply for a charging order over my debtor's property?
Writing off a bad debt
Step-by-step guide to form SD4
This step-by-step guide to form SD4 makes completing the SD4 statutory demand form as simple as possible. Form SD4 is the right form for you if you have an unpaid court order for £5,000 or more against an individual. It is the first official step if you want to threaten the person with bankruptcy if they do not pay up and can be very effective in prompting action. Once you have filled in the SD4 form, you must do everything you reasonably can to bring it to the debtor’s attention and, wherever it is practical to do so, you must give it to them in person. Keep a record of the time, date and address where the statutory demand was handed to the person who owes you and keep anything else that confirms they received it, eg correspondence from them mentioning it. If you do later wish to apply to court to make them bankrupt, you will need to prove that you served the SD4 form properly. If you do not have a court judgment for the debt, you need form SD1 .
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Step-by-step guide to form SD2
This step-by-step guide to form SD2 is designed to make filling in the statutory demand form simple for you. Form SD2 is the form to use if you are owed £5,000 or more by an individual and you want to threaten them with bankruptcy if they do not pay up. Statutory demands can be effective in proving you are serious about debt collection and showing you are prepared to take matters further if payment is not forthcoming. They can be very effective tools to encourage payment of larger sums. Do not forget that once you have completed your SD2 form, do not simply post it to the recipient. There are rules about how you need to send it to them so that you can be as sure as possible they have seen it, and can prove it later if needed. See Dealing with late payments without going to court for the method(s) to use. You can also purchase this guide as part of the Debt collection toolkit .
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