As a landlord (or managing agent) it is incredibly frustrating trying to recover unpaid rent from your tenants. Whether you are a private or commercial landlord and regardless of if your tenant has left the premises, not being paid on time (or arrears being paid once a tenancy has ended) doesn’t only causes you problems with you own cash flow, but it can put a detriment on the relationship with the tenant.
For existing tenants who might have missed one or two months and you want to retain a good relationship with, but at the same time let them know that their late payment behaviour cannot continue, then our Late Payment Demand (LPD) is a good first step to take.
Our LPD is a short and informal letter that reminds the tenant that a payment is due and if it’s not made within a specified number of days, that the creditor will escalate the matter for formal legal action. The wording used is designed to make a tenant take stock of the situation and get their account in order; at the same time, our solicitors headed letter shows the tenant that you will not tolerate the late (or none) payment any longer. Prices for an LPD start at £2.50 for email delivery only and £5.00 for postal delivery.
For tenants where the relationship has broken down and it has become a case of recovering the balance due, or where the tenant has not paid following our LPD, then our Letter Before Action (LBA) is a formal letter that must be sent before legal proceedings are commenced and with Debt-Claims, it costs just £12.50. If legal proceedings are required then an LBA can be escalated to a money claim in less than 30 seconds. Crucially, for all uncontested small claims matters (less than £10,000) Debt-Claims only charges the same costs that are recoverable from the debtor and automatically adds these onto the claimed balance. This means that once a creditor has been paid, their costs are recoverable in full.
An alternate option is to serve a statutory demand on the tenant. Where a company owes a minimum of £750 or an individual (or sole trader) owes £5,000 or more, following service of the demand the tenant has 21 days to settle (or agree settlement) with you. If they fail to pay, then you can petition the court for their winding-up (or bankruptcy). The cost to serve a statutory demand is £240 and the costs are recoverable from the tenant.
If you or your business are chasing an unpaid rent, then Debt-Claims can help you collect the money quickly and cost effectively. Head over to our registration page to register for free and begin the debt collection process in moments.
