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Legal Proceedings

If the Debtor has not responded to your Letter Before Action (LBA) and you have fully complied with all relevant Pre-Action Protocols (PAP) (if applicable) you are now entitled to issue legal proceedings.

Although a LBA can often have the desired effect of prompting the Debtor to pay, there are occasions where the Debtor will simply remain silent even when a LBA is sent.

At this stage we believe it is important to act quickly, so when you proceed to the next stage we continue to act without delay, once we have your implicit instructions via the Debt-Claims Solicitors portal.

What next?

It’s time to take the next step if you have not received a response from the Debtor

The Debt-Claims Solicitors team will always explore every possible avenue to ensure that legal proceedings are the last resort. If the LBA is not successful we do not simply rush our Clients into legal proceedings. Our mission objective is to ensure that your debt is recovered as quickly and cost effectively as possible.

It is important that you comply with the PAP to prevent the following:

  1. Further delay in collection of debt if any legal proceedings are stayed to remedy failures to comply with the Pre-Action Protocol
  2. Additional costs sanctions in terms of payment of the Debtor’s legal costs or a failure to recover costs and
  3. Inability to recover interest from a Debtor or recovery at a reduced rate

At Debt-Claims Solicitors we are careful not to automate the entire procedure. Proceedings irrespective of the nature of your claim always carry some form of risk and the Debt–Claims team are always on hand to support you through the entire process.

Issuing a claim and County Court Judgment (CCJ)

Issuing Claims Approvals

When the time is right and all the Pre-Action Protocol has been adhered to, Debt-Claims Solicitors will complete a Claim Form and lodge it with the County Court Business Centre (or County Court Money Claims Centre for appropriate claims). We can issue claims electronically, ensuring that this step is completed without delay.

The Claim Form will then be sent to the Debtor requiring them to pay the debt, plus interest and costs within 14 days of receiving the Claim Form. If the debtor fails to respond to the Claim Form within that time frame, we will request a judgment in default (the court may enter a CCJ against the Debtor for failing to respond to the Claim Form). The Debt-Claims Solicitors team will diarise any relevant dates and ensure that we act quickly to secure a judgment if possible.

If the Debtor acknowledges the Claim Form within 14 days, thus preventing the default judgment, they will be entitled to an additional fourteen days to prepare and file a defence if required.

The Debt-Claims Solicitors team will be on hand every step of the way to explain in simple terms the different stages of the process, so that you can concentrate on your day-to-day business operations whilst your debt is successfully recovered.

County Court Judgment

A County Court Judgment (CCJ) is a judgment issued by a County Court telling a Debtor that they have to repay a debt and outline how the debt should be paid.

If the CCJ is not paid within one month, it will stay on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines for six years and affect the Debtor’s credit rating. If the Debtor contacts you after the month deadline expires you may be in a position to request any further legal fees to be settled if they want to remove the entry from the Judgment Register. Debt-claims Solicitors will advise on each individual claim and the process for removing the CCJ accordingly if this is the case.

In the event that no response is forthcoming after the CCJ has been entered, then you can proceed to the Enforcement stage.

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