Reviewing a debt early helps preserve options, and some debts become time-barred while nobody does anything. On the other side of the table, there are situations where insolvency is the orderly way out rather than the end of the line.
How the process runs
- 01
Title and time limits
What exists as proof of the debt and whether it is still in time. A time-barred debt cannot be recovered, and that is the first thing to check.
- 02
Formal demand
A letter to the debtor with the amount, the grounds and a deadline. It may resolve some cases and help document the steps taken before proceedings are issued.
- 03
Proceedings
Payment order, court action or insolvency petition, according to the amount, the nature of the debt and the debtor's assets.
- 04
Actual recovery
Enforcement and attachment. A judgment with no assets to attach pays nothing, which is why the assets are assessed before and not after.
What is covered
Payment order
A specific procedure for certain debts arising from contracts. If unopposed, the application may become enforceable and proceed to enforcement, subject to the applicable rules.
Court and Justice of the Peace
Where the debt is disputed or the case does not fit the payment order. Justices of the Peace have their own jurisdiction for certain claims, with specific procedural and costs rules.
Enforcement
Attachment of accounts, wages, property and vehicles, on the basis of a judgment, a payment order or another enforceable title.
Defending the debtor
Opposing a payment order or an enforcement, limitation periods, deadlines, and payment arrangements before attachment goes ahead.
Company insolvency
Filing for insolvency, a creditor's petition, and proving claims in proceedings already under way.
Personal insolvency
Filing for insolvency and the discharge of remaining debts, with what it demands and what it leaves out.
Common questions
What to bring to the first conversation
None of this is required for the first contact. The more there is in the first conversation, the more concrete the answer.
- The contract, invoices or whatever document evidences the debt
- Proof of the payments already made and of the amount outstanding
- Letters, messages and emails exchanged with the other side, with dates
- Whatever you know about the debtor's assets: property, vehicles, employer
This page describes the practice in general terms. Every case turns on its own facts and on the stage it has reached, so nothing here replaces looking at the file itself.