Debt Recovery

• Pre-legal services

  For clients who want to take effective enforcement action, but want to see if their debt is collected by pre-legal action before taking Court action. Our solicitors offer two different pricing options to try and recover the debt using pre-legal techniques:

  1. Late Payment Legislation

  This legislation enables you to add compensation and interest to your debt. In order to do this, we recommend that we carry out appropriate searches to check the credit rating of your debtor. Additional fees will be payable for these searches – but we will discuss them with you before they are incurred.

  2. Statutory Demands

  Included in our service is the consideration of whether to use a Statutory Demand. You can only use a Statutory Demand if the debt is in excess of £750 and is not disputed.

  A Statutory Demand is a direct route to starting insolvency proceedings. Without a Court judgment, before you can serve a bankruptcy or winding up petition upon a debtor, you must serve a Statutory Demand for the outstanding debt. If a debtor fails to pay within the time limit then insolvency proceedings may be started without notice to the debtor.

  A Statutory Demand can be a very powerful collection tool, so it has to be used carefully as there are risks of penalties in costs if misused.

• Court action service

  If after using pre legal services in an attempt to try and recover a business debt proves to be unsuccessful, you may consider taking legal action through the Courts. In such instances, we can review your situation and then make recommendations to you as to whether or not to take Court action.

  If you decide to take Court action, we will pursue the debt for the original amount plus any interest or compensation that you are due.

  In circumstances where Court action is required, we recommend that we carry out appropriate searches to check the credit rating of your debtor before you commence Court action. Additional fees will be payable for these searches – but we will discuss them with you before they are incurred.

• Multiple debt recovery

  Acting for business clients throughout the UK and internationally, our expert team specialise in commercial debt recovery and manage bulk debt collection for a number of clients, including educational establishments and factoring companies.

  The size of our team enables us to provide an efficient, streamlined and bespoke debt collection service to chase bulk debts for businesses, to save you the time and expense of chasing multiple debts.

  Our charges for debt collection work are transparent and easy to follow. We offer fixed fee services which are based on the amount due to you.

Contact our debt recovery solicitors

To talk to one of our debt recovery solicitors in Derby, Leicester, or Nottingham, or for more information about our services for businesses, contact us via our online enquiry form or call 0800 024 1976 for a guaranteed response.

Debt recovery FAQs

Below, we have answered some frequently asked questions that our Debt Recovery team receives.

• How does Nelsons differ from other debt recovery companies?

  Nelsons is not a collections agency or call centre. Our debt recovery specialists provide a bespoke service for their clients. The team forms part of one of the Top 200 law firms in the country and are recognised and recommended by the independently researched publications for this area of work.

  Our team deals with the full debt recovery process on your behalf, from making initial calls to your debtor, through to issuing Court proceedings and enforcement of the debt. Should your matter be disputed, we are able to refer it to one of our dispute resolution solicitors for their advice.

• How do I instruct Nelsons to recover a debt on my behalf?

  Instructing Nelsons is easy and straightforward. You can send us initial details of your situation via our contact form, or telephone 0800 024 1976.

  One of our team will then contact you to discuss your case in more detail.

  We provide a specialist service for those with a high volume of debts and are able to provide an easy-to-complete template for bulk instructions on request.

• What happens once I’ve instructed Nelsons to recover a debt on my behalf?

  Once we have received your instructions, we will review your terms and conditions and then add either statutory late payment compensation and interest, or contractual interest to the debt and include this within our initial letter to the debtor.

  Our pre-legal procedure then involves engaging with the debtor to negotiate repayment via letters, emails and telephone calls.

  During this time period, investigations may be undertaken regarding the debtors’ trading status, company details and liquidity. The more we know about your debtor, the better prepared we are to deal with the debt.

• Do you charge for each letter that you send out?

  No, the service we provide is a complete rather than a single letter service. Our experience has shown that single letters alone are not as effective as when they are followed up personally by someone who takes responsibility for recovering the debt.

  This approach means that you can rest assured that we are doing everything we can to recover the money that you are owed from day one.

• How long will it take to recover the debt?

  We will try to recover your debt as swiftly as possible. The time it takes for the debtor to respond does play a part in the timescales involved, but our processes ensure that we are constantly engaging with the debtor to ensure a prompt resolution whenever possible.

• What happens if the debtor still refuses to pay?

  We will do everything we can to recover the debt during our pre-legal process but once this has been exhausted, we will refer back to you to discuss the options available and make recommendations as to the best way to proceed.

  The options will depend on the circumstances but could include issuing legal proceedings or a statutory demand.

  If the debt is disputed, we liaise with our commercial litigation team who will advise you appropriately.

• What value of debts do you recover for clients?

  We recover debts of all values from single debts to high-volume, bulk collections. We have been very successful in collecting many debts over £100,000.00 but whatever the value of the debt, speak to our team to see if we can help.

• How can I keep up to date with the progress of my case?

  We offer our clients access to a secure online system where you can view the cases we are dealing with for you and their progress at any time. You can also send new instructions through this system too.

• Am I tied in to a contract term if I use Nelsons to collect my debts?

  No, there is no minimum contract period, so you can use us for a few, or all of your debts as and when you need help.

• What industries and sectors do you recover debts for?

  Our team has extensive experience of working in a wide range of industries within the UK and Europe.

  Our clients are from a variety of sectors – building suppliers, property management companies, accountants, factoring companies and food wholesalers right through to large educational institutions.

• Who will be collecting my debt?

  Our team specialises exclusively in debt recovery and are both enthusiastic and tenacious collectors who pride themselves on the results they achieve.

  Once you have instructed Nelsons, you will be assigned your own personal collector to handle your debt recovery matters. Not only does this provide you with a single point of contact in case of queries, but working with one dedicated adviser also means that we can get to know you and your business, which can, in turn, help us to collect your debts more quickly.