Watford Solicitors

Litigation and Disputes FAQs – Watford litigation solicitors

Court documents have been served on me.  What do Watford Solicitors suggest I do ?

First of all, you should bear in mind there is a limited time to respond, so act quickly.  Among the documents, you should find something called a response document, which gives you the choice of either responding to the claim by acjnowledging service which gives a further period to file a defence or putting in a defence within the initial time period of 14 days.  In most cases, it is best to respond to the claim and seek legal advice on any counter-claims or defences you may have.

A statutory demand has been sent to me by a creditor.  What should I do ?

First of all, it makes sense to define what a statutory demand is.  A statutory demand is a legally valid way of asking for a debt to be paid.  You will have either 21 days to pay the debt or 18 days to put in a counter-claim.  It is important to respond to a statutory demand.  If you fail to respond to the demand and the debt is larger than £750, the creditor could start bankruptcy proceedings against you, which could be disastrous for you.

How do I go about claiming a debt ?

Firstly, it is prudent to consult an expert debt recovery solicitor, such as Watford litigation solicitors.  You can ask the solicitor to write a formal letter asking for the money to be paid.  The fact that the letter has been written by a solicitor (as opposed to an unqualified person at a debt recovery agency) should make the debtor sit up and take note, and a lot of debts can be resolved at this stage, perhaps following negotiations regarding a repayment schedule.  If the debtor refuses to pay, you could have your solicitor issue a statutory demand, although this should only be used where you are prepared to follow up the demand with bankruptcy proceedings (the debt has to be larger than £750).  The last stage will be a County Court hearing.  Due to the expense and time involved, we will try to prevent claims getting to this stage, although that might prove to be impossible in some cases.  For debts lower than £5,000, court hearings in the small claims track are not, however, that taxing and are relatively cheap.

The debtor has been ordered by the courts to pay a debt, but refuses to comply.  What can I do to get my money ?

If a County Court has decided in your favour and the debtor still refuses to pay, you could have the County Court bailiffs attend the debtor’s property and ask for payment.  If they do not receive payment, the bailiffs can seize the debtor’s property and sell them to satisfy the debt.

You could also apply for an attachment of earnings order, which will compel the debtor’s boss to pay the debt out of the debtor’s wages.  If the debtor is owed money by someone else, you could apply for a third party debt order which will allow you to receive any payment’s from the debtor’s debtor.

Contact Watford litigation solicitors for further cost effective advice.