Client Newsletter – March 2022

Welcome to our spring newsletter, we are all so ready for the lighter evenings and warmer days!

This month sees us introduce two new staff members, Jayne McFarlane to the Debt Support Team, and Penny Daisley as our new Head of Business Development who will be responsible for all new business and heading the business development team. Penny has extensive knowledge in pre-legal and legal debt recovery and has worked within the industry for 16 years. Penny previously headed up a debt recovery department within a mid-sized regional law firm and was a lawyer at this firm.

We warmly welcome all new clients on board and hope that you find our newsletter of interest. We always welcome feedback, so do get in touch with us if you have any.

Court Delays

We are experiencing longer delays than usual with the courts at the moment. It‘s taking at least 2 weeks from receipt of documents to refer to a judge, then 6-8 weeks for directions. The Courts won‘t chase or allow follow up until that 8 week period has expired. If judicial consideration is likely needed, then it could be at least 10-12 weeks before we have any update for you.

Increase Your Recoveries

Since the pandemic we have found that some of our clients have been holding onto non payers on ledgers for longer than normal. If your cases are a year or two old already before they come to us then it‘s really worth thinking about allowing us to check the contact data you have to give us the best possible chance of recovery for you. It‘s also a good idea to gain insight into your debtors financial position before you consider spending money on litigation. Please always remember that the sooner you pass us your debt cases, the higher the liquidation rate will likely be. The same goes for providing us with instructions too. If you would like to speed up the instructing process, please consider giving us automated authorities. In addition, the more information you provide to us the greater the chance of recovery – dates of birth, email addresses, all contact telephone numbers. Ask the client services team for recommendations.

If your debtor is a consumer we can;

Undertake an Address search to see if they have moved on, please always provide us with the debtors date of birth if you have it, as it helps us to verify we have the correct person. We offer a first trace, which is an in-house database trace or a secondary trace which we refer out to an external trace agent, who do a more in depth trace with manual intervention. We can add address tracing to your strategy if required, please just let us know.

Undertake an Insight/Insight plus search.

The Insight service provides :- CCJs number of and whether they are satisfied, Insolvency Information such as IVAs /Bankruptcy, Employment check indicator & salary information, Number of credit applications made in the last 3/6 months, Home ownership indicator obtained from the Land Registry.

The Insight Plus service offers all of the above together with a residency checker which provides a scoring of 1-3 as to the propensity of the customer being at the address provided.

Timescale: 2-3 days approx.

Again, this cost effective service can be automated, please just ask.

If your debtor is a business we can undertake one of the following;

Company Information Report

Suitable for limited companies and non limited entities i.e. partnerships to obtain more information. The report provides credit scoring and a recommended credit limit as well as publicly filed financial information.

Timescale: 2-3 days approx.

Mini and Full Asset Trace reports are ideal for the higher debt value cases where you need to confirm the debtors address and financial situation.

Mini Asset Trace Report

Report includes: Identity Research, Trace Research, Insolvency Details, Target Company/Business Research, Property Visit, Property Report, Condition, Valuation etc. including photographs and Visible Asset Profile

Timescale: 14-21 days approx.

Full Asset Trace Report

Report includes: Scope of Work, Executive Summary, Identity Research, Trace Research, Family Connections, Known Associates, Associated Addresses, Insolvency Details, Legal Proceedings, Target Company/Business Research, Active Directorships, Dissolved Directorships, Overseas Directorships, Non-Limited Company Research, Shareholdings, Land Registry Searches, Hidden Asset Research, Property Visits, Property Reports, Condition, Valuation etc. including photographs, Asset Register, Condition, Valuation etc. including photographs , Credit Referencing, Press, Media, Internet and Social Media Research, Conclusion and Recommendations

Timescale: 21-28 days approx.