Debt Recovery Process

Legal Direct has developed a fast legal action service for clients to enable them to swiftly recover overdue accounts and improve cash flow and at the same time avoid the ultimate loss of profits caused by bad debts.

The simple process involves the issue of a final demand letter that often results in payment of the overdue account. If this action fails, legal action can be issued promptly and judgment entered to secure future enforcement of the debt.

Payment for each step of the process is managed by the cost effective method of pre-paid credits and eliminating administration overheads.

Creating New Matters

The process for creating a new matter is simple to follow and processed by clients after registering on-line and purchasing pre-paid credits.

Demand Letters

All demand letters are generated by clients on-line and issued by Forbes Dowling Lawyers. They require the debtor to make payment within 48 hours, 7 days or 14 days depending on the client's requirements.

After the period of time allowed in the demand letter has expired, the client can instruct the issue of immediate legal action on-line.

Prompt Legal Action

If payment is not received in response to the demand letter, immediate legal action should be commenced. Statistically, the longer the delay in acting on delinquent accounts, the less likelihood of ultimate recovery

As legal fees and costs are fully recoverable from the debtor, there is no downside in acting promptly after a demand letter has been ignored by a debtor.

Once legal proceedings have been issued, interest on the debt will be claimed.

The Statement of Claim will be prepared and filed promptly and the defendant will be served personally by private process server if an individual and by post in the case of a company.

Entering Judgment

Once served with the Statement of Claim, the defendant has twenty- eight (28) days to pay the amount of the claim or lodge a defence.

If no payment or defence is received, judgement by default will be entered for the original debt plus interest plus costs.

Defended Actions

If, as part of the debt recovery process, a defence is filed, Forbes Dowling Lawyers will take over conduct of the legal process and all legal fees and costs will be subject to the Standard Costs Agreement which sets out details of how clients are charged for defended litigation.

Enforcing Judgments

There are many avenues available to clients for enforcing a judgment debt but this often requires a strategic decision based on obtaining the most successful outcome. In these cases, Forbes Dowling Lawyers will take over conduct of the matter and assist the client with making an informed decision as to the most appropriate method of enforcement. All legal fees and costs will be subject to the Standard Costs Agreement which sets out details of how clients are charged for enforcement proceedings.